Playlist: Wait! What! That's CanCon?

by ctyson

Description

Songs that "qualify" as CanCon but you wouldn't expect them too :) Years ago, the CRTC established the MAPL system as a way of determining any song’s Canadian-ness. To be properly Canadian, a song must meet two of the four criteria: M = Music. The music has to be written by a Canadian or landed immigrant. A = Artist. The artist has to be a Canadian or a landed immigrant. P = Production. A bit confusing. The song has to be either (a) a live performance recorded entirely in Canada; or (b) performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada. It does NOT mean that the song was produced by a Canadian. L = Lyrics. The lyricist has to be written by a Canadian or landed immigrant. These rules created the quirk of allowing radio to play songs performed by a foreigner that count towards Cancon levels. And since Canadian program and music directors are always looking for ways to add extra variety to their Cancon categories, they’ve jumped all over this loophole. Chances are, then, when you hear any of these songs on Canadian radio, they’re part of the station’s Cancon collection. It also explains why many of these tracks were hits in Canada and nowhere else. While this is by no means an ultra-complete list (the number of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell tracks is staggering), let’s go through some of these tracks.