 | |
| Type | Radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classical music/Jazz/Adult contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
| Launch date | 1946 (official) 1960 (independently) |
Former names | CBC FM (1960–1962, 1964–1975) CBC Stereo (1975–1997) CBC Radio 2 (1997–2018) |
| Coverage | |
| Availability | National, through regional FM stations |
| Links | |
| Website | CBC Music |
CBC Music (formerly known asCBC FM,CBC Stereo andCBC Radio 2) is a CanadianFM radio network operated by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate onclassical andjazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a new "adult music" format with a variety of genres, with the classical genre generally restricted to midday hours. In 2009, Radio 2 averaged 2.1 million listeners weekly; it was the second-largest radio network in Canada.[1]
The CBC's FM network was launched in 1946, but was strictly a simulcast of theAM radio network until 1960. In that year, distinct programming on the FM network began. It was briefly discontinued in 1962, but resumed again in 1964.[citation needed]
In November 1971, the CBC filed license applications for new FM stations in English in St. John's, Halifax, and Calgary; and in French in Quebec City, Ottawa, and Chicoutimi, telling theCRTC that it intended to start a second "more extended and more leisurely" program service on its FM stations, tentatively to be called "Radio Two".[2]
On November 3, 1975, the FM network was renamed CBC Stereo; this was to distinguish it from the AM network, known as CBC Radio.
In the early 1990s, the CBC began offering selected programs on the Internet, most notably CBC Stereo'sRealTime.[3] In September 1996, the corporation formally launched liveaudio streaming of both CBC Radio and CBC Stereo.[3]
Since the 1980s, many of the AM CBC Radio stationsmoved to FM due to the limitations of AM broadcasting; as such, in 1997 the CBC renamed the networksCBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two. As of 2018, there are a number of CBC Radio One low-power transmitters with only a few high-powered ones left still operating on the AM band in some areas across Canada.
For much of its history, its programming focused on arts and culture, and primarily consisted of programs devoted to opera,classical music,jazz and theatre. Some programming devoted to Canadian pop andindie rock music was also aired, via the Saturday nightCBC Radio 3 simulcast and predecessors such asRadioSonic,Night Lines, and the late-night programmeBrave New Waves.
In 2006, speculation arose that Radio Two programming would undergo a format and name change, similar to that which its French counterpartEspace musique undertook in 2004; however, no plans were announced until January 2007.[4] These changes, which took effect March 19, resulted in a tighter focus on music – still primarily classical but also includingjazz,world music, and live music of all types. The length and frequency of newscasts, which had essentially duplicated those heard on Radio One, was reduced dramatically. The 2007 revamp also resulted in a subtle name change from Radio Two to Radio 2.[citation needed]
In March 2008, the CBC announced plans to complete the transformation of Radio 2, significantly altering its daytime programming lineup.[5] These plans resulted in the "New Radio 2", starting September 2, 2008. In essence, the morning and afternoon drive programs, which had focused almost exclusively on classical music, were replaced with new shows featuring a wider range of genres. The goal, according to the CBC, was to increase exposure of musicians and genres, other than classical and jazz, which received little airtime on private radio.[citation needed]
Concomitantly, fourweb radio streams – all-classical, jazz, singer-songwriter, and "Canadian composer" – were introduced.
On June 10, the CBC announced that hosts associated with the new programming would includeJulie Nesrallah,Molly Johnson andRich Terfry.
