CDs, Streaming and AI.
I’ve always been suspicious of music streaming because I knew they couldn’t adopt the performance and neighbouring rights of radio because it would make their operations unprofitable but could adopt radio’s vetting, which would cause artists to not only get almost nothing but for some to get shoved aside for recordings that have already garnered mass interest.
Now AI is flooding streaming services and resulting in no royalty payments as recordings are entirely removed because they were popular enough in the states or the United Kingdom, causing people to wonder where their favourite tracks went.
I have always recommended the purchase of film on a physical format because of how fickle the streaming services are and now the situation has worsened in music, causing compact disc sales to resurge upwards as people see other industries go digital, like Sony’s Playstation game console.
Gamers have learned that discs will no longer be produced for this console in 2028 and that the games they purchased online could suddenly disappear from their consoles, some releases having already been delisted. And this resulted in a notable consumer backlash, including a petition that reached over 360,000 signatures in less than two months.
It has become quite clear that these companies are no longer catering to their customers demands but pandering to upper middle class urbanite and sub-urbanite with high speed internet, that accept the opinions of what’s popular according to the companies.
The promise that we would have access to everything and for a reasonable cost, is now gone. And that physical media is the only way to go whilst streaming is simply a means to preview popular films, television programs and music.
For example, when New Zealand actor Sam Neill passed away last month one could easily find the vast majority of his most popular films, including Jurassic Park and my favourite of his films, The Hunt For Red October. But Australian thriller Dead Calm is not available for streaming or purchase for download in Canada, anywhere.
This film got a high ranking at Rotten Tomatoes whilst Bicentennial Man got very low rankings, yet the later is available on Apple TV for purchase because people know it and still like it, like yours truly. And this means our personal preferences are all subject to arbitrary judgements by these corporations.
Multiple generations that have grown up with VHS, DVD and blu-ray rentals are noticing the films of their childhood were either available only for a short time on the streaming services or were never on them in the first place. And they have been purchasing them on whatever physical format is available, causing them to expand their purchases to compact discs en masse since 2025.
I, for one, will probably purchase Godzilla Minus Zero after this film’s initial release in November 2026 because foreign sequels in a language other than English tend to only remain online when it has matched or surpassed the original release‘s popularity. And I will continue encouraging everyone to at least consider purchasing greatest hits compilations on compact disc, so that fans still have their very favourite singles if the streaming services decide to slim down their catalogs and replace recordings with similar sounding tracks made with artificial intelligence.
I am not discouraging the use of streaming services, which are great if you already have the recordings that you listen to on vinyl and/or compact disc and when you want to preview recordings. But if you truly love an album, consider getting it on vinyl and/or, just in case.
The Sad State of Canadian Media
Today I learned from Ottawa radio personalities Stuntman Stu and Angie Poirier what fans of 45 radio stations across Canada have also learned from their local radio personalities, that Canadian radio is not teetering on the edge but has pretty much been toppled by other media.
These are 45 out of 103 Bell Media owned stations that are being sold and only the latest cuts in the company, which cut 9% of their work force and some local news programming recently, including the noon broadcast of CTV News here in Ottawa.
People in the industry in Ottawa were concerned after Bell Media had applied to have their commitment to local television reduced with the CRTC in June 2023, days before a massive 1300 in lay-off in the middle of the month and weeks before when two major CTV News personalities, Leanna Cusack and Joel Haslam had retired in July 2023.
All is not well with Bell Media yet people are still acting like we are in the states and have access to a sustainable amount of viewers, when American radio has their own issues according to Pew Research.
So, what will happen if no buyers are found for these stations? Will smaller, remote communities without high speed internet become dead zones? Will larger stations simply become re-transmitters for American programming?
“Tough luck” is not actually a response, especially in communities where print has disappeared, where small business advertisements, local events and important municipal, provincial and federal government information have no venue. But unfortunately this dismissiveness is being heavily promoted by American propagandists on social media, who want to control this nation’s media.
I guess some people have forgotten that weather radio is being decommissioned in many communities in Canada and that cell coverage fails during some weather emergencies, as well as internet access.
Television and radio are the more reliable information sources outside of the urban centres and suburban communities. And it’s time to stop listening to the ought-is.
Throwing The Baby Out With The Bathwater
Growing up in rural New Brunswick in the 70s and 80s, I was only able to watch five television stations, three of which were publicly funded; The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the francophone networks Radio-Canada and Télé-Québec. And these provided many more cultural programs than the other networks though-out my early life.
I first watched educational programming in both languages on those stations, like Mr.Dressup, The Friendly Giant and Bobinot. And then in my teens I watched programs like Video Hits and Good Rockin’ Tonight, well before Much Music and Musique Plus had gone on air on cable.
