Canadian Heritage committee  Graham is a lawyer too, so we can throw it to him.

Canadian Heritage committee  Maybe I'll take it, just because as a lawyer I set up all the corporate structures for the artists. From the commercial level, almost without fail, the artists are incorporated, and the first thing they learn.... People come to me and say that they think they need a lawyer, and I tell them they always need a good accountant first.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think the system is there. I don't know whether people who are making $20,000 a year still feel the need to do it, but anyone who's in the sort of $50,000 a year range, as an artist who would come to me, would be incorporated and I would teach them exactly this. You have 18 months off because you're making a record, then you go on tour and make all your money in nine months, so you have to park it, and you want to have the advantages of dividend tax benefits and things like that.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think one point to make about the touring thing, too, is that when you get to a certain level there are only so many times people can see you play. A band can only play in Sudbury so many times. How many times? Eleven times? There is a finite amount. If you think of your favourite bands, which I know you all have, how many times have you seen them?

Canadian Heritage committee  It's down significantly.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Sylvie. The Radio Starmaker Fund is the English side of the Fonds RadioStar. We started handing out money in 2001. To some extent we have the easy job, because we are focused on the commercial sector of the business. I was tasked with building the fund in 2001. The broadcasters came to me because I was an entertainment lawyer who represented artists exclusively.

Canadian Heritage committee  Sorry, Alan, except for your very successful solo career, which then involves more.... How do we stay relevant going forward? As I said, we're focused on marketing and touring. We don't make records. You need to have sales to get into the Starmaker Fund, so we assume you have your records and videos taken care of.