Evidence of meeting #9 for Canadian Heritage in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was artists.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
That's what I'm saying, that it's part of the ecosystem. It's part of it.
President, Canadian Recording Industry Association
I don't disagree. I thought I'd answered that. I thought I'd made it very clear that--
Director, Digital Business Development, Warner Music Canada
The concern is that it's stand-alone; it doesn't address the behaviour. I think that's why we have issue with it.
Director, Digital Business Development, Warner Music Canada
Just to be very clear, it's the issue with it. I don't want to distract; it's not like tax, check the box, and move on. That's my concern.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Thank you.
This has been great, and I'm really keen with what you guys are doing at Warner and Universal.
Loreena, I wish our band was as good as you; I probably wouldn't have to be here in a suit--in terms of our marketing--and giving you guys a hard time.
Graham, I think my problem here is that when we were kids, there was rock and roll and hockey and nothing else. My kids buy CDs, they buy DVDs, they've got the Wii. That market has changed forever. I have a hard time saying that it's all piracy. Everything has changed. We used to go into bars where we could play six nights of the week. Now you've got one night on a Thursday and you get two people. I mean, everything has changed.
We politicians get whipped up into a lather; we've got to get laws and everything. But I see that there's been a whole whack of changes.
I've got this book, Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. What they talk about...the 1997 op ed: the greatest mistake of the musical industry in the 20th century was killing the single. It started there. It was forcing kids to buy the $25 CD for two crappy Backstreet Boys songs.
Napster came along--it was called the “revenge of the single”--at the time when kids wanted the single. You had the option then....
You can say you don't like the book, but it's a fascinating read.
President, Canadian Recording Industry Association
[Inaudible--Editor]...misrepresentation, the classic straw man.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I'm running out of time here.
You had the opportunity to make the deal with Napster. It was 26 million users. What the kids loved about it, according to the interviews, wasn't that it was free; it was that they were able to access it. Say half of that audience went off because they didn't want to pay for anything, and you had them on a subscription rate.
This book says that would have created a $15-billion-a-year market.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
But you guys chose to go the lawsuit route.
Your line at the time--
NDP
President, Canadian Recording Industry Association
If you like the straw man.
NDP
President, Canadian Recording Industry Association
If you like the straw man.
President, Canadian Recording Industry Association
If you'd like a complete misrepresentation of our business, you're welcome to read it.
Director, Digital Business Development, Warner Music Canada
Can I respond, Mr. Chair?
Conservative
Director, Digital Business Development, Warner Music Canada
As I think was established earlier on, there are three segments to the market. We're only focusing on one with Charlie Angus's comments here. I beg the committee to please understand that this book and what he is talking about references a time that is gone. We're working on two other aspects of the business, which are in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars internationally, okay?
What we're talking about in Canada is a three-segment business--one, the downloaders, which we monetize right now; two, the product innovation; and yes, there is a pirate element. But we need to address all three. It's just straight economics and marketing.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Thank you.
Mr. Del Mastro, you can have a very short question, please.