Fifty-three percent of Canadians believe music streaming services should be required to financially support the Canadian broadcast sector.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released the findings of a survey soliciting attitudes and opinions towards commercial radio in Canada.
The survey found that although the majority of Canadians support requiring music streaming services to contribute financially to the Canadian broadcast sector, 68 percent of respondents believed that any future regulations should not interfere with their ability to choose the content they want.
Further, the survey found that half of the respondents believe music streaming services should ensure a minimum amount of Canadian content is included in their playlists on a weekly basis.
It’s worth noting that there is a difference in opinion based on demographics, such as the region of residence and age of respondents.
Interestingly, Boomers and people who reside in Quebec are more likely to support “requiring streaming services to contribute financially towards the Canadian broadcasting system and ensuring a minimum amount of Canadian content is included on streaming services weekly playlists.”
In November 2020, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault tabled a proposed bill amending the Broadcasting Act that would give the CRTC new flexible powers to regulate online platforms.
The legislation would essentially force services like Spotify to support Canadian content at a similar rate to traditional broadcasters.
The CRTC notes that the survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. The research study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was conducted with 88 participants across 13 focus groups between March 19th and 31st of 2020, while the second phase was conducted with 1,735 Canadians between November 12th and 26th of 2020.
