Canadian acts add sparkle to FACTOR programs

In a time of economic uncertainties and Arts funding cuts at home, Canada’s unique collaboration between commercial radio and public funding is both a bridge over troubled water for Canada’s music community and increasingly a business model that is being studied around the world.

The not-for-profit Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings is the Holy Grail for Canada’s music industry. Without the funding bank, Canada’s ubiquitous music presence – and the infrastructure that is taking it global  – just wouldn’t be.  Through affiliated programs, the 26 year-old Foundation has assisted an encyclopedia of acts that are either starting off or taking their music to the world: From Alanis Morissette in her teens to Feist and Alexisonfire today.

A few funding facts about the foundation:

• FACTOR nominated artists had a total of 68 of the 76 possible nominations at the annual Indie Awards;
• 66 FACTOR supported artists had a total of 87 nominations at the Juno Awards;
• 13 FACTOR supported artists were nominated for a total of 18 Canadian Radio Music Awards;
• FACTOR provided support to 20 acts that garnered 40 Canadian Country Music Award nominations this year, including Doc Walker, Jessie Farrell, Johnny Reid, The Higgins, Paul Brandt, Shane Yellowbird, Alex J. Robinson and Corb Lund.

The partnership between Canada’s private radio broadcasters and the Department of Canadian Heritage, through the Canada Music Fund, has provided ample examples of how this unique funding organization has achieved success.

For the Canadian radio broadcasters, the Foundation guarantees a steady supply of newly minted recordings by Canadian artists that can be broken down into 22 categories or genres that span Aboriginal to Urban, Classical to Jazz and everything in between.

As important, the generation of new sound recordings, alongside funding for marketing and international tour initiatives, fuels increasing economic activity and opportunity for Canada’s music industry on a global scale.

Today, FACTOR assisted artists are travelling the globe.

An early beneficiary, kd lang, is a marquee name worldwide. A more recent FACTOR recipient is Feist who has become one of Canada’s latest international successes.

Measuring and evaluating the success and effectiveness of FACTOR programs falls on the shoulders of Heather Ostertag, the Foundation’s long-time president and CEO. Anyone dealing with her knows she is passionate about the cause of Canada’s independent musicians and the music they produce.

The workload that the small team under her stewardship churns through in a year is staggering, and yet she remains for the most part undaunted and unflappable in the face of a tsunami of demands placed on her and the Foundation.

“Canada’s Independent artists have had a banner year,” she says with pride resonating from within. “In the words of Charles Dickens, it is the best of times and worst of times with the number of record retailers diminishing and record sales spiraling down.

“Against this,” Ostertag says, “there are new opportunities opening up. The digital business is slowly increasing, ringtones are providing new income streams, branding and licensing opportunities are more readily available, and the concert business is going gang-busters.”

“I believe that the new reality creates opportunities for things to be done differently. We can change the playbook and create new ways of getting our Canadian artists heard at home and round the world. It is an exciting time to be in the music business. We are living in an era of newfound possibilities.”

Ostertag doesn’t hesitate in thanking her partners either: “We are very fortunate and appreciative of the contributions that Canada’s private broadcasters have provided to the success of the Canadian music industry.

In total over $40 million has been paid out this past year alone.

This year contributions from the private broadcast community are to be matched by funding from Canadian Heritage. This means that “FACTOR will be able to do that much more to support and develop the Canadian music industry”  and to play a big  role in “helping build on the groundswell of endeavor that has made the world look at Canada as a nation with a small populace and a large roster of credible musical talent.”