OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is restricting the use of musical montages by two Francophone commercial radio stations, and has kicked off a learning exercise on the French-language private radio industry and the Francophone music industry “in order to more fully understand the problem”.
The Commission said Thursday that it has imposed a condition of licence on Astral’s station CKTF-FM and Cogeco’s station CKOI-FM limiting their broadcasting of montages to no more than 10% of total programming per week after the two stations were found to be airing up to 18% of long montages composed almost exclusively of popular English-language and non-Canadian music.
A musical montage is a compilation of excerpts from a number of songs played without interruption. Although it may contain excerpts from several songs, a montage is considered a single piece of music for purposes of calculating the levels of Canadian content and French-language vocal music (FVM). Used properly, montages allow audiences to sample selections that would not otherwise be broadcast, or to discover new artists.
In an information bulletin also published on Thursday, the CRTC spelled out what constitutes an inappropriate use of montages and threatened to impose similar conditions of licence on other broadcasters who allot more than 10% of their programming to montages in their broadcast week.
“There is a widespread trend on the part of some French-language broadcasters to use montages inappropriately,” said the CRTC’s vice chair of broadcasting, Tom Pentefountas, in a statement. “Some licensees appear to be using montages to circumvent the requirements for French-language vocal music. We are finding that for some Francophone commercial stations, the current quotas represent a particular challenge given their target audience and the market they serve.”
The CRTC also imposed a shorter renewal period of five years on RNC Media’s station CFTX-FM because of its failure to comply with the regulations on the required levels of FVM.
Key stakeholders in the French-language private radio industry will be invited to a symposium in the winter of 2012 to discuss the results of the Commission’s data gathering exercise, the evolution of the market for French-language music, and the role of radio in the broadcast and promotion of FVM.
The Commission also said that it will reconsider its regulatory requirements with respect to FVM and montages when it undertakes a more comprehensive review of policies affecting the Francophone commercial radio sector next year.
