Rock the Nation: MuchMusic, Cultural Policy and the Development of English-Canadian Music-Video Programming, 1979-1984

Abstract

This paper focuses on the various interrelationships between the Canadian sound recording industry, broadcasting community, cultural-policy practitioners, and the CRTC, which influenced the application process for MuchMusic (Canada's national music video service) between 1979 and the station's debut in 1984. These dates are significant as they witness the intersection of a sound recording industry seeking reinvigoration and additional government support; a broadcast regulator seeking television applicants of solid financial grounding; and a cultural-policy strategy oriented toward improving the marketing and distribution of Canadian cultural products. Each of these elements converge on one point of general assent: that Canada "needed" a national music video broadcaster.