Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
My name is Martin Smith, and I'm the president of GMA Canada, also known as the Gospel Music Association of Canada.
Before I drove up here today, I was thinking about the heritage and place of gospel music in our country. It could easily be argued that the heritage of gospel music in Canada predates the formation of our country.
The Christmas hymn The Huron Carol was written in 1642 at a mission in Sainte-Marie among the Hurons near present-day Midland, Ontario. The music was based on a traditional French folk song, with the current English lyrics added in 1926. Over the years, the song has been recorded by Bruce Cockburn, Tom Jackson, the Crash Test Dummies, the Canadian Tenors, and non-Canadian artists as diverse as Burl Ives and the Vienna Boys Choir.
The Huron Carol may be the first signpost in the journey of gospel music in Canada, but it is just the tip of the iceberg and now represents music that can be heard in every province and territory, and in every conceivable genre: folk, pop, rock, country, jazz, classical, heavy metal, choir, urban rap, quartet, dance, francophone, aboriginal, gospel Caribbean, blues, roots, hymns, and yes, Christmas music. All of these things fall under gospel music.
The sound of gospel music is as diverse as our country. Whether the songs are being played in churches or stadiums, or on the radio or at home, the Canadian gospel music industry is thriving and is part of our country's legacy.
In 1974 the Canadian Gospel Music Association, now known as GMA Canada, was formed. At first the organization was primarily Ontario based and specifically linked to what we call light inspirational and southern gospel music. If you're not familiar with southern gospel music, think four-part harmony quartets with four men wearing the same suit.
Over the decades, GMA Canada has changed to reflect the changes in both the musical styles and the needs of the artists who are our members. Today, GMA Canada exists to serve and celebrate the artists from coast to coast to coast. This is done through our annual artists retreat, the annual Covenant Awards and banquet, various events, workshops and showcases, and the broadcast of the awards program on national TV each fall.
GMA Canada's work is to raise the profile and interaction of gospel music artists, songwriters, producers, promoters, radio stations, distribution, retailers, and churches. The organization is run by a volunteer board of eight women and men who work closely with the greater community to foster the impact and success of Canadian gospel music. As part of that growth and communication with artists across the country, we have introduced many new elements, such as training workshops with industry leaders, the artist songwriting retreat, and a more impactful awards program.
We introduced, for example, the lifetime achievement award that has honoured Canadians such as Tommy Hunter, the Toronto Mass Choir, and also George Beverly Shea, who sang in front of more people in the world than any other artist in history due to his travels with Billy Graham. He was born just down the road in Winchester, Ontario.
We have honoured industry builders, retail giants, groundbreaking artists, and influencers. We added several new categories to recognize music from every community, whether French, English, or aboriginal. We included awards for graphic design for albums, for songwriters, for music videos, and for a whole array of other categories. We created the Canadian Gospel Music Song Hall of Fame to pay tribute to earlier works such as The Huron Carol. If you were to look back at the original lyrics of The Maple Leaf Forever, or even of our national anthem, you would see that the lyrics are about faith and the aspirations of a nation, and they go hand in hand.
The greater gospel music industry includes 30 full-time radio stations, with twice as many repeaters, in communities as far stretched as Grande Prairie in Alberta, and Mount Pearl in Newfoundland. The country is host to major events such as YC, which is a youth event held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Langley, and St. John's. The annual event in Edmonton has seen 17,000 young people pack the same stadium that Wayne Gretzky used to call home. There are festivals, conferences, weekend church services, and coffee shops that see the playing of gospel music each week.
Sales of gospel music in Canada exceed over $10 million annually, including both physical goods and downloads on iTunes and other Internet sources. David C Cook Distribution in Paris, Ontario, distributes the bulk of the music to religious retail stores, but most of the major mainstream record labels also have a roster of gospel artists, including Sony, Universal, and the Warner Music Group.
This income does not count the CCLI report, which collects fees for songs sung in churches each week, the fees for live performances, or other income from radio or television.
Artists, producers, record labels, and distribution are all active in producing significant income, whether it is royalties for a recording or staying in those hotels while they tour the country. The biggest challenge for our community is being able to tap into government funding. Many artists have not been able to receive support from FACTOR, as an example, because our industry is made up mostly of independent artists whose CDs do not sell in HMV or Walmart. Our organization has struggled to gain recognition for our members and receive support for our annual GMA Canada week, which includes those key elements of training, showcasing, and the annual awards program.
Many of our artists have looked southward to record labels based in Nashville or Colorado Springs to find the kind of support they need, but as you can imagine, very few artists are signed to those kinds of deals. GMA Canada, as an umbrella organization representing a significant art form and community, continues to seek both recognition and financial support to allow our artists to grow, learn, train, and mentor the next generation. Whether the song is The Huron Carol or something from Tim Neufeld's new album “Trees”, which won a Juno Award on the weekend, the gospel music community is a Canadian heritage gem waiting, like most of the country, for spring to arrive and its bud to blossom.
Thank you for your time this morning.