The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has kicked off hearings to determine how music streaming giants like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon should support Canadian culture — and whether struggling radio broadcasters deserve a regulatory break.
The five-day hearings in Gatineau, Que., are part of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which brings online platforms under Canada’s broadcasting framework. While streamers argue their current royalty payments and promotion of Canadian music are more than enough, radio stations warn they’re in steep decline and want the CRTC to scale back their content obligations if streamers face none.
Streaming services collectively pay about 70 per cent of their revenues to rightsholders and have warned that any new quotas or financial requirements could reduce their investment in Canadian music. Spotify argued in its submission that it already makes an “outsized” contribution to the music ecosystem, while Apple and Amazon said additional regulations could be counterproductive.
The CRTC has signalled it does not plan to impose the same 35 per cent Canadian content quota that radio stations must follow but may require streaming platforms to enhance “discoverability” for Canadian, French-language, and Indigenous artists.
Radio broadcasters, represented by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, painted a grim picture of a sector that has seen its share of ad revenue fall from 13 per cent to just 5.5 per cent in a decade. They urged the regulator to lower CanCon requirements to 25 per cent, calling the current 35 per cent level “unsustainable” given audience and revenue losses.
With music streaming now representing nearly half of Canadians’ weekly listening, the outcome of these hearings could redefine the balance between digital platforms and traditional radio — and determine how Canadian culture is funded and promoted in the streaming era.