Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, Our Lady Peace among Canada's JUNO nominees

Why Avril will always out-Juno Arcade Fire

by Heath McCoy, The National Post

If you follow the international music press, you know that some of the hottest Canadian acts right now include Arcade Fire, Feist, the New Pornographers, The Dears, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, Buck 65, Stars, Metric, Death From Above 1979, Chad Van Gaalen, The Constantines and Bedouin Soundclash, among others.

But when Juno Award nominations are announced in Toronto today, it's unlikely the nominees will reflect what was a banner year for Canadian music.

The country's version of the Grammy Awards doesn't have the best track record, to be sure. Most often it's been on par with the American award show, in terms of a rather conservative, old-fashioned approach to the music business.

Indie names such as Arcade Fire, the New Pornographers and Stars may be upping Canada's cool cachet around the world, but they're doing so on an indie-rock level that doesn't translate into mainstream radio play or platinum record sales. It's therefore a safe bet that the country's indie- rock revolution will not dominate this year's Juno Awards.

Oh, it will be acknowledged in a few categories -- let's hope -- but don't expect the nominees list to look radically different from that of recent years. Remember, major-label stars Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Michael Buble, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace, Jann Arden, Terri Clark and Alanis Morissette all had very successful years.

Nominations for the major categories -- album of the year, group of the year, rock album of the year and others -- are based on sales, according to the rules on the Juno Web site.

"Juno positioning is very political," explains Larry LeBlanc, bureau chief for Billboard magazine in Canada. "The major labels bring a major part of the financing to the table to bring in [big artists] for the Junos." And, as the awards are televised, the networks want major artists present, to secure the best ratings possible for the award show, LeBlanc says.

This year, for example, major label stars Coldplay will perform at the event, to be televised April 2 on CTV from Halifax.

"I don't know if we need Coldplay there," LeBlanc says. "Isn't our industry big enough? This is the strongest year for Canadian music worldwide, when somebody like BBC Radio 2 does two one-hour specials [on the Canadian indie scene]. The Junos are a celebration of Canadian music, and I don't think Coldplay is needed."

Even so, the popular British band will get people watching the awards show, and as a major label (EMI) is able to supply a band like Coldplay, this most certainly gives them clout as to how the ceremony is geared.

Alexander Mair, publisher of Applaud!, a domestic industry magazine that tracks Canadian music on the world stage, also questions the decision to bring in Coldplay, even though he understands the reasoning behind it. "If Coldplay gets four minutes [of Juno airtime], that's four minutes [Alberta artist] Corb Lund, or some other smaller Canadian act can't get," Mair says.

The Juno Awards are presided over, and the winners are voted on, by members of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).

CARAS is made up of individuals and artists working within the Canadian music industry. But the major labels have huge influence within the CARAS membership.

"In the past, the major labels have had the most votes, collectively," Mair says "Arcade Fire's distributor in Canada . . . probably only one or two of their staff would have (CARAS) votes and that would be it. So, if they're up against Billy Talent, Billy Talent's label, Warner Music probably has a substantial number of votes.

"They would have people in every major city working for them who were members of CARAS. And the broadcasters who support Billy Talent are more likely, perhaps, to vote for Billy Talent than for Arcade Fire, who didn't get as much airplay."

A number of independent record labels have distribution from major labels, which helps their cause, LeBlanc says. But too many CARAS members are ill-informed about the cutting edge indie bands now on the scene.

"Some of the people who are members of CARAS are only finding out about Arcade Fire now, and the only reason is because they were on the cover of Time Magazine," LeBlanc says. "You can't ignore a band like that now. . . . But how many of them know about Death From Above 1979? The chance of (that band) being on the show? Very little."

But despite the politics involved, some members of the indie rock community are optimistic about the coming Juno nominations. Amanda VanDenBrock, who handles touring for Arts & Crafts, the Toronto-based indie label that houses such acclaimed names as Broken Social Scene, Stars and Feist, has faith in the Juno system.

"I think Canada's not going to be like (the Grammys)," she says. "I would like to think we're a little bit more open to our indies. We don't have such a Hollywood star system."

VanDenBrock adds: "The Junos are voted on by the members of CARAS. I have been a member of CARAS before and I've voted and I'm definitely a small fish. And I know a lot of small fish in the industry that have been CARAS members and have voted."

Sometimes the rift between the Junos and young, indie bands comes down to the bands themselves, LeBlanc believes. "Some of these artists are so independent, they don't want to be involved with the Junos," he says. "Sometimes they feel it's close to the mainstream, and if the people buying your records are very anti-major label, they don't like their bands cozying up to the establishment. . . .

"I raised a stink last year when the Junos were in Winnipeg. I said 'Hey, what about (Winnipeg band) The Weakerthans?' People looked at me like I was crazy. But I'm not sure the Weakerthans would have agreed to go on television."

LeBlanc, for one, is not predicting a major shift for the 2006 Juno Awards.

"But this could be the year they surprise us," he adds. "You just never know. All we can speak about for sure is the past."

CARAS is made up of individuals and artists working within the Canadian music industry. But the major labels have huge influence within the CARAS membership.

"In the past, the major labels have had the most votes, collectively," Mair says "Arcade Fire's distributor in Canada ... probably only one or two of their staff would have [CARAS] votes and that would be it. So, if they're up against Billy Talent, Billy Talent's label, Warner Music, probably has a substantial number of votes.

"They would have people in every major city working for them who were members of CARAS. And the broadcasters who support Billy Talent are more likely, perhaps, to vote for Billy Talent than for Arcade Fire, who didn't get as much airplay."

A number of independent record labels have distribution from major labels, which helps their cause, LeBlanc says. But too many CARAS members are ill- informed about the cutting edge indie bands now on the scene.

"Some of the people who are members of CARAS are only finding out about Arcade Fire now, and the only reason is because they were on the cover of Time Magazine," LeBlanc says. "You can't ignore a band like that now ... But how many of them know about Death From Above 1979? The chance of [that band] being on the show? Very little."

But despite the politics involved, some members of the indie rock community are optimistic about the coming Juno nominations. Amanda VanDenBrock, who handles touring for Arts & Crafts, the Toronto-based indie label that houses such acclaimed names as Broken Social Scene and Feist, has faith in the Junos.

"I think Canada's not going to be like [the Grammys]," she says. "I would like to think we're a little bit more open to our indies. We don't have such a Hollywood star system."

VanDenBrock adds: "The Junos are voted on by the members of CARAS. I have been a member of CARAS before and I've voted and I'm definitely a small fish. And I know a lot of small fish in the industry that have been CARAS members and have voted."

Sometimes the rift between the Junos and young, indie bands comes down to the bands themselves, LeBlanc believes. "Some artists are so independent, they don't want to be involved with the Junos," he says. "Sometimes they feel it's close to the mainstream, and if the people buying your records are very anti-major label, they don't like their bands cozying up to the establishment.

"I raised a stink last year when the Junos were in Winnipeg. I said 'Hey, what about [Winnipeg band] The Weakerthans?' People looked at me like I was crazy. But I'm not sure the Weakerthans would have agreed to go on television."

LeBlanc, for one, is not predicting a major shift for the 2006 Juno Awards.

"But this could be the year they surprise us," he adds. "You just never know. All we can speak about for sure is the past."




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