Now we would like to speak about support for performers in the music industry.
To date this support has been directed to production companies rather than to the performers themselves. In the same way that the music industry needs support, so do the performers. Performers who work on an album are not compensated for the time they spend doing that and only receive a small amount for their studio recording sessions.
If they can completely cover the album production costs, then they may be able to collect royalties. However that hardly ever happens. Whether the production is profitable or not, production company staff receive a salary thanks to a system of subsidies whereas the performer has to take on several jobs in order to make ends meet.
Ms. Couture, who appeared on the first day of your hearings, said that it is good to see the real challenges that performers face on a daily basis so that policies are crafted accordingly. One of their challenges is to live with no income during that whole period that precedes the creation of an album. When performers are in a production period, they need a salary in order to be able to spend their time creating.
We find it unfortunate that the business plan for a viable music industry is based on the assumption that performers are volunteering almost all their time. We believe that subsidies for the performers would rectify this unfortunate situation. How can that be done? It could be done by providing subsidies that would be parallel to and connected to production, for the purposes of guaranteeing a salary for the performers, salary that would be more than simply a repayable advance. If performers are the source of musical endeavours, then they have to be part and parcel of the funding mechanism and be compensated.