Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you very much for your invitation to appear before you today. We hope these discussions will provide valuable insight into the evolution of the Canada Music Fund.
FACTOR is a private not-for-profit corporation that was established more than 30 years ago by private radio and Canadian music companies with just $200,000 in voluntary radio contributions.
In 1986 a private-public partnership was formed when FACTOR began to administer government funding offered through the sound recording development program. In the most recent year on record, FACTOR received $8.4 million from the Government of Canada through the Canada Music Fund and $11.1 million from private radio broadcasters through their Canadian content development contributions mandated by the CRTC. This makes private radio the majority funding partner in FACTOR.
This revenue model allows us to supplement Canada Music Fund programs with funding from private radio and to develop independent programs financed entirely by the private radio sector. In 2012-13 we committed close to $17 million through our various programs, supporting almost 2,000 funding requests.
Through FACTOR-administered government and radio support since 1982, Canadian companies and artists have been remarkably successful both domestically and abroad. Companies such as Nettwerk, Maple Music, Arts and Crafts, Paper Bag, Secret City, and Justin Time are most notable, as is 604 Records, which recorded the Carly Rae Jepsen hit Call Me Maybe, which achieved more than 10 million downloads worldwide in 2012.
This year FACTOR supported six Juno-winning albums, and in 2014 the FACTOR-supported album Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well, by Jennifer Gasoi, won the first Grammy ever for a Canadian children's recording. We are extremely proud of these accomplishments and the role FACTOR has played in supporting these sound recordings.