!esquire & i A commentary of mine is featured in the June, 2005 issue of Esquire magazine in their 'Letters to the Editor' section. See the commentary below: !post publication clarification: time has a knack for changing one's perspective or requiring commentary 1) Arcade Fire Who?: At the time that I submitted the commentary to Esquire, around the end of March 2005, mainstream Canadian press and hype regarding the Arcade Fire was just beginning to trickle out in the marketplace. Since then, it seems that the mainstream has caught on and is pouring its attention on the group. The Arcade Fire have been featured on MuchMusic and they are receiving regular radio play and news coverage. Great for them for being picked up by pop culture. Maybe more of Canada's great musicians will be next. All of this to say, time can prove you wrong. 2) Canada's Culture Protectionist Policies, aka Cancon: Cancon is a system, which mandates the levels of Canadian content that radio stations must play in a broadcasting day. What constitutes Canadian content is based on the MAPL system: To qualify as 'Canadian content' a musical selection must generally fulfill at least two of the following conditions: M (music) -- the music is composed entirely by a Canadian. A (artist) -- the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian. P (production) -- the musical selection consists of a live performance that is (i) recorded wholly in Canada, or (ii) performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada. L (lyrics) -- the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian. I believe in Cancon as it is a representation and assertion of Canadian values. Currently, commercial radio stations must play a minimum 35% Cancon. The catch is that the quality or variety of Cancon is up to the broadcaster. Thus, the inevitable happens: commercial radio being what it is will repeat the hits from today and a few years ago of only a few 'safe' and well known Canadian artists. Other artists, small or on the cusp of hitting it big, will not be widely played, if at all. Thus, we end up with the situation where the Dears, receiving little if any radio play in Canada, will sell more copies of their last album in the UK, than the combine Canadian sales of that and their first album. So when I made mention to Cancon in my commentary, it was more of a pot-shot at the commercial radio industry and had nothing to do with critiquing Cancon. !home