Thank you, Stuart.

My name is Chris Moncada. I am a resident of the Toronto—Danforth riding and the General Manager of Last Gang Records and eOne Music Canada.

Last Gang records is a 15-year old Canadian independent record label based in Toronto, representing both new and well established Canadian artists such as Metric, Stars, Death From Above, and many others. The current active roster is home to over 20 artists, most of whom are Canadian. We support and develop this roster across different lanes like radio promotion, consumer marketing, PR support, brand strategy, and retail distribution. The label, very simply, generates most of its revenue from the exploitation of the master recordings we have licensed from our artists. This includes the streaming of music on legitimate services, the sale of album and single downloads, the sale of CDs and vinyl records, and the synchronization of music to visual entertainment.

Our artist partners are paid a royalty or a percentage of net proceeds after their individual projects have recouped the agreed-upon costs that the label incurs to produce and market the projects. The biggest challenge to seeing our artist partners get paid is simply getting to this recouped position in this day and age. The rates paid out by streams are a fraction of those paid by CD, and the costs involved to market and promote the art have only risen since our industry has moved to a streaming consumption model. On top of that, the market is truly global now, and the costs to promote our artists in markets outside Canada are substantial.

Digitalization has had a monumental impact on our business. In a relatively short period of time, it has changed how our artists make their records, how we distribute them, how we market them, and how we promote them. It has redefined our relationship with the retail sector. However, what has not changed is that the path an artist embarks on to earn a living in his or her business starts with the creation of new master recordings, many of which are funded and promoted by labels. The tours, the streaming playlists, the terrestrial radio play, the press and blog interest, the TV and film placement opportunities all come after new art is created and promoted.

By making the appropriate changes to the copyright system—which my colleague, Stuart, has mentioned—the government will be supporting the companies that are the launching pad for our Canadian talent to make a truly global impact.

Thank you.

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