Global hitmaker Bryan Adams is adding his voice to opposition over new federal regulations on streaming. The “Cuts Like a Knife” and “All For Love” singer released a video on social media saying elements of the Online Streaming Act would make it harder for Canadian musicians to break through globally. The video echoes points raised by a national campaign by the Digital Media Association, which represents the world’s leading music streaming companies including Amazon, Apple Music, Feed.
FM, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube. The group says Ottawa’s requirement that big foreign streamers financially contribute to Canadian content could result in them raising subscription prices, and thereby make those services less affordable. Federal Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says she’s glad Adams jumped into the debate but disputes his description of the rule as “a streaming tax.
” She says the changes are meant to help emerging Canadian artists, many of whom complain about the difficulty of finding an audience on global digital platforms. “If you talk to them, they’re going to tell you that online streaming platforms don’t pay them enough and also that it’s hard for them to be discovered on these streaming platforms,” St-Onge said Wednesday in Ottawa. “This is what the legislation that we passed is intended for — it’s to help local Canadian artists both get better pay and also get discovered on these streaming platforms.
” The Online Streaming Act is curre.
