TORONTO – "This appears to be an act of desperation by an association scared of progress," said Gregg Terrence, president of Indie Pool, about the recent jabs the Canadian Independent Record Producers Association has taken at his company.
"CIRPA’s comments are possibly libelous and are disrespectful to thousands of Canadian artists that signed a petition supporting satellite radio. Let’s be clear here, CIRPA represents record companies, lawyers and accountants, not unsigned artists."
Indie Pool, which says it represents 20,000-plus Canadian independent recording artists, reinforced its support for all three satellite and subscription radio applications in its release today.
CIRPA has come out against the June 16th CRTC decision licensing three applicants, saying that two are U.S. satellite services and we can’t be having that in Canada. As reported by www.cartt.ca, CIRPA is one of several cultural groups appealing the decision to federal cabinet.
“Last November, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held a week of public hearings on satellite/subscription radio. Gregg Terrence of Indie Pool spoke for 10 minutes, and stated what is obvious to most casual observers: Unsigned artists receive much more airplay on satellite radio than they do on commercial radio and therefore the vast majority of unsigned artists support satellite radio,” says Indie Pool’s release.
“The CRTC heard CIRPA’s arguments at length and ultimately disagreed with them. Now, since CIRPA’s arguments haven’t persuaded the CRTC, the media or public opinion, its new strategy is to resort to personal attacks as a way of dismissing the views of Canada’s unsigned artists. This is a very sad day in CIRPA’s history,” adds the release.
“CIRPA stated that Mr. Terrence is a ‘minority of one.’ The facts prove otherwise. Thousands of comments from Canadian independent recording artists can be found at www.indiepool.com/comments. Signed artists such as Daniel Lanois, Robbie Robertson, Tegan & Sara, Joel Plaskett, Jeff Healey, Amy Sky and Susan Aglukark publicly support satellite radio,” it goes on.
“The CBC, a bastion of Canadian culture, is also firm in its support of satellite radio and has partnered with Sirius Satellite Radio to broadcast CBC Radio to the entire continent.” Canadian Satellite Radio is the other satellite company, a partnership with XM Radio and Canadian John Bitove. CHUM Ltd. and Astral Media also obtained a license for a digital terrestrial service with high Canadian content levels but it seems unlikely to launch.
Indie Pool also pointed out there was an intervention in strong support of the Sirius/CBC satellite radio application made by Cori Ferguson, who is the current executive director of CIRPA and now a vocal critic of satellite radio and Indie Pool.
In her written letter of support, which is part of the public record, says the Indie Pool release, Ferguson wrote: "As a publicist who works regularly with independent Canadian artists, I can attest to how valuable the service would be in establishing the careers of our extremely talented, and often under-exposed, musical artists – especially those who do not fit the mainstream radio formats currently offered to conventional listeners.”
Indie Pool, in its press release, says it “couldn’t agree more with Ms. Ferguson’s comments written a few months ago. When Ms. Ferguson was actually working for independent artists in the trenches, she rightly and strongly supported satellite radio. She went on to say ‘five percent of the gross revenues in Canadian talent development strikes me as another particularly strong part of the broadcaster’s commitment to the arts in Canada.’
“Finally, Ms. Ferguson said exactly what Indie Pool has been saying all along: ‘(satellite radio) will also provide an invaluable outlet for the exposure of new and emerging Canadian talent,” adds the press release.
"All these contradictions lead Indie Pool to believe that any empathy that may have existed for Canada’s independent recording artists has been abandoned in favour of record company agendas," said Terrence.
"And, as previously stated, that makes this a very sad time in CIRPA’s history."
To view Ms. Ferguson’s letter supporting satellite radio, go to www.indiepool.com/satelliteradiosupport or browse the CRTC’s web site.
