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| Broadcast area | Canada &Contiguous United States onSirius XM Satellite Radio |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Format | Canadianindie music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
| Founded | June 2000[1] |
CBC Radio 3 is a Canadiandigital radio station operated by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix ofindie rock,indie pop,alternative hip hop,folk,country andelectronic music.
The service, which launched in 2005 as a station onSirius Satellite Radio, evolved out of programming on CBC Radio 2 (nowCBC Music), which also simulcasted Radio 3 on Saturday and Sunday nights from December 2005 until March 17, 2007. The station was formerly available online from CBC's website[2] andiTunes Radio, but geographical restrictions were in place to prevent access outside ofCanada. The French-language equivalent to Radio 3 wasBande à part.
The network's primary studio is located in theCBC Regional Broadcast Centre inVancouver, although guest hosts typically hosted from an alternate CBC studio in their home city.
An article onNerve.com, published in October 2006, called CBC Radio 3 "possibly the world's best radio station".[3]
In October 2022, CBC Radio 3 was dropped from SiriusXM, but remains available as a playlist through CBC Listen.[4]
Operated by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 3 had its genesis in a late-1990s proposal to launch a radio network devoted to youth culture, comparable toBBC Radio 1 and Australia'sTriple J.[5] The network, which would complementCBC Radio One andCBC Radio 2, would build on existing CBC Radio programming such asNight Lines,Brave New Waves andRealTime. The original plan was codenamed "Clubhouse" and was developed by Susan Englebert, Robert Ouimet, Anton Leo and C. William Smith.[5] The CBC filed an application with theCRTC to launch the network in 1998,[6] but later asked the CRTC to defer consideration of its application.[6]
A precursor to Radio 3 started in 1997, whenNightlines andRealTime were merged into the new programRadioSonic, cohosted by formerNightlines hostDavid Wisdom and formerRealTime hostLeora Kornfeld.
The current incarnation of Radio 3 was launched in 2000 as a convergedwebcasting project based in Vancouver,[7] with its own servers and managed by CBC Radio.[7] The team consisted of Susan Englebert,[8] Robert Ouimet,[7] Dave Tonner,Loc Dao, Rob McLaughlin and other partners. CBC Radio 3 initially launched separate sites120 Seconds,[7]New Music Canada[7] andJust Concerts[7] through a collaboration between CBC Radio, media design company Dotaku Group, and technology company Internet Edge. Each provided audio, video and Flash content as media-on-demand streaming for site users. 120 Seconds was a directory of user and artist-created video and documentary projects, New Music Canada was composed entirely of user-created and uploaded music by Canadian independent pop, rock, electronic and hip hop musicians, and Just Concerts included exclusive recordings of live performances by independent artists, both regular concert performances and Radio 3 studio sessions. The first musician to create an artist profile on the site was rapperClassified.[5]Roots Music Canada was later added to the trio of websites, and offered songs uploaded by country and folk musicians.
In 2001,Grant Lawrence became the host ofRadioSonic.[5]
In late 2002, the group, led by Robert Ouimet and Rob McLaughlin, created CBCRadio3.com, a full-screen online magazine which profiled Canadian music, literature and visual arts, accompanied by a set musical playlist which changed with each "issue".[9] The site also served as a portal to the other content sites. The site was recognized internationally, winning threeWebby Awards, includingPeople's Voice Award for Best Broadband site, in 2003.[10] The site won over 20 other awards, including the Art Director's Club, New York Festival Awards[9] and Communication Arts Awards, as well as being published in several books. By this time, the site was averaging 5.5 million page views per month.[11]
In 2003,RadioSonic was integrated into the Radio 3 project, and was renamedCBC Radio 3 to reflect the change.[12] With new hostAlexis Mazurin, the program featured music and performances from the Radio 3 website.[5]
On June 2, 2005, Radio 3 also launched a weeklypodcast, hosted by Grant Lawrence.[13] The hour-long podcast, which has also aired as a program on the satellite radio network, has ranked as the most downloaded Canadian podcast on the Internet, with an estimated 125,000 weekly listeners in 2006.[14]
Satellite radio was approved in Canada by theCRTC on June 18, 2005. Over the next several months, Radio 3 was relaunched as a channel onSirius Satellite Radio.[15] The main CBC Radio 3 site was shut down for part of 2005 to facilitate the relaunch, although the podcast, the media-on-demand subsites and the Saturday night Radio Two program remained active.
