People are discussing online about what qualifies as Canadian music after a popular Punjabi artist won a JUNO Award last month.
The debate was sparked after a post on X from Harry Faulkner, the host of The Faulkner Show on Canadian investigative reporting platform True North, went viral.
“Is this Canadian music or Indian music?” Faulkner’s tweet said, criticizing Punjabi music artist Karan Aujla for winning the TikTok Fan Choice Award at the JUNO’s because he holds permanent resident status in Canada and is not a citizen.
HERE’S HOW PEOPLE ARE REACTING:
Some Canadians agreed with Faulkner, while others flat out disagreed. And others acknowledged the country’s