Canadian content

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Canadian content or can-con is the requirement that radio and television broadcasters (including cable TV networks) must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. It is enforced by the government agency, CRTC.

For music, the requirements are referred to as 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.

There are four special cases where a musical selection may qualify as Canadian content:

• The musical selection was recorded before January 1972 and meets one of the above conditions.
• It is an instrumental performance of a musical composition written or composed by a Canadian.
• It is a performance of a musical composition that a Canadian has composed for instruments only.
• The musical selection was performed live or recorded after September 1, 1991 and, in addition to meeting the criterion for either artist or production, a Canadian who has collaborated with a non-Canadian receives at least half of the credit for both music and lyrics.

This last criterion was added in 1991, to accommodate Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbours. Adams had collaborated with British record producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, and as a result, the album did not qualify as Canadian content under the existing rules. After extensive controversy in the summer of that year, the CRTC changed the rules to allow for such collaborations.

A major motivation is the fear that without a regulatory system, independent Canadian popular culture would be swallowed up by that of the neighboring United States.

Some other countries employ similar systems. For example, Australian broadcasters are required to broadcast a certain percentage of Australian content alongside international content.

Many believe that Canadian content regulations have played an important role in the success of the Canadian music internationally, with acts like Céline Dion and Avril Lavigne becoming popular worldwide. Canadian television, especially children's television, has also seen a great expansion since the rules were introduced.

Some people believe that Can-con was a major contributor to the decline in popularity of 50,000 watt radio station CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, starting in the mid-1970s.