There was a vocal, negative response to these changes from a variety of sources connected with the community ranging from Facebook to blogs[6] to newspaper columnists.[7][8] National protests were also held at CBC facilities across the country. However, the move drew support from other corners of the cultural community, noting in many cases the low ratings of the existing service. Among the supporters were several critically acclaimed artists who would benefit from the changes.[9][10][11]
While critics, particularlyGlobe and Mail columnistRussell Smith, raised the spectre of the network airing mainstream pop artists such asNelly Furtado andThe Black Eyed Peas,[12] the network's popular music component consists almost exclusively of artists who would be classified asadult album alternative,folk,world music or singer-songwriter pop – and very few of whom receive any airplay whatsoever on commercial radio. For instance, on one representative day in 2009,Radio 2 Morning's "pop" playlist includedFeist,John Mayer,Blue Rodeo,Sloan,Neil Young,Whiskeytown,Spirit of the West,Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings,Joni Mitchell,Matthew Barber,Eleni Mandell,Skydiggers,Billy Bragg,Jeremy Fisher,Jim Bryson,The Be Good Tanyas,The Duhks,Sarah Slean,Stephen Fearing,Melissa McClelland,Cowboy Junkies,Howie Beck andthe Band.[13]
On May 2, 2008, the president of the CBC and the director of programming attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Canadian Heritage. There appeared to be opposition to the movement away from classical music on Radio 2 from MPs of all three main parties represented on the committee. Committee membersBill Siksay andEd Fast were particularly opposed to the programming changes. The committee voted unanimously to hold further hearings specifically on the CBC Radio 2 changes in September 2008.[citation needed]
Despite the controversy, the format change was successful for the network, which maintained a consistent overall audience while lowering the average age of its listenership from 65 to 52 in January 2010.[14]
On February 6, 2018, the CBC announced that Radio 2 would be rebranded as CBC Music, aligning with the branding of the corporation's music website and digital audio service (discussedbelow).[15]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the service temporarily shifted to a playlist of exclusively Canadian music, to help support Canadian musicians impacted by the cancellations of their concert tours.[citation needed]
The network is not as widely available across Canada as Radio One. While Radio One is available in most communities across Canada regardless of size, CBC Music for the most part is available only in larger cities. Only 14 transmitters across Canada are licensed as originating stations within the network, compared to over 30 for Radio One, although some additional cities are also served by rebroadcasters of one of the originating stations. The service is provided in some form to virtually all of Canada's major cities and all provincial capitals. CBC Music also has a more consistent national schedule than Radio One; currently the originating stations produce only limited regional programming, such as weather updates. In the past these stations would also air local news summaries or a daily calendar of local arts and culture events; this was dropped in 2007.CBH-FM inHalifax produces an additional regional music program for theAtlantic Canada region, due to a scheduling hole caused by thetime zone difference.
In some smaller communities, especially in rural northernBritish Columbia, community groups have been licensed to rebroadcast a CBC Music station on a locallow-power radio transmitter. These transmitters are owned by the community group rather than the network; the station so not have any original programming at all.
On satellite, the network's programming can also be heard onBell Satellite TV andShaw Direct. Unlike Radio One and Radio 3, CBC Music is not carried bySiriusXM Satellite Radio; the CRTC requires that a "Canadian" channel (for the purposes ofSirius Canada, which carried CBC programming prior to its merger withXM Radio Canada) must carry 85% Canadian musical content, a requirement that has not been imposed on (or met by) the terrestrial network. Even so, a handful of programs that did meet this criterion, such asDeep Roots, have aired on Radio One's Sirius XM feed (channel 169); for a period in the mid-2010s, CBC Music also programmed a separate service for SiriusXM,CBC Music Sonica, which was devoted exclusively to Canadian music. This channel was later discontinued.
CBC Music is also available via the internet inwebradio andpodcast form. Between October 2013 and September 2016, access to the network's domestic internet streams was blocked for listeners outside Canada.[16] The CBC stated that they were not allowed to broadcast advertising outside of Canada. Two ad-free streams – Eastern International and Pacific International – were made available for international users. On these streams, commercials were replaced with CBC promos and other filler content. After the CRTC ordered the CBC to stop broadcasting ads on the network in 2016, international users have regained access to all five domestic streams.[17]
Only stations which are licensed as "originating stations" within the network are listed here. Some stations also haverebroadcasters in smaller outlying markets; these are listed in each station's separate article.
On February 13, 2012, the CBC launched CBC Music as aninternet radio platform, featuring the existing CBC Radio services and 47 dedicated channels devoted to particular genres of music. The service is distributed via the CBC Music website, and accompanyingmobile apps, initially launched forAndroid,iOS, andBlackBerry OS.[21][22] Some of the genre webstreams were already provided by Radio 2 or Radio 3, while others were new offerings at the 2012 launch; over time, however, the names and formats of the genre streams have evolved significantly, with some of the original streams having been discontinued in favour of new ones, reformatted to alter their genre focus, or renamed to align their branding with the network's programming.
The service was launched shortly after the CBC reached a music licensing deal with theAudio-Video Licensing Agency in January 2012.[21] The site was one of the first large-scale ventures into online broadcasting to be available in Canada since the launch ofIceberg Radio in 1997; at the time of CBC Music's launch, popular international ventures such asPandora orSpotify remained unavailable to Canadian consumers.[23]
A similar site,IciMusique.ca (formerlyespace.mu, in reference to former radio branding Espace Musique), is also offered by CBC Music's French-language counterpartIci Musique.
