Last month I posted about a recently released report commissioned by Canadian Heritage on the future of the Canadian music industry. I noted that the report provides a realistic assessment of the challenges facing the industry, emphasizing the need to embrace the Internet and new technologies without laying the blame […]
Post Tagged with: "music industry"
Evolution of the Music Industry
On the heels of my column this week on the music industry, there are several articles discussing related developments. The LA Times discusses efforts by one ISP to create a licensed, internal P2P service with agreements in place with both Sony and EMI, while the NY Times reports that the […]
Canadian Heritage’s 2005 Music Industry Profile
I'm several weeks late on this, but Canadian Heritage has released the 2005 Music Industry Profile. The most noteworthy data point comes in the introduction – Canadian artists have seen their sales increase since 2001. Sales of Canadian albums have increased from 6.8 million units in 2001 to 8.5 million […]
Sound Numbers
A special edition of my Law Bytes column (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) reports on a recent Canadian Heritage commissioned study on the economic impact of the copyright industries. The Connectus Consulting report, entitled The Economic Impact of Canadian Copyright Industries – Sectoral Analysis, has yet to be publicly released. However, I recently obtained a copy of the final report dated March 31, 2006, under an Access to Information Act request.
The report, which spans 1997 to 2004, finds that the copyright industries comprise 4.5 percent of the Canadian economy and contribute 5.5 percent of total Canadian employment. While that is expected to increase in the coming years (the copyright industries are growing at a faster rate than the overall economy), it pales in comparison to sectors such as finance, manufacturing, agriculture, education, and health care.
More interesting is a case study on the sound recording industry that contradicts both the industry claims and the expectations of the report's authors.
Music Industry Puts Canada on Special Focus List
Having been criticized by the United States Trade Representative for our copyright policies, Canada is now two for two. The International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), the global music industry association, has placed Canada on a special focus list.
