Conservatives Shift Music Funding to "Profitable" Artists

There is a great deal of controversy over the Conservatives decision to shift funds in Arts funding to direct money toward more 'commercially viable' artists and projects. There is a story at the Globe and Mail that summarizes things a bit.

"Many who benefited from the eliminated grants say innovative, avant-garde albums such as The Perilous Beauty of Madness by indie band DarkBlueWorld or This Riot Life by Veda Hille (which was long-listed for the 2008 Polaris Prize) will no longer be made, dulling Canada's cultural edge. But other musicians, as well as the associations who distribute the funds, defend the decision and are praising the Tories for offering sustainable funding. On Friday, July 31, the Conservative government renewed $27.6-million per year in funding for the Canada Music Fund, for five years. They also “streamlined” the fund, eliminating two of its seven components and pouring those funds back into the remaining five in an effort to “increase the visibility of Canadian music on digital platforms and in international markets.”

Given the Conservatives approach to the arts I don't think "Is this good for art" is even a question. The Conservatives have made no secret of the fact that they strongly dislike art and culture.

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What I will say is what I've been saying for a last few years. What the arts community (musical and otherwise) needs is a new organization. A non profit arts granting organization that receives it's money from patrons of the arts, successful artists, private citizens and corporate sponsors and that exists beyond the whims of politics.

Political parties exist to get re-elected. Though there may be some, individual, political leaders with morals, values and standards but political parties do not have them. In their quest for more seats in Parliament they will read the polls, read letters from their constituents and do what they think will win them a few more votes - whatever that may be. So long as the arts (musical and otherwise) rely on government as a primary source of funding the arts will be subject to the same whim and fancy as every other area of government funding.

The whim of the current government is that art isn't art unless it's profitable because money is the only language that conservatives understand and they do not know the difference between art and oil. If it can't be measured in dollars they are not interested.