Concerned about the absence of Quebec music from the charts of the most listened to online songs, the Quebec government will invest almost a million dollars to improve its visibility on digital platforms.
The current picture is bleak, agreed Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe during a press conference announcing the award of $975,000 over three years to metadata management platform MetaMusic Music.
He pointed to data from June showing that no song in French is among the 100 listened to in Quebec on online music sites such as Spotify or Apple Music. The only Quebec artist in the top 100? Charlotte Cardin, thanks to two titles in English.
Charlotte Cardin Photo Archive Pascal Huot/Agence QMI
“Of the 1,000 most listened to songs, 4% are in French and of that 4%, only half are from Quebec. Such numbers are frightening. “It’s scary for the future of the French in Quebec and it’s scary for the future of the music industry,” says Minister Lacombe.
Help find music
By funding the activities of MétaMusique, a non-profit organization founded in 2020, the government is taking the first of a series of measures aimed at keeping local music alive, says Mathieu Lacombe.
Essentially, MétaMusique ensures that Quebec songs go online with the correct information (artist names, associated musical styles) so that they are more easily identifiable to platform listeners and their creators receive the royalties they are entitled to.
“Right now you can find music from Quebec if you search for the name of the artist. For example, if you want to listen to punk music, we won’t offer you Les Vulgaires Machines. We introduce you to all the other punk groups before the Vulgaires Machines. For what ? “It is possible that the music of Vulgaires Machins was poorly documented,” explains MétaMusique general director Pierre Gourde.
marketing
We at ADISQ believe that MétaMusique is an essential strategic tool, but that it will be necessary to act on other fronts to reverse this serious trend. “As the number of channels on which music is consumed increases, significant marketing investments are required,” says managing director Ève Paré.
For Minister Mathieu Lacombe, ensuring Quebec culture maintains its place is “essential.”
“If we choose to remain inactive, we will face a Quebec that is increasingly less connected to what it is. (…) I would be afraid to see the situation in 50 years. »
The Minister of Culture Mathieu Lacombe. Photo Cédric Bélanger/Le Journal de Québec