After moving to the Ottawa-Gatineau area with my family, I still watched these networks regularly, mainly for consumer programming for young adults like Street Cents and then later Marketplace, La Facture and L’épicerie. And very little of the above mentioned programming was matched by the commercial stations in Canada, nor were dramas like The Beachcommers, Degrassi Jr. High and Murdock’s Mysteries or nature documentary series like The Nature of Things and Découverte or satirical news programs like This Hour has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report and Infoman.
Internationally renown comedies like The Kids In The Hall, The Red Green Show, Kim’s Covenience, Shitt’s Creek and Un Gars/Une Fille were produced and aired on the CBC or Radio-Canada. And although the commercial networks had one or two international hits, they were simply more interested in providing American content because it brought in the advertisement revenue, which is fine. But where’s the latest Corner Gas or Trailer Park Boys?
When it comes to radio, very few stations aired comedy programming like Air Farce, classical music and jazz like the CBC and Radio Canada in rural Canada, a large percentage of which was Canadian.
The very first concert I attended was classical pianist André Gagnon, whose music was introduced to my family via Radio-Canada. And like CBC Records and Les Disques SRC, CBC Music and ICI Musique provide classical music and other forms of music to Canadians, some of which still does not air on commercial radio outside of the larger cities in Canada.
Yes, I did manage to listen to francophone pop and rock in areas where french was quite prominent but are these many commercial television networks and radio stations that operate in that language outside of the provinces of Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick? Are we seriously going to defund this major cultural institution over a minute amount of political commentary?
Let’s face it, only a minority is actively campaigning to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And whenever I discuss the issue with this minority on social media and ask them for examples of an alleged bias, they assert claims that are easily disproved with a Google search of the official sites of these public broadcasters.
It makes no sense for the people of Canada to capitulate our institutions to the foreign interests that failed to introduce Sun News Television to our country. And a neutral and independent commissioner is available to handle all complaints at CBC/Radio-Canada, regardless of the repeated assertions made by the remnants of the aforementioned conservative news network.
It isn’t about nostalgia but preventing the surrender of our media to foreigners that have nothing but negative opinions of this country.
FYE Expands Into Canada
Entertainment retailer FYE has just opened a store in the Rideau Centre in Downtown Ottawa.
They offer film and music on various formats, as well as memorabilia from film, television and music. But it should be noted that FYE’s current American web site does not yet ship to Canada.
This American retailer had been purchased from Trans World Entertainment by Sunrise Records in February 2020 for 10 million dollars according to Billboard.
Android Box Lawsuit
Canadian electronics and computer retail chains Best Buy Canada, Canada Computers, London Drugs and Staples Canada are being sued by Edmonton, Alberta based Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc, the people behind Super Channel, alleging these companies sold android boxes that could be used to view their content and violate copyright laws with a software program Kodi.
Kodi is an open source home entertainment software package that enables users to play media on their computers and android devices, that can also be used to download and stream content off the internet.
Unfortunately, the Statement of Claim in Court Number T-1486-19 does not specify if sales of the more mainstream media streaming devices (like Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku) are allegedly implicated, these devices also being compatible with the aforementioned software. But it should be noted that today’s press release on this action appears to only mention “Pirate Devices with Kodi software” and that only some of the 150 employee sales pitches that were filmed by the plaintiffs over 19 months appear to include referrals to services that could assist customers with the installation of the software.
The companies in question have denied the allegations and I suspect they are now promoting sales of the more mainstream devices with Apple TV+, a television and video streaming service that will be officially released on November 1st, 2019, with a monthly subscription fee of $5.99 (or free for a year for Canadians who buy the latest model of the Apple TV media box, iPad or iPhone).
OTA Television Changes Along The Border
Yesterday I received a notice from WPBS-TV, the PBS station based in Watertown NY that broadcasts to Eastern Ontario, that they will be changing over-the-air channels on July 29th, 2019. And apparently several American television stations have already begun transitioning to new channels to free up frequencies for wireless services.
People who use television antennas in southwestern Ontario area have already needed to rescan to find WMYD broadcasts from Detroit on June 1st, 2019 and a new wave of channel changes are expected in July, this transition eventually ending in the summer of 2020.
If you’re getting these stations from cable, satellite or online, you will not see any changes. But if you use a television antenna to get any American station you will need to pay attention to notices by your favourite stations, that will be posted on their official sites and social media feeds for information related to this transition.
Many channels will also start airing notices featuring known personalities from television programs like The Doctors, Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, Dr.Phil, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy a month or so before their transition date. And monthly roundups of these transitions are also posted on the official TV Answers Blog, with occasional posts regarding individual channels appearing on TV Answer’s Facebook page.
I’m a bit too deep into Ontario to get American television stations via my antenna but thought people along the border would like to know.