The satellite radio service launched on December 3, 2005, at which time the weekend program on CBC Radio 2 became a live simulcast of the satellite radio service. The main CBC Radio 3 website was relaunched a few days earlier, now featuring a collaborative music blog and anIcecast stream of Canadian music.
Mazurin, the original host of CBC Radio 3 in its radio show format, died in October 2005,[16] and the main Vancouver studio was named the Alexis Mazurin Studio in his memory.
In August 2006, Radio 3 launched its own weekly chart show,The R3-30. Originally hosted byCraig Norris until he left the network to join CBC Radio's new outlet forKitchener-Waterloo,CBLA-FM-2, in 2013, the program was then taken over byLana Gay.
On December 25, 2006, CBC Radio 3 held its first annual"Bucky Awards". The Bucky Awards were an awards celebration to promote independent Canadian music, and fans voted on the winners in each category.[17][unreliable source?]
The station aired on Sirius 94 from its launch until June 24, 2008, when it moved to Sirius 86 as part of a major realignment of the Sirius lineup. On May 4, 2011, the channel was again moved as part of a reorganization of Sirius' channel lineup to channel 152. On May 9, 2013 the channel was moved to channel 162 and was also launched on XM. The channel was removed from SiriusXM effective October 1, 2022.[citation needed]
On January 17, 2007, the CBC announced that as part of a major programming realignment on CBC Radio 2, that network would discontinue its Radio 3 simulcast in March of that year.[18] The final simulcast, which aired on March 17, was a retrospective broadcast which included past interviews withWilliam Shatner andJohn Lydon, visits from past hostsDavid Wisdom andLeora Kornfeld, phone interviews withBuck 65,Joel Plaskett,Sara Quin andJim Bryson, and live in-studio performances byJohn K. Samson andChristine Fellows, as well as listener requests for classic songs from any era in whichRadio 3 or its predecessors aired.
The R3-30, which was usually taped in advance and rebroadcast on Radio Two in a later time slot, also aired live from Vancouver that evening and incorporated listener phone calls into the program's usual format.
As well as the on-air studio sessions, the network also regularly sponsors public concerts in music venues. The network also broadcasts the annualPolaris Music Prize gala.
The Connect the Dots Tour in 2004 featured a different lineup of bands in each city, includingp:ano,Ninja High School,The Russian Futurists,Young and Sexy,The Unicorns,The Super Friendz,Lederhosen Lucil,Dragon Fli Empire andcontroller.controller.[19]
Tour Tournée in the winter of 2006, jointly sponsored by CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part, included bands such asWintersleep,Two Hours Traffic,Konflit Dramatik,Hexes and Ohs,Great Aunt Ida,Shout Out Out Out Out,Novillero,Les Breastfeeders,SS Cardiacs,Les Dales Hawerchuk,Pony Up! andThe Deadly Snakes.[20] Each of the eight locations had a different lineup of predominantly local bands, and at least onefrancophone band performed at each venue. On October 1, 2006, Radio 3 and Bande à part again jointly sponsored See Vous Play, a show in Toronto featuringLes Breastfeeders,Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton,Les Trois Accords andThe Joel Plaskett Emergency.[21]
Also in October, the network was a sponsor of the Exclaim! Mint Road Show, a cross-Canada tour featuringThe New Pornographers,Immaculate Machine andNovillero to celebrate the 15th birthdays ofExclaim!, a Canadian music magazine, andMint Records, a Vancouver independent record label.
CBC Radio 3 was also the sponsor of a nationwide tour in March and April 2007 featuringThe Constantines andJon-Rae and the River. The tour also featuredShotgun & Jaybird for the Eastern Canada portion of the tour whileLadyhawk toured for the Western Canadian portion of the tour.
On April 27, 2007, CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part jointly presented Quebec Scene, anOttawa concert featuringThe Stills,The Besnard Lakes,Karkwa andMahjor Bidet.[22]
On June 9, 2007, as a part of the annualNXNE festival, CBC Radio 3 presented a concert in Toronto featuringUnited Steel Workers of Montreal,Ohbijou,Sebastien Grainger et Les Montagnes,You Say Party,In-Flight Safety andTwo Hours Traffic.[23]
In 2008, the network sponsored and broadcast several live shows at theSouth by Southwest festival inAustin, Texas, including performances byBasia Bulat,The Constantines,The Most Serene Republic,The Stills,Shout Out Louds,Christine Fellows,Grand Analog andHot Springs.
