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By 'Editor, LDSCaNews'
Canadian Musicians Discuss Arts Funding
TORONTO -- Just half a week before Canadians go to the polls for federal
elections, three of Canada's most successful musicians discusses government
funding for the arts.
Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, Tal Bachman and contemporary composer
Alexina Louie offered varying opinions on whether the government should
continue with arts funding.
Bachman, son of BTO and The Guess Who member, Randy Bachman, is a father and
husband and a member of the LDS Church. Just in the past year he received
two Juno awards, three Canadian Radio Music Awards and a SOCAN award for
"She's So High," possibly his most popular song.
Bachman, in a move that made him seem like the odd one of the three, voiced
a strong opinion that "government should stay out of the arts business,"
never having received funding himself.
Despite disagreements from Page and Louie, Bachman reiterated his point by
citing that new technologies make demo cuts and studio work much more
affordable, and that the private sector should be the ones financing
struggling artists.
As a further argument to his point, he stated that artists who do become
world famous end up leaving Canada anyhow, taking all that taxpayer
investment with them. And yet almost in contradicting terms, he went on to
say that he knew of none of the worldwide starts from Canada who accepted
government funding.
Though Barenaked Ladies received very little funding to get them started,
Page still argues with Bachman and believes the government has a vital role
in supporting artists.
Louie defended the position of Canadian composers, suggesting that if the
funding didn't exists, very few composers could afford to write music.
Source:
CBC Culture, 24 Nov 2000
[Thanks to LDSCaNews subscriber Robert Slaven for submitting this story.]
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