http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=857&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20041215/od_uk_nm/oukoe_germany_music

More Accept and Scorpions, please.

An interesting way to promote home-grown stuff, I guess. Like Rammstein, right? Eeesh.

Ah, quotas . . .

Canada has done this for years.

It would be so cool if we could have a discussion about Fall Blau the Trappenjagd and the subsequent Soviet defence of the Terek line.

And don't get me started on the Pripet Marshs!

My brother's friend just recorded a Chirstmas song that was added to something like 120 radio stations in a week so the sations could ensure their Canadian content while playing holiday stuff. All stations have to play a minimum amount of certified "canadian" music here - which lead to the infamous "Beaver Hour" from 5:00-6:00AM you would hear nothing but old school acts, until we got somre fresh new talent.

Like Celine Dion

And Shania Twain

Bite your tongue, mister!

Someone forwarded me (as they've been doing a lot lately) an article about how everyone should move to Canada, but the article made some reference to Canada not contributing anything significant to modern music. I'm still trying to decide if it's too neurotic to send my response (to non-music geeks), which went something like: Arcade Fire, Constantines, Broken Social Scene, AC Newman, New Pornographers, Sam Roberts, Weakerthans, Jim Guthrie... and that's just the stuff I hear about here in the States (i.e. not including any Ian Blurton projects...)

If Canadian Content regulations are what's needed to produce that list, I'm all for it.

Okay. My rant is done

re: Canada

The stuff Radcliffe's been sending my way has generally been top notch. Radio's just not trying hard enough.

I was meaning POPULAR Canadian stuf that gets played on the radio. You know how I feel about pretty much ALL of those bands!

remember, you have canadian content laws to thank for nickelback, default and simple plan. there is definately some great canadian music around nowdays, but its not like radio is playing the arcade fire or broken social scene so they dont really get the benefits of cancon laws.

We have that here. Thing is though, we don't even have 4 million people, and we have one of the highest radio station to population ratios in the world. A 35% quota of Nz music means they really scrape the bottom of the barrel to find music to meet it. Long gone are the days when we would have stuff played on the radio because it was good - Crowded House, Split Enz, the Chills etc. So now instead of foreign music, we just have second rate rip-offs of popular foreign bands.

4,082,482 estimated as of today. My bad.

I love quoting myself.

Part of the problem, I guess, is the fact that I pretty much never listen to the radio, so all I know is when someone tells me what they've heard (& it's probably unusual, which is why they're telling me) - like hearing the Arcade Fire on the radio last week here in SF. So I get a skewed idea of what's getting played.

And is anyone actually still playing Shania Twain & Celine Dion?

And yes, Drewster, I know how you feel about those bands! I'm just kinda on the Canadian music warpath lately

Well, I don't know about on the radio, because we only listen to the CBC, but with Shania's new greatest hits album out, she is on T.V. just about every five minutes, and Celine, as the new voice of Air Canada is there on the TV too. It's pretty gross what I sit though for CSI!

But it's not just Canadian based artists, but labels too. Most likely why Ninja Tune opened in Montreal & not NYC or LA. Smart move. It also explains why I know as many people in Regina who know who MC 900 Foot Jesus is as I do in LA thanks to him being on Vancouver based Nettwerk at one time.

Someone told me the WTO is going after countries who do this. Imagine if the UK had done this over the last 40 years & they never got all that American Blues, Soul and R&B or even Techno, House & Hip Hop.

One word: Skiffle