CRTC limits musical montages on radio

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is telling two francophone radio stations in Montreal that they must limit their use of musical montages, Marketing Mag reports.

Musical montages are a compilation from a number of songs played without interruption, so that they are counted as a single piece under federal broadcasting rules.

According to The Globe and Mail, radio stations fill lengthy montages with mostly English-language and non-Canadian pop songs to get around quotas.

The idea behind allowing montages, the CRTC says, is to give listeners a sampling of music and a way to discover new Canadian and French-language artists.

"There is a widespread trend on the part of some French-language broadcasters to use montages inappropriately," Canadian Business quotes Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC's vice-chairman of broadcasting, as saying.

"Some licensees appear to be using montages to circumvent the requirements for French-language vocal music. We are finding that for some francophone commercial stations, the current quotas represent a particular challenge given their target audience and the market they serve."