Good morning, Madam Chair, and thank you for having us at committee today.
My name is Allan Reid. I am the president and CEO of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. With me is Jackie Dean, our chief operating officer.
CARAS is probably better known as the home of the Juno awards, which is obviously our national award show that happens every year; as well as MusiCounts, Canada's music education charity, and also as the home of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Our main focus is to develop, showcase and promote Canadian artists and their music. This year's Juno awards will be held in London, Ontario, and we'll be including a week-long celebration of Canadian talent culminating in the Juno awards broadcast.
While the Juno awards is CARAS' most highly profiled award show and our main offering, the organization also works hard to support emerging Canadian talent through robust 365 days a year programming that seeks to assist artists in every stage of their development.
I often say that we're more than just an awards show. CARAS' mandate has evolved over the last few years into four key pillars: to educate through our charity, MusiCounts; to develop artists through the Allan Slaight Juno master class; to celebrate Canadian artists through the Juno awards and our 365 days a year programming; and also to honour our icons through the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
We are with artists from birth to myth, as we like to say, and that is the continuum we want to support. Part of that support is to advocate to ensure the proper infrastructure is in place to further build the Canadian music ecosystem, which can be enhanced through a number of changes to the Copyright Act in order to strengthen the ability of musicians to make a living.
You've had an opportunity to hear first-hand from some great Canadian artists at this committee: Andrew Morrison from the Jerry Cans, who actually graced the Juno stage this year in Vancouver; Damhnait Doyle; Miranda Mulholland; and the host of the Junos, from Ottawa, Bryan Adams. They all tell a very similar story about how change is needed to amend the legislation, which will change not only the lives of artists, but the entire music system.
I've seen the struggles that musicians face, having built my career in the Canadian music industry. I was the head of A and R, artists and repertoire, for Universal Music, for 30 years. I was also the general manager for MapleMusic, one of Canada's top independent labels. I've had the good fortune to work with artists like Jann Arden, Sam Roberts, Sarah Harmer, and the Tragically Hip. On a personal note, I'm actually married to an artist as well, a very talented singer-songwriter named Kim Stockwood, from Newfoundland. So, the artist experience is something I see and live with on a daily basis.
It's important to note that at CARAS we have a very unique situation. We are not a label, we are not songwriters, and we are not music publishers. We don't benefit in any financial way from the changes that would be made, but we are the end result of the changes that will be made and what happens in the music industry. We want to make sure that all music creators have a chance to succeed and be showcased on the Juno stage.
The music sector is aligned like never before on these initiatives that need to be undertaken on the Copyright Act to improve the lives of our creators. Our colleagues at Music Canada have done an outstanding presentation on the value gap, the difference between the value of the artists' music and what they are paid as creators for the use of that music. It's a gap that has been widening over the last few years and we need changes to the Copyright Act to ensure that artists receive full value for their works.
What changes do we see in this sector? I'll pass it over to my colleague Jackie Dean to outline those for you.