My name is Heather Ostertag. I am the president and CEO of the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings, commonly referred to as FACTOR.
FACTOR is a private not-for-profit organization that manages funds on behalf of the Department of Canadian Heritage as well as contributions from Canada's private radio broadcasters.
Please allow me to provide some brief historical background on the foundation. In 1982 FACTOR was created as a result of a collaboration between the music industry and Canada's private radio broadcasters. In 1985 FACTOR merged with the Canadian Talent Library, creating an even larger pool of funding for artists. In 1986 the Department of Canadian Heritage, previously titled the Department of Communications, launched what is now referred to as the Canada Music Fund.
FACTOR and its sister organization, MUSICACTION, entered into an agreement to manage components of the initiative. FACTOR and MUSICACTION have continued to administer various programs on behalf of Canadian Heritage.
Personally, I have been involved with FACTOR since 1985 and have witnessed the increased support from the Canadian government over the years. The fund was launched with a commitment of $25 million over five years. It is so greatly appreciated by the artists and the music industry that the department has, over time, increased its commitment to the music industry. The recent announcement to recommit to an additional five years, with a value of $138 million, was well received.
The objective of the funding has always been to respond to the current needs of Canadian artists. From the outset, the intent of the government funding has been to support the production, marketing, and promotion of projects by Canadian artists, both domestically and internationally.
Under its current and previous agreements, FACTOR is contractually bound to fund projects from all genres of music as well as culturally diverse projects.
FACTOR has historically identified and addressed the ever-changing needs of the artists. The ongoing, direct relationship FACTOR has with its clients facilitates the foundation's ability to identify the ever-changing needs of artists. As a result, FACTOR has continually gone on record to request additional funding. While it is appropriate for FACTOR to request additional financial support, we recognize that it would be inappropriate to suggest where the much needed funds come from.
We recognize, however, that there will always be a finite amount of funding available. Further, we recognize the difficulty in the decision-making process encountered by both the funders and the administrators. It is not possible to provide funding for every proposal received.
The assessment process used by FACTOR is similar to the Canada Council's. It is a peer assessment that determines which projects will receive funding. Applicants effectively select their jury of peers during the process of application, which requires them to select a musical genre. Musical genre selection is not required for the purpose of slotting the artists into a niche but rather to allow them to choose the jurors who work in a specific genre as those best suited to adjudicating their proposals.
Each genre jury member has been accredited to ensure that he or she has a deep understanding of the genre and an ability to assess projects based on their creative merits.
The board of directors of FACTOR does not make creative decisions, nor do members listen to the music. If a project is recommended for funding through the creative assessment process, it will receive an offer of funding.
For the year ending March 31, 2009, FACTOR invested almost 30% of its funding in culturally diverse projects.
FACTOR is represented coast to coast to coast by the provincial music industry associations in each territory and province in Canada. They conduct juries across the country simultaneously. These relationships are invaluable to FACTOR, because they help to ensure that there is a national voice in the decision-making process.
FACTOR is not in a position to fund every proposal it receives, because there is a finite amount of funding available. That is the unfortunate reality of administering funding programs. However, I believe that the process we have, and the relationships we have with the provincial music industry associations, help to ensure that all proposals are given a fair and equal opportunity for consideration, regardless of genre.
Thank you.