Support for Increase to the Canada Music Fund
Dear CIMA Members:
As part of the 2018 federal government budget process, CIMA has been advocating on your behalf on a number of issues, including an increase in the investment to the Canada Music Fund (MEC, FACTOR), to the tune of up to $8-million annually.
Consistent and predictable support from the federal government is integral to the domestic and international success of the Canadian independent music industry. This support is leveraged for much-needed capital toward the professional and artistic development of our Canadian artists.
Unfortunately, there are not enough dollars currently allocated to the commercial music system to properly invest in our industry. For the past ten years, there have been no increases to the programming available under the Canada Music Fund. In fact, the fund experienced a permanent $1 million drop in 2012. The future outlook is equally bleak, with no announced increases for fiscal 2018 and beyond.
The CMF programs are vastly oversubscribed, and funding contributions to the music industry from radio broadcasters are forecasted to significantly decrease over the next five years. Recent CRTC decisions on license renewals have also deprived our company and our peers of millions of dollars in annual support.
An infusion of an additional $8 million into the Canada Music Fund will provide much needed capital for our company and our artists to invest in sound production, development, touring, marketing and promotion and digital technology. In short, it will encourage a true partnership between the federal government and the music sector, with a mutually-beneficial return on investment.
How can you get involved?
In order to move this request forward within the Department of Finance, we need to show the value of this investment to CIMA members, and the best way to demonstrate this is to show YOUR support, in writing, to Finance Minister Bill Morneau. The 2018 budget is being crafted throughout the remainder of this calendar year, so the timing is perfect to have your representations have maximum impact.
Use your social media channels to share your #SupportCDNmusic posts and engage with your followers. We encourage you to:
• First, if you haven’t yet, please follow CIMA’s social media accounts: @CIMAmusic75
• Please include the #SupportCDNmusic hashtag in all your tweets and Facebook posts, as we hope to have the hashtag trend!
• Post on your social media channels using the sample posts below, or ones you draft yourself, including the #SupportCDNmusic hashtag.
• Retweet and share posts by @CIMAmusic75
• Retweet and share your favourite #SupportCDNmusic posts.
If you would like more information please email us at cima@cimamusic.ca