In the audio industry mainly, and to a lesser extent in the television industry, the piece of the pie has shrunk. As we heard, Canada has the seventh largest music market in the world. And as far as our international sales are concerned, we hover between second and third place. The figures in terms of the number of albums or musical selections sold remain steady. The drastic drop in revenues in the market is likely due to technological advancements, but it also has to do with the fact that consumers have changed their behaviour.
On the radio side of things, the regulations appear to be working. That's what we're seeing now. So it isn't the time to change them. The situation is stable. Revenues and profits have neither increased nor decreased. The fact that royalty payments are being generated really does a lot not just for content development but also for discovery and compensation.
What should be done to support the music industry? Money shouldn't be the only focus; it is also important to look at whether production is happening, whether it is possible to communicate and flourish in the field. Naturally, having money is helpful. But that money has to be generated in a new way. Yes, it's important to sell T-shirts and concert tickets. But, in our view, it is increasingly necessary to focus on the brand power of the product and the artist, on the way listeners are first exposed to the artist and on methods to stimulate sales of the artist's various products.
Selling more records means finding new ways of exposing audiences to artists and enabling that discovery. The major streaming systems use all kinds of private algorithms. What components in those algorithms make it possible to find and suggest music to Canadians? That's the kind of question we need to ask ourselves and try to answer.
What are people looking at? They probably keep up with the latest online and through social networks. That means it's necessary to make sure our artists are on those networks and using them actively, not just to communicate with Canadians, but also to generate the types of electronic products that will help put Canadian music front and centre.