Shortly after the service's launch,Stingray Digital filed a complaint with theCanadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, alleging that the CBC's access to government funding gave it an unfair competitive advantage over private for-profit services.[24] Noting that the CBC pays the samecopyright royalties toSOCAN as the competing services and that it places a much greater emphasis onCanadian content than the commercial services, the CRTC dismissed the complaint in August 2012.[24]
In December 2013, the site also launched the first issue ofCBC Music Magazine, ane-magazine distributed in bothiOS andAndroid formats.[25] The magazine is no longer published.
With the rebranding of Radio 2 in 2018, the website is considered to be part of the radio network's operations rather than a distinct division of the CBC, although the individual genre streams and Radio 3 are still provided. The CBC Music streaming platform was replaced by CBC Listen in 2019.[26]
Although most programming on CBC Music is exclusive to the network, some specialty programs, includingThe Vinyl Cafe (until 2015),Vinyl Tap,C'est formidable!,Backstage with Ben Heppner andCanada Live, have also aired on Radio One in different time slots.
Until 2007, Radio 2 simulcast the majority of Radio One's newscasts, includingThe World at Six andWorld Report, resulting in several lengthy breaks from music throughout the day. This ended in March 2007, when Radio 2 began to carry a separate news service, with news updates of 90 seconds in length a handful of times each day. The length was soon changed to 4 ½ minutes, the usual length of the CBC's non-major newscasts, with the frequency increased slightly. However, newscasts on Radio 2 remain distinct from those on Radio One.
During the 2005Canadian Media Guildlockout, the normal schedule was temporarily replaced by continuous music fromGalaxie (then owned by the CBC), except for short news updates at the top of each hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.
After the 2012 federal budget, the CBC applied to the CRTC for permission to introduce commercial advertisements on CBC Radio 2 and sister network Espace Musique.[27] In October 2013, the network began broadcasting a limited amount of advertising, up to four minutes an hour,[28] with a goal of broadcasting up to nine minutes per hour in 2016.[29] Ad-free streams of the Toronto and Vancouver feeds were introduced online for international listeners. On August 31, 2016, the CRTC denied CBC's request to continue airing commercial advertisements until August 31, 2018.[30] Consequently, advertising ceased on September 1, 2016.
CBC Music also produces the television seriesCBC Music Backstage Pass, featuring live performances by musicians, for CBC Television.[31]
The network's weekday programming does not vary significantly from day to day; except in the 6–7 p.m. hour, when a different one-hour weekly program normally airs each day, the schedule is otherwise consistent from Mondays to Fridays.Mornings, hosted byDamhnait Doyle, airs in the morning drive slot, and is followed at 9 a.m. by the classical music showTempo, hosted byJulie Nesrallah.About Time, hosted byTom Allen, airs in the early afternoons, followed byDrive, hosted byRich Terfry.
The 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. block includesCBC Music Live, a program that presents recordings of live concerts by Canadian musicians, on Mondays;Frequencies, aworld music program hosted by Errol Nazareth, on Tuesdays;Reclaimed, hosted by Jarrett Martineau and devoted toindigenous music, on Wednesdays;CBC Music Top 20, a countdown show currently hosted byGrant Lawrence, on Thursdays; andMarvin's Room, hosted byA. Harmony and devoted torhythm and blues, on Fridays. This block aired from 7 to 8 p.m. until February 2021, when it was moved to 6 p.m.
Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe hostsThe Block, a program devoted toblack music genres such as hip hop, soul and rhythm and blues, at 7 p.m.Odario Williams hostsAfter Dark in the evenings, whileNightstream, a hostless stream of continuous music, airs overnights.
At various times during the day, Grant Lawrence is also heard voicing short segments presenting music news, such as a short profile of a musician who has just released a new album.
On Saturday and Sunday,Mornings airs with hostSaroja Coelho. For the remainder of the day, however, the network airs a variety of specialty programs, mainly devoted to particular genres of music, rather than replicating the weekday schedule.
Saturday programming includesMy Playlist,Centre Stage,Saturday Afternoon at the Opera,Backstage with Ben Heppner,Saturday Night Blues withHolger Petersen andSaturday Night Jazz withLaila Biali.
Sunday programming includesChoral Concert,In Concert withPaolo Pietropaolo,Inside the Music,C'est formidable! withFlorence K, andAfterdark Sunday withTariq Hussain. On both Saturdays and Sundays,Nightstream again airs after midnight.
Prior to the launch of CBC Music, CBC Radio 3 broadcast an annual "Searchlight" contest, soliciting listener votes in a process to determine the "best" of various aspects of the Canadian music industry. The topic of Searchlight was different each year, with contests focusing on such themes as Canada's best live music club, best music festival and best music website.
Following the launch of CBC Music, Searchlight was relaunched as a platform-wide contest to determine Canada's best unsigned musical artist. Incorporating participation from both CBC Music andCBC Radio One,[32] the process begins with a series of local competitions produced by Radio One'slocal afternoon shows.[32] Listener feedback and online voting determines the artists who advance to the next round,[32] until the national stage of the competition begins onQ.[32]
When the list has been narrowed to ten artists, three established musicians step in as judges, who each pick their own favourite act.[32] Those three artists and an audience selection as determined by online voting advance to the final round as the four finalists,[32] following which the judges debate and discuss the choices before voting on the ultimate winner.[32] In 2018, the process was revised, with the judges selecting five artists and a public vote selecting five artists, for a list of ten finalists rather than four.
The winner of the competition wins $20,000 in musical gear fromYamaha Music, as well as a slot on the bill at the CBC Music Festival.[32]
Beginning in 2022, the competition also instituted a Fan Choice Award, presented to the three top vote-getters in the first stage of the competition regardless of how they fared through the later stages.
| Year | Winner | Finalists | Judges | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case | Good Ol' Goats | [33] | |
| 2014 | Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk | Jofo, Erin Saoirse Adair, Fitness Club Fiasco | Torquil Campbell,Sarah Slean,Kardinal Offishall | [34] |
| 2015 | Orange O'Clock | Scary Bear Soundtrack, The Fall Line,Ivory Hours | Dan Boeckner,Jenn Grant,Saukrates | [35] |
| 2016 | Desirée Dawson | Andi,Dylan Menzie,Teo Milea | Maestro Fresh Wes,Sarah Blackwood,Dallas Smith | [36] |
| 2017 | The Long War | Will, The Wolfe, Jaryd Stanley | Jarvis Church,Ruth B,Dan Kanter | [37] |
| 2018 | Aquakultre | Sara Diamond, Fallbrigade, Sinzere, Jordana Talsky, Amanda Jackson Band, C.C. Trubiak, Chloe Hataley, The Kwerks, Scarlet Sway | Kristen Burke,Ian Campeau, Allan Reid | [38] |
| 2019 | Shopé | Benita, Madison Olds, Quincy Morales, Reeny Smith, The Royal Foundry, Titus Calderbank, Brenna Parker, Rani Chatoorgoon, Taken by Sanity | Zaki Ibrahim, Allan Reid, Vanessa Adora, Jess Knights, Kai Black | |
| 2020 | Shawnee Kish | Autumn Kings,Capri Everitt,Josh Sahunta, Kendra Kay, Ludic,Naya Ali, Little Destroyer, Cory Gallant, Maci Wood & Rich Roach | Zubin Thakkar, Vivian Barclay, Allan Reid, Julijana Capone, Kai Black | [39][40] |
| 2021 | Jhyve | Anna B, BLK, Rachel Cousins, Treh Lamonte, Argel Monte de Ramos, Riell, The Royal Foundry, Elyse Saunders, Michaela Slinger | ||
| 2022 | Chad Price | Angel "Siibii" Baribeau,Capri Everitt, Justin Fancy, Fionn, Kresnt, Meltt, Mindflip, Riell, Roveena | [41] | |
| 2023 | Mattmac | Amanda Jordan, Aviv, B00sted, Cam Kahin, Eric Punzo, Group Project, Liyah Katana, Maggie Andrew,TheHonestGuy | Andrés Mendoza,Amanda Rheaume, Justin Gray, Karla Moy | [42] |
| 2024 | Maggie Andrew | Calling All Captains, Chloé Caroline, Housewife, Jaguar Sun, Kam Prada, Madisyn Gifford, Maurice Moore,Nobro, Omega Mighty | Charlie Wall-Andrews, Alan Greyeyes, Andrés Mendoza, Keziah Myers |
In May 2013, the service sponsored the first CBC Music Festival,[43] which was staged every spring atOntario Place's Echo Beach.
Each year's event featured a lineup of acts from several different genres, including the winner of that year's Searchlight competition, and sometimes included a live taping of a performance by a CBC Radio comedy show.
43°38′40″N79°23′17″W / 43.64455°N 79.38804°W /43.64455; -79.38804