Ontario's independent musicians are happy—"ecstatic"—over the planned $45 million Ontario Music Fund promised in this spring's budget. But that's not the only help they're looking for from Queen's Park.
Tax credits and a little less openness to foreign behemoths would help too, they argue.
"It's challenging for the independent industry to gain any kind of market share when Universal controls almost half the market," says Stuart Johnston of the Canadian Independent Music Association.
Johnston's concern with the Music Fund, expected to be finalized in the fall, is that for the first time provincial support would be available for foreign-owned music labels, including large multinationals such as Universal and Sony.
"We (independents) pay $93 million in taxes, that's in excess of that we receive in support," Johnston says, pointing to a study prepared by Nordicity about <a href="http://www.cimamusic.ca/Storage/59/5129_Sound_Analysis.CIMA.FINAL.2013.pdf">the independent music industry's economic impact</a> from earlier this year.
The study shows that for every dollar in support the indies receive, they pay back $1.22 nationally in taxes. In Ontario that number is $1.43 (due to lower average levels of support.)
Johnston argues the supports are an economic development investment, and not simply spending money on culture for culture's sake. But some elements of the <a href="http://www.omdc.on.ca/music/Tax_Credits/OSRTC.htm">Ontario Sound Recording Tax Credit</a> he says need to be changed to further help the industry. While <a href="http://www.omdc.on.ca/film_and_tv/tax_credits/OFTTC.htm">movies and television can take advantage of a 35 percent tax credit</a>, musicians only have a 20 percent credit available. CIMA is advocating for the music credit to be increased to bring it closer to the film and television tax credit.
The music tax credit also applies differently to marketing expenses inside and outside of Ontario, covering all of the marketing costs within Ontario but only half outside. Johnston says that distinction is increasingly less meaningful in the internet age.
Karen Thorne-Stone, president and CEO of the Ontario Media Development Corporation says that's not clear. The OMDC administers the province's various tax credits, and points out as internet sales have increased, live performances--which are pretty clearly either inside or outside of Ontario--have also increased.
"It depends on how you define marketing, because we would include touring and showcasing within that. So having a presence in another country, or having buyers here, is part of that marketing effort," she says.
"I think marketing is still a lot more than making it available on iTunes."
The OMDC also offers a number of other tools to support the export of Ontario independent music. The OMDC has historically only supported independent Ontario musicians, making the Ontario Music Fund and it's potential support for multinationals a break with provincial practice.
The music industry employs well over 13,000 in Canada, and 80 per cent of that in Ontario according to CIMA's numbers. Thorne-Stone estimates the broader cultural industry contributes approximately $12 billion to the provincial economy every year.
The Finance Minister Charles Sousa's office declined to speculate about any potential changes to the Ontario Sound Recording Tax Credit when contacted by QP Briefing.

Indie musicians want Ontario tax help

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