The State of Canadian Music

The Mark Radio ep.12: Are the Junos a good indication of the best Canadian music? Or just the most popular?

When rapper Drake and teen pop sensation Justin Bieber performed together at this year's Juno awards, it was a collaboration between two of today's biggest artists. The rising stars are splashed all over the American music media, hobnobbing with the likes of Lil Wayne, Usher and Ludacris – and they just happen to be Canadian. But the biggest winner at the Junos this year was Michael Bublé, taking home the awards for both album and single of the year, as well as the fan's choice award. But are the Junos celebrating Canada's best music, or just its most popular?

Music has become one of our largest cultural exports – Canadian artists routinely stand side-by-side with their American counterparts. Artists like Nickelback, Céline Dion, and Shania Twain have drawn huge crowds south of the border for years. Meanwhile, the Canadian indie scene has exploded in the last ten years, with bands like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and Broken Social Scene going from playing local dive bars to headlining international music festivals and populating many critics' best of the decade lists.

So on this week's show, we're reflecting on the state of Canadian music from the perspective of the people who document it.

First up, host Chris Mitchell talks with James Keast, editor-in-chief of Exclaim! magazine on what he thinks the point of the Junos and the Polaris Music Prize should be.

Second, Alan Cross, host of The Ongoing History of New Music, gives an overview of what's happening in the Canadian music scene.

Also on the show is Liz Worth, author of Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond. She joins audio intern Martin Waldman for a talk about the why Canadian punk will never die.

(Run-time: 30 minutes.)