[d_alex_d]

Hey guys, just got this email from my local rock station FM96. This weekend they are playing songs in 2's, 4's, or 24's in a row by one artist, to celebrate the long weekend. Heres the email, and playlist...

FM96 gets hard core for the 1st long weekend of the summer with our 1st Annual FM96 MAY 2- 4 TWO, FOUR OR TWENTY FOUR in concert with Lakeport and Wendy's. Here's how it works...all weekend long, we will be playing your favorite FM96 Artists in 2's, 4's, or 2-4's... 24 songs in a row! Thanks to your input all week weve decide to roll out 2-4's of...

The Tragically Hip - Saturday starting at 6am
Pearl Jam - Saturday starting at 3pm
U2 - Sunday starting at 7am
AC/DC - Sunday starting at 2pm
Metallica - Sunday starting at 9pm
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Monday starting at 1pm
Green Day - Monday starting at 8pm

Sucks that the hip are so early on a Saturday morning, but there first up..should be interesting to listen to

[clearlyentranced]

Hey Alex, I just cause the part about metallica on the radio on the way from town, didn't hear of the hip being part of this..so thanks.

[tth_fan]

I hope the 24 isn't for U2....I can only take so much of Bono's self-righteous whining

[hotmetal401]

Sucks that the hip are so early on a Saturday morning, but there first up..should be interesting to listen to

This is one reason why some people believe CanCon regulations are flawed. By playing 24 Tragically Hip songs in a row, FM96 will kill precious CanCon credits, so they can play more non-Canadian tunes throughout the rest of the day.

Now, usually this time of day can be a dumping zone -- rarely would a more popular artist be relugated to the "Beaver Hour", but I guess these are the breaks.

Cheers,

Pat

[chris]

102.1 in Toronto abuses this policy every day. Have a listen between 3:00 am and 5:30 am; it's almost non-stop CanCon.

[opiated]

102.1 in Toronto abuses this policy every day. Have a listen between 3:00 am and 5:30 am; it's almost non-stop CanCon.

the CRTC really only cares about cancon between six am and six pm...as long as there is 35 percent between those hours..at my station, we play more cancon during the afternoons than in the morning hours

[ryan93]

I don't know what to make of CanCon to be honest, i sorta agree with Bruce Allen and Bryan Adams.

[opiated]

I don't know what to make of CanCon to be honest, i sorta agree with Bruce Allen and Bryan Adams.

CANCON is a pain in the ass..and they want it upped to 40 percent.. :x

[hotmetal401]

Bryan Adams argues that no one has ever played his music because of CanCon -- then how do you explain the success of "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You"? Then he goes on to say that you need something like CanCon to protect Quebecios culture from English influences.

In Have Not Been the Same, one of the guys from Rusty said something similar: if you need to protect a culture, is it worth having? But then, what about Native culture? He argues it needs to be preserved, and we're better for having it.

But can you have it both ways? Can you actually argue that we need to protect the culture of two minorities in Canada from assimulation, while ignoring the "threat" (real or perceived) from US culture on the Canadian taste bud?

CanCon is what programers make of it. It doesn't have to be Glass Tiger, Gowan, and Nickelback, but for a lot of people that's what it is. That's not to say gaining more credits for playing indie artists will make it better. Hearing Ron Sexsmith on the radio more often will make us better human beings, but not better Canadians -- which, if you read the various Royal Commissions on Culture is the big idea.

Cheers,

Pat

[cferneyh]

Hearing Ron Sexsmith on the radio more often will make us better human beings

:thumb:

[Sam]

It's surprising to read that people on a Hip board are opposed to Can Con. Do you think you would have ever heard of the Hip if it weren't for Can Con requirements?

Now, I'm not saying that the Hip aren't good. I'm saying good, or even great, doesn't get you played on the radio or on MuchMusic. For evidence, I point to the career of Britney Spears.

[hotmetal401]

It's surprising to read that people on a Hip board are opposed to Can Con. Do you think you would have ever heard of the Hip if it weren't for Can Con requirements?

Now, I'm not saying that the Hip aren't good. I'm saying good, or even great, doesn't get you played on the radio or on MuchMusic. For evidence, I point to the career of Britney Spears.

There's no denying the importance of CanCon on Canadian music over the past thiry-five plus years. It has made the careers of a lot of talented people; it's also given us The Moffats.

As for Britney, read Steven Johnson's "Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is actually making us Smarter." Britney isn't the anti-Christ; she's in Vegas, playing 5 shows a week at Caeser's.

Cheers,

Pat

[briansmccabe]

Britney isn't the anti-Christ; she's in Vegas, playing 5 shows a week at Caeser's.

This is the part I have never quite understood. Why so much hatred for Celine Dion? Don't like her music? Neither do I, but the sheer hatred of her as a person seems unwarranted to me. Unless someone can explain.

[Gangrel]

I just find her to come across as very very very fake.

Doesn't help that she's married to a man who's like 10 times her age....

[Sam]

I don't hate Celine or Britney. That would require more commitment of thought than I'm willing to expend on them. Nor do I think that either is the spawn of Satan - although I should confess to you all that I'm a atheist so I don't think anyone is the spawn of Satan mostly because I don't believe in Satan or his ability to spawn. I don't like their music, but I suspect that I'm not their target audience in any case.

I used Britney merely as an example to illustrate my point that musicianship, songwriting abilities and/or artistic integrity do not a musical career make. Far more important factors in garnering success on the radio and video channels would be sexuality and the willingess to exploit it, marketing plans, a mind-numbing dance beat, etc. By forcing Canadian radio stations to play Canadian bands/performers, CanCon laws gave us (the Canadian public) the opportunity to hear something other than the outpourings of the American music industry.

I'm not dissing the American music industry either. It has produced some kickass music in the last 50 yrs. It just hasn't been Canadian music. And, if the Hip is nothing else, they are proof that there is a distinctly Canadian message to be shared in Canadian music.

So, I go back to my original statement that, as a fan of the Hip, I'm grateful for CanCon laws. I'm not from Kingston (or southern Ontario) so I'm pretty damn sure that I'd never have heard of the Hip otherwise.

I'm willing to put up with the music of Bryan Adams and Celine Dion. The pleasure I get from the Hip outweighs the pain I get from hearing the other two.