Thank you.
I appreciate all of you being here.
We've spoken a lot about the elephant in the room, in always referencing the fact that the industry has changed so much. So it's good to meet both Justin and Jason whom I'll refer to today as the elephants in the room in reflecting the changing industry.
Jason, to start with something totally off topic, when you started speaking, I was thinking, “This guy's from Google, but he actually has a voice for radio”, so I was quite interested in seeing that you had shifted over.
I really would like to get into the discussion about exactly what you deliver, because it is fundamentally one of the major reasons why we're doing this music study. That is based, Justin, on your company's efforts to ensure that people can have as much access to music as they possibly can, and likewise, Jason, the recent announcement on your company's foray into this from a Canadian perspective.
We have heard a lot. I don't know whether you have had a chance to read some of the testimony here, but one of the biggest issues facing musicians in Canada today is that they are making little to no money on the art they are producing and the music they are playing, because the vehicle for actually accessing financing or rewarding their creative efforts is subject to .005¢ or .004¢ each time their song is played. We have had accounts of a band's songs being played hundreds of thousands of times and their receiving a cheque for $47.50 for that effort during a year.
I'm wondering how you respond to that, because we are going through a fundamental shift, and all four of you have acknowledged the shift we are going through with respect to the industry. But you guys are the elephants in the room, and I wonder how you respond to the future of Canadian artists, the future of their opportunity, not only to produce and be creative but also to make a living.