"As a long-time music journalist and a jury foreperson for the Polaris Prize, I take Canadian music pretty damn seriously. Thirty years ago, I remember staying up late to see the Tragically Hip on Saturday Night Live -introduced by Dan Aykroyd in a shirt emblazoned with "CANADA." I wasn't even that much of a fan, but there was something in me that wanted to root for a Canadian band attempting to make it in the United States of America."
"In population and pop culture power, Canada is dwarfed by our neighbours to the south, but we've been able to punch above our weight for some time. From long-standing legends like Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson, Neil Young, and Céline Dion to more recent luminaries like Carly Rae Jepsen, the Weeknd, Tanya Tagaq, and, of course, Drake, it's not hard to think of iconic musical Canucks."
"But then US president Donald Trump indicated that he wanted to get his hands on the True North Strong and Free. I knew that Trump's fifty-first-state talk was being taken dead seriously when Canadians started booing the American anthem. As people told me I shouldn't cross the border, and politicians started acting like hockey coaches entering a third period down by a couple goals, I realized that my lighthearted plans for the presentation needed to change."
A presentation planned in Los Angeles aimed to position Canadian music as an export commodity alongside Sweden and South Korea. Canadian popular music has produced enduring legends and contemporary stars that have punched above the country's population weight. Political tensions with the United States altered plans and highlighted national sentiment. A post-pandemic evaluation of the Canada Music Fund shows sharp revenue declines, with album sales falling nearly 74 percent between 2015 and 2021. Municipal data from Toronto indicates a steady disappearance of live music venues, signaling structural challenges across the industry.
Read at The Walrus
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