Music Canada

Music Canada

Music Canada, formerly the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)/L'association de l'industrie canadienne de l'enregistrement. Non-profit trade organization that represents the interests of Canadian companies that create, manufacture, and market sound recordings. It was formed 9 Apr 1963 as the Canadian Record Manufacturer's Association with 10 founding companies and renamed CRIA in 1972 with expanded membership. In 2012, the Canadian Recording Industry Association changed its name to Music Canada. Based in Toronto, Music Canada is governed by a board of directors elected annually by the membership from among the executive officers of member companies. There are three levels of membership: Class A Membership is open to Canadian individuals, firms, and corporations whose principal business is producing, manufacturing, or marketing sound recordings; Class B Membership is open to Canadian individuals, firms, and corporations whose principal business is the production of sound recordings; and a Manufacturing Division Membership is open to Canadian individuals, firms and corporations whose principal business is the manufacturing of sound recordings. Throughout its history, CRIA has served as a lobby on matters pertaining to copyright and importation and as a liaison with music and recording organizations in other countries, roles that Music Canada continues to play. The association`s various committees have included Anti-Piracy, Manufacturing, Marketing, Copyright, Retailer Liaison, Statistics, and E-Commerce/Internet.

In 1975, CRIA introduced a program to certify record sales in Canada according to the classifications "gold" (50,000), "platinum" (100,000), and, beginning in 1978, "diamond" (1 million). Gold and platinum certification for singles was reserved initially for sales of 75,000 and 150,000 respectively. By 1983, however, requirements had been reduced to 50,000 and 100,000.

The Statistics Division of the association collects and disseminates technical, statistical, and other information considered to be of general interest to members of the industry. For albums where lyrics are too explicit for mainstream distribution, the association established a "Parent Advisory Labelling" system. A substantial portion of Music Canada's budget is put toward curtailing piracy and counterfeiting. Music Canada's Anti-Piracy Division investigates and initiates action in response to piracy, lobbies for federal legislation for effective anti-piracy protection, participates in anti-piracy programs across Canada and internationally, conducts anti-piracy awareness programs for replication companies in Canada, administers the Source Identification Code (SID) for Canadian CD manufacturers, educates federal, provincial, and local law enforcement agencies in the identification of unauthorized sound recordings, and monitors the marketplace and the Internet for copyright infringements.

In recent years, due to dramatic retail losses because of on-line piracy, Music Canada's has assumed a crucial role in the recording industry. In 2003, Canadian music publishers, record labels, and on-line distributors of sound recordings (Napster, MusicNet, and the Canadian-owned Puretracks) entered into a licensing agreement to establish new on-line services offering CD-quality songs for pay. Alongside these legal online business models, the association has designed and implemented several public-education initiatives, including the Value of Music public-awareness campaign aimed at teens, and has targeted "instant messages" to unauthorized file-sharing service users. In 2004, the association took legal action in a case brought before the Federal Court of Canada, when it filed motions to force five Canadian Internet service providers to disclose the identities of subscribers alleged to have distributed thousands of digital music files over public networks.