A man checks his smartphone whilst standing amongst illuminated screens bearing the Spotify Technology SA logo in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Jamie Sarkonak: Your rising Spotify bill is paying for the Liberals' diversity agenda

Recent regulation-induced price hikes are just the beginning

by · National Post

The Online Streaming Act, rushed through Parliament as Bill C-11, isn’t in full force yet. Already, though, it’s begun to claw back a generous cut of streamer revenues — and we’re already worse off for it.

In June, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that it would be taking a five per cent cut of Canadian revenues from major foreign streaming services, such as Netflix and Youtube, starting in 2024, supposedly to invest in Canadian programming. In dollars, that’s supposed to bring in $200 million per year.

Jamie Sarkonak: Liberals bring identity quotas to Canada Media FundIn 2021, the Liberals said they would dramatically boost funding for the Canada Media Fund. And they did — but that funding came with diversity quotas and a new emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Jamie Sarkonak, 29 May 2023Jamie Sarkonak: Liberals want to impose diversity requirements on streaming giantsThe “modern approach” to broadcasting regulation, according to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), involves ordering broadcasters to budget and produce content with diversity quotas in mind, while mandating that various groups of people be consulted every two years.Jamie Sarkonak, 22 Jun 2023