Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of Stingray Music Canada, I would like to thank you for inviting us to take part in the discussion on the remuneration of artists and creative industries in connection with copyright, and more specifically with music, which is our industry.
Founded in 2007, Stingray is a Canadian company headquartered in Montreal that currently employs 340 people in Canada.
We distribute our services both in Canada and abroad. Considering all our services, we we reach an estimated 400 million subscribers or homes in 156 countries. We also serve 12,000 business clients, which represent 78,000 commercial establishments.
For the 2018 fiscal year, approximately 47% of Stingray's revenues were Canadian. The more successful Stingray is abroad, the more Canadian artists benefit from this success.
Stingray's service portfolio in Canada includes an audio music service called Stingray Music, which includes about 2,000 audio music channels offering a hundred or so genres of music. We also offer various on-demand services, including video clips, karaoke, concerts, various products available individually, as well as tens of linear channels on television such as Stingray Classica, Stingray Festival 4K, Stingray Ambiance, and so forth.
We also offer music and digital display services to commercial establishments through our Stingray Business division.
Our services are available on various digital platforms and devices, including cable and satellite television, the Internet, mobile applications, video game consoles, in flight or train entertainment systems, smart cars, WiFi systems such as Sonos, and so forth.
More than 100 music experts right around the world are responsible for programming Stingray's various services and channels. This distinguishes Stingray from various other music services, which use algorithms to select content for their clients. The programming on Stingray's channels is also tailored to the local market and to the demographics of that market.
By necessity, Stingray is also a technology company. The demands of managing a large digital catalogue and distributing that content on various platforms and in various markets require Stingray to stay on top of and at the forefront of technology. Stingray accordingly invests several millions of dollars every year in research and development to remain competitive and retain its clients.
Stingray is committed to encouraging Canadian talent and artists and it participates actively in the development and promotion of Canadian content. During the last broadcast year, Stingray has spent approximately $379,000 in Canadian content development, CCD, initiatives, which include payments to associations such as FACTOR, Musicaction and the Community Radio Fund of Canada, but also awards at music events and festivals, artist performance fees, workshops, educational sessions, and so on.
In addition to such CCD initiatives, after Stingray's IPO in 2015, the CRTC approved the change of ownership and effective control of Stingray, but it required that Stingray pay tangible benefits corresponding to an amount of $5.5 million over a period of seven years.
In addition to those regulatory obligations, Stingray also contributes voluntarily in many other ways to the promotion and development of Canadian artists. Very recently, Stingray partnered with ADISQ to create a new music video channel made available through television operators in Canada, named PalmarèsADISQ par Stingray.
Pursuant to Stingray's desire to invest in young talent, a portion of the profits generated by such channels will be invested in local music video production through existing third party funds such as Fonds RadioStar. Through this initiative, Stingray will finance the production of music videos broadcast on its channels but will also help develop the career of up and coming Quebec and Canadian directors and artists.
Each year, Stingray also gives certain amounts to events of partners involved in the development and promotion of Canadian talent. For example, Stingray has been a regular sponsor of panels at les Rencontres de l'ADISQ and other similar events.
Stingray also produces the series PausePlay, which consists of exclusive interviews and intimate performances of popular and emerging artists recorded live to promote their new album or tour. Such recordings are then made available by Stingray on social media platforms and channels to offer important exposure for these artists. We also offer editorial coverage on the Stingray blog about album reviews, concert reviews, etc.
Stingray is not here today to ask anything of the committee. Stingray appears before the committee to propose a solution, or at least part of a solution, to help Canadian artists.
We believe that some unregulated industries should be regulated. For example, the Stingray services that are offered through television are subject to Canadian content minimum requirements, as are the commercial radio stations. If we want to promote and encourage the visibility of our Canadian artists, Stingray believes that commercial background music services should be included in the Broadcasting Act and be subject to similar requirements. Such measures would apply to Stingray, because Stingray is one of the biggest background music suppliers in Canada right now.
Let's think about it. Why would the communication of music in a retail outlet that uses the services of a background music supplier be treated any differently than another outlet that plays radio as background music, or any differently than when such a person listens to a TV music channel in his home?
We submit that no such distinction should be made, and we made the same submission before the CRTC in our comments on future programming distribution models in February 2018.
We strongly believe that our proposal can provide Canadian artists with excellent promotional platforms as well as additional revenues.
Thank you.