By Loreena McKennitt, Contributor

“I began my career in 1985 by busking on the streets, and since then I’ve owned and operated my own independent record label, employing many people along the way. I’ve been fortunate enough to have sold over 15 million records worldwide. I built my business and lived most of my career in this upended era. However, if I were to start out today in this highly unregulated technological environment, I can hardly imagine how I would succeed.

In 1998, we were all promised that a Golden Age would come with the internet. What we got instead was nearly a decade of music being offered for free through such sites as Napster and BitTorrent…

Artists who were once paid 25 cents per song on vinyl or CD are now paid less than 10 cents per thousand plays on such streaming sites as YouTube Music and Spotify — sites many consumers currently enjoy. As a result, many artists are struggling to rise above the poverty line, much less sustain a career or a family. 

So much for the Golden Age.

Currently, online video and music streaming services delivering audio and audio-visual content over the internet are exempt from licensing and most other regulatory requirements in Canada. That means that unlike commercial radio stations, for example, digital platforms are not required to make financial contributions towards Canadian Content Development or to promote it.”

Source: The Toronto Star