The little country boy from Nunavut. I come from Iqaluit, where we can park wherever we want. It's a bit of a different context.
I'm a bit out of my element today. I'm an artist first and foremost. We're from Iqaluit, Nunavut, so we're in a unique position within the music industry in Canada. As artists, we're not.... I want to agree with everything Graham just said. I'll steal his notes and read them again.
We sing in Inuktitut. That's part of what we do as The Jerry Cans. It's part of a very important music trend in Canada, the indigenous music scene and what's happening there. I have a lot of things to say about the music industry, but in terms of copyright, I think it's very important to understand the relationship between copyright law and indigenous music forms. It is a unique situation that should be acknowledged within any new legislation that comes out.
We incorporate throat singing, and we are very wary because throat singing is now becoming an internationally known art form, with Tanya Tagaq and her collaborations with The Jerry Cans and a few other artists. We wonder how that throat singing could be used and how traditional art forms should be protected and be ensured compensation when they're performed on international scales. That's what I wanted to bring in my presentation; it's not much more than that.
I also think that as artists, we struggle because of what's happening in the music industry right now. Our music production—the songs we make and songs that we produce—is such a small part of our income generation now, and we don't necessarily see.... I think that's because of what's happening in the copyright world. We're losing so much control and power over our own music and creative forms.
We're very confused about what to do about it, because we feel a bit powerless about where our money's coming from. We perform to make money. A new song that we create is more of a business card than any form of making a hit single or anything like that, so I am hopeful that we can figure out a way.
We've toured with some international artists who see Canada as a very special place. They think the support for music in this country is very strong, and I think we need to keep it that way. I also think we need to figure out how to more properly compensate artists for their music specifically, because touring is tiring—as you can see. I played a show until midnight last night. I do think it's important to present the artist's perspective. We sometimes get lost in the conversations, because these things are quite complex, and we struggle to understand the world of copyright.
I think there's a lot to be done. Also, when Graham was talking about middle-class artists, I was like, “I want to be one of those” because of the situation we find ourselves in. If we pie-chart out our revenue, what comes from copyright is so little now. I'm a young artist, and the older generation is telling me about the glory days of getting royalty cheques. I say, “Sweet. What's that? I'll buy you a coffee with mine.”
I do think there's potential to figure it out. I don't know about these specific situations, but I think it's important to hear from artists and realize that the way we think about copyright is changing a lot. We don't necessarily see releasing a song as a way to pay for the rent or whatever. I also want to reiterate that it's important to acknowledge the importance of understanding how indigenous art forms fit into copyright law in Canada. I'll leave it at that.
Coming from Nunavut, it's especially difficult because it's so expensive up north, but I think it's one of the most important music trends in Canada right now. Figuring out how to support that properly is something I'll leave up to you.
Thank you. Qujannamiik.
Come visit us in Nunavut.