The network's live broadcast from the 2009 NXNE festival featuredWoodpigeon,DD/MM/YYYY,Ruby Coast,Jason Collett,Hot Panda andThe Lovely Feathers.[24]
In 2011, they sponsoredVictoria'sRifflandia Music Festival Side Stage at Royal Athletic Park, featuring Jon Middleton ofJon and Roy,Besnard Lakes,Jakarta,Hollerado, andUSS.[25]
CBC Radio 3 had an stream onIcecast which ran from 2005 to 2009; unlike the satellite radio broadcast, the stream was programmed separately. The webstream initially consisted exclusively of music with the occasional identification break, but on September 14, 2007 it was relaunched with hosts and feature content, similar to but still programmed separately from the satellite radio station. Due to funding cuts, in June 2009, the two services were merged; the webstream became a straight simulcast of the satellite radio channel.
Prior to the merger, the two services had slightly different programming strategies – the satellite radio station aired a music mix of 85 per cent Canadian and 15 per cent international, while the web service's mix was 100 per cent Canadian. With the merger of the two services, the station announced that the program mix would be 100 per cent Canadian music on both platforms, although exceptions will be permitted for international music with some Canadian character – such as international artists covering Canadian songs, collaborations between Canadian and non-Canadian artists, international artists appearing on the bill with Canadian artists when the network is airing a live concert, or "honourary [sic] Canadian" artists such asNeko Case andRose Melberg.
In February 2009, CBC Radio 3 participated withExclaim! andaux.tv to launchX3, a new collaborative cross-promotional platform which sees all three outlets air feature content spotlighting a particular "Artist of the Month". X3 artists of the month have includedK'naan,Malajube,Thunderheist,Japandroids,Apostle of Hustle,The Rural Alberta Advantage,Owen Pallett, andJenn Grant.[26]
In addition to the service's conventional radio programming, any song in the network's music library was able to be streamed on demand from the artist's profile page on the site. In May 2011,Joel Plaskett became the first artist in the network's history to reach one million on-demand plays.[27]
In 2012, CBC Radio 3 was integrated into the newCBC Music service.
UnlikeBande à part, which produced a number of special short run podcasts in addition to its regular weeklymusic podcast, Radio 3 only produced its main music podcast through 2006.
As a result of the Radio Two schedule changes, on February 26, 2007 CBC Radio 3 created several new podcasts to complement the original CBC Radio 3 podcast, including a dailyNew Music Canada Track of the Day and an hour-long weeklyR3-30 podcast.
As well, the network also launched a new internet streaming program titledCBC Radio 3 Sessions, which featured live performances by artists at the CBC Radio 3 studio.[28] TheSessions also aired as a program on Sirius 86. As of September 12, 2007, theSessions program also appeared in podcast format.Sessions concerts have also aired on the CBC's cable television servicebold.
Notably, all Radio 3 podcasts were available inOgg (Vorbis), a freely-licensed audio format, in addition to the more conventional mp3 format.
On April 20, 2007, as part of CBC Radio 3's 100th podcast, a weeklyvideo podcast was introduced. The new video-based podcast,R3TV, revolved around the personalities at CBC Radio 3 and featured a particular artist each week, who provided commentary for the podcast and had their music videos featured in the show.[29]R3TV was also available as a channel on Internet television services such asJoost, YouTube andMiro Media Player.
In 2011, CBC Radio 3 sponsored its first documentary movie,Winning America, about Canadian bandSaid the Whale. The movie was directed byBrent Hodge and Thomas Buchan, and produced by Jon Siddall, Brent Hodge and Sheila Peacock.[30] It first aired on July 23, 2011 onCBC Television inBritish Columbia, and then nationally on April 2, 2012.
After the success of the first film, Radio 3 decided to do a second documentary movie calledWhat Happens Next? about Canadian musicianDan Mangan. This movie was produced and directed by Brent Hodge and Jon Siddall.[31] It aired on CBC on August 25, 2012 in BC, and then again nationally on October 20, 2012.
