An Idea For The Future

An Idea For The Future: Canadian Artists Supported In Canada

As we’ve now been working toward our goals of providing information to and exposure for country music artists for one whole year, I felt it was important to share some of what we’ve learned with you, the visitor. We’ve had numerous contacts over the past year from those in the industry, artists, fans, record companies, producers, promoters and just about every other category you’d find in any membership directory in any country music organization. Some of these have been looking for information, some have been sending messages of support for our work and our ideas and some have just been curious as to what we’re here for. Some have thought that we’re a venue and wanted to play here (our office is sort of small for that though) and some have been looking for help to complete what they’re trying to do. Every message and contact has been a lesson to us. That lesson is that there HAS NOT been and IS NOT enough places where these individuals can go to for any kind of assistance. And that is just too sad, considering what an exceptional bunch these people are. They all work in a very picky, political, uncertain world where nothing is a sure thing, even if you play by all the rules and smooze all the right people. And have the incredible talent that leaps out and brings tears to your eyes, as you hear of their struggles, their disillusionments and their inability to find someone, ANYONE, who will give them a chance without expecting their soul in return.

Here in Canada we have come to know and love many of our artists, for their warmth, their perseverance, their dedication and their amazing amount of skill in their chosen field. We have heard stories of betrayal, of lack of interest from different aspects of the media, of little pockets of help that do exist here and there from formal organizations and individuals who feel the same way we do. And we’ve heard stories of ‘the sharks’. The ones who will promise the world on a platter if you will sell yourself out to the highest bidder, with them in control of your creativity and owning what you sing, how you sing it and where. Then there’s the other kind, that will give you the freedom to record, to perform and make it as big as you can but they take half in return for their initial investment. Now, a reasonable return on your investment isn’t too bad, but to expect half of the artists’ future success is ridiculous and criminal in my opinion. These are the hazards that these artists must steer clear of in trying to get that song to your ears. And that is another story entirely.

The conventional media is another big problem as I see it. They do ‘cover’ events and put a small write up or photo in the paper and that does help, but papers are here today, gone tomorrow. That is only so much exposure, for a limited time, and only in the immediate market available if the paper is a local. And our country music publications are folding left and right, leaving only a few to carry the banner. Country Music News is one (if not the only one) left, thankfully, because it’s an excellent source of information about OUR artists, those very ones who play where you can see them. Radio is another story entirely. For some reason, the artists are at the mercy of the radio stations, or rather, of the ‘suits’ that control the radio stations. Now we have met lots of sincere, decent and caring people who work for radio stations, but they’re not the ones in charge usually and have to do what they’re told, like the rest of us. But those who are in control and who do decide what and who gets played (with Canadians being the bottom choice, forced on them by the CANCON law) are the ones I really have a problem with. We have so many exceptional artists in this country and when they contact a station, even one they’ve dealt with many times, about a new release the first thing they hear is, “Is it CANCON?” So what? They wouldn’t consider playing it if it wasn’t? This situation is one that one legend (Stompin’ Tom) has been putting up with for decades and doesn’t hesitate to say what he thinks about it. And he’s been pretty successful even without their airplay, wouldn’t you say? The thing that really galls me about this situation is that these ‘suits’ are deciding what you should and shouldn’t hear. Excuse me, but the last time I saw a flagpole it had a maple leaf on it, didn’t it? So what business do they have saying you can’t hear the newest CD from your local independent artist, one that you may have met a couple of times, who plays near where you live and has material as decent or better than some of that drivel shoved down your throat by the local station?!

I think it’s time that people realize that this media works FOR YOU. If you let them get away with what they’re doing, you aren’t helping the situation but condoning it. And when, after so many years of ‘media indifference’ these artists pack up and go south who’s fault is it really? Ours, that’s who. Because we didn’t take on the job of calling, writing and visiting the stations responsible and saying, “Look, I like this artist, why won’t you play him/her?” See what they say. See what crap they’ll give you in response to your very pointed question. Our artists deserve better than to have had a law passed to make sure they get a fair shot at the brass ring, shouldn’t they? And we know what the artists go through in this regard too. We had approached a station’s website in Central Ontario about their adding our site to their links page, and we received a message back from the web designer. He’d forwarded us the extremely insulting and snotty email that the station had sent to him in regard to our request. He did add to this message that he didn’t agree with their opinion and he was sorry he’d be unable to accommodate our request. I think it would look good on them if their format gets changed to hip hop or some such thing, they don’t deserve to represent the artists I’ve met.

One other thing we’ve been seeing is the behavior of the industry people and staff who work for production companies, the artists, the venues and so on. It takes an enormous amount of people to keep the country music world turning and the artists can only control a small percentage of this workforce. I don’t recall ever having any difficulty with any of the staff of the artists we’ve worked with (save one, see our Northern Scenes page for that debacle). We have encountered some problems with security who think they’re defending the crown jewels and act like some secret service team. I’ve had one (and only one) run in with a public relations person who works for a production company (one we’ve never dealt with and hopefully won’t ever have to) who obviously should find another type of work since she can’t be decent on the phone. Everyone else has been WONDERFUL and works together to create something magical on stage out of the chaos usually going on backstage. That speaks volumes about country’s front lines.

So now, you have an idea of what types of things these folks you see at your local fairs, festivals, stadiums and arenas go through to be up there, singing their latest composition for you. And I haven’t even touched on the multitude of organizations that they must belong to, who take their money year after year and give them very little or nothing in return. Some are trying, some are worth joining just for the reference material they compile and send to you. But some aren’t doing squat for the money they get, but because they’re a bridge that can’t be burned the artists still join, year after year.

I feel that our visitors have the right to know why we do this and what goal we have in mind for the future, concerning both country music and our artists. We have spotted the opportunity for the people who actually make the music to take some of the control back and that opportunity is through the Internet. With the ability to produce, promote, market, sell and provide their own direct line to their fans using the web, a little of the control lost over the years will be regained. And that’s what we’ve been working for, to show people that it will make a difference and it will work. By providing as much information and exposure as we can, we are expanding the fan bases and market share of these artists and taking them worldwide. I want people in Thailand to know who John Landry is. I want someone in Australia to buy a Diane Chase CD, or a Jamie Warren T-shirt. I want girls in Germany to hang Colin Amey or Vince Roy posters on their walls. If we get a request from Europe or South America to have an artist tour over there (or down there) I will be overjoyed. They deserve this, they’ve worked for this, and if it’s going to take endless hours at the computer making links and writing show reviews then that’s what we’ll do. And you being here is proving to us that it’s working, and we can’t thank you enough. We do have other hopes and dreams for providing opportunities for these inspiring people, but they are for a distant time a few years down the road. We will share those with everyone when they come a little closer to becoming reality. For the time being, a big hug from Jim Witter. Now THAT’S reality!

Written by Kim Jamieson

All opinions stated in this editorial are of the writer only and are her personal observations. They are not necessarily the opinions of any artists, organizations or companies related to the music industry in Canada.