In Henderson's paper Canadian
content regulations and the formation of a national scene, he mentions how
Cancon, or Canadian Content Regulations, were established in order to foster
the growth of the Canadian music scene and support homegrown artists and bands.
The article also outlines three distinct eras of Canadian popular music which
have come to pass since its inauguration. The final and current wave is known
as the “digital era”, a time when Canadian national identity doesn’t really
permeate popular music lyrics or even a distinctive sound, but where success is
still somewhat influenced by the notion of nation – the era which we are now
most used to. But before this era, was one wherein Canadian artists felt the
full effect of Canadian promotion (or is it protectionism?), and the importance
of nationalism.
An example of this is the Canadian artist known as D-Pryde.
Born and raised in Toronto and its surrounding suburbs, D-Pryde has grown into
an accomplished music artist over the years, having recently received considerable
airplay on the radio. It could be argued that he can attribute much of his
success to being Canadian, receiving tremendous support from the local and
national community in the early stages of his career, until his songs finally
ended up being played on the radio. The music which D-Pryde produced could be
tied to the country, as the songs sometimes talked about his own struggles
growing up in the neighborhoods of Toronto. After reading Henderson’s article,
I realize that Cancon actually provided the infrastructure to help D-Pryde mature
into the successful, signed artist he
is today by providing the exposure he needed. Now, in the digital era, he rides the waves of the initial helping hand he received, able to produce songs with a more international sound and reach.
Can we agree that Cancon played a major part in D-Pryde's success and reaching a wider audience, or is it too simplistic to look at things that way (ie there was probably more to it than that)?
Can we agree that Cancon played a major part in D-Pryde's success and reaching a wider audience, or is it too simplistic to look at things that way (ie there was probably more to it than that)?
References
Henderson, Scott (2008). Canadian content regulations and the
formation of a national scene. Popular Music 27(2): 307-15.
I agree that Cancon's support of domestic content could have contributed to D-Pryde's increased exposure. At the same time, at least to me, it feels he deserves most of the credit for really putting in work to make a name and image for himself. He is definitely a part of the Youtube generation who built a fanbase by creating his own content, remixing content, and promoting himself. I do know when he did get signed, it was in the US, though he has moved back to Toronto. All in all, there is definitely a lot more involved in achieving success.
ReplyDeleteGoing off on a tangent, I noticed that Henderson did not mention the relevance of any successful Canadian and Canada-based rap or hip-hop artists such as K'naan, K-os, Shad (now also the host for CBC's show Q), who continue to release quality content and are featured by Cancon.