Radio 3's next foray into video was in 2013, with theweb seriesThe Beetle Roadtrip Sessions. It followed host Grant Lawrence across Canada visiting various musicians and other personalities along the way, includingThe Darcys,Hollerado,Sam Roberts,Theo Fleury,Hawksley Workman and others. It was also directed by Brent Hodge.[32]The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions won the award for Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media – Non-Fiction at the2nd Canadian Screen Awards.[33]
As of March 30, 2015, the service no longer features live hosting, although prerecorded feature segments are still heard as interstitials.Grant Lawrence remains an employee of the service, hosting podcasts as well as voicing the prerecorded segments.
Past hosts heard on the network includedLana Gay,Tariq Hussain,Amanda Putz,Craig Norris,Alexis Mazurin, Lauren Burrows, Pete Morey,Lisa Christiansen,Raina Douris, Dave Shumka, Emma Godmere, Vish Khanna andTalia Schlanger. Canadian musicians and other media personalities have also sometimes appeared as guest hosts, includingJoel Plaskett,Carolyn Mark,Buck 65,Nirmala Basnayake,Hannah Sung,Brent Bambury,Graham Wright,Alanna Stuart andNardwuar the Human Serviette. Some personalities associated with the sister serviceBande à part also appeared on the network as reporters or correspondents coveringQuebec's music scene.
From 2006 to 2013, CBC Radio 3 presented the annualBucky Awards,[34][35][36][37] which honour Canadian indie pop and rock music. The awards, determined by listener vote, include such non-traditional categories as "most Canadian tune" and "sexiest musician."[38] The awards were created after Lawrence made comments on the air criticizing theJuno Awards for overlookingArcade Fire in their nominations, and a listener suggested in response that Radio 3 should create its own awards.[5]
In 2014, the Bucky Awards were merged into the expandedCBC Music Awards.[5]
| Year | Best Song | Sexiest Artist | Top Video | Lifetime Achievement | Most Canadian Song | Best New Band Name | Best Vocals | Best Live Act | Best Lyrics | Best Reason to Learn French | Best New Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Two Hours Traffic, "Backseat Sweetheart" | Said the Whale | Tokyo Police Club, "Your English Is Good" | The Weakerthans, "Civil Twilight" | We Are Wolves, "Magique" | ||||||
| 2008 | Matt Mays & El Torpedo, "Tall Trees" | Laura Barrett | Shad, "The Old Prince Still Lives at Home" | Teenage Head | Jason Collett, "Charlyn, Angel of Kensington" | Library Voices | Mother Mother, "Body of Years" | Holy Fuck | Stars, "14 Forever" | Karkwa, "Oublie pas" | Plants and Animals |
| 2009[39] | Dan Mangan, "Robots" | Cœur de pirate | Hey Rosetta!, "Red Song" | Sloan | Said the Whale, "Emerald Lake, AB" | Gregory Pepper and His Problems | Dan Mangan, "Robots" | Mother Mother | Joel Plaskett, "Through & Through & Through" | Cœur de pirate, "Comme des enfants" | Hannah Georgas, "The Beat Stuff" |
| 2010[40] | Arcade Fire, "Suburbs" | Maylee Todd | Hollerado, "Americanarama" | Julie Doiron | Aidan Knight, "Jasper" | Paperplanes and Dragonboats | Sarah Harmer | Dan Mangan | Arcade Fire, "Ready to Start" | Karkwa | Boxer the Horse |
| 2011[41] | Dan Mangan, "Rows of Houses" | Dan Mangan | Ian Blurton | Elliott Brood, "Northern Air" | Oh No Yoko | Austra, "Lose It" | Arkells | Hey Rosetta! "Welcome" | Coeur de Pirate, "Adieu" | Braids | |
| 2012[42] | Joel Plaskett, "Lightning Bolt" | Jaycelyn Brown (ofSaid the Whale) | Said the Whale, "We Are 1980" | Nardwuar | Hannah Georgas, "Robotic" | Mother Mother | Bernard Adamus, "Entre ici pis chez vous" | The Elwins | |||
| 2013[43] | Said the Whale, "I Love You" | The Darcys, "The River" | Hollerado, "So It Goes" | Joel Plaskett | Shad, "Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)" | PUP | PUP |
Severalcompilation albums featuring CBC Radio 3 artists and live performances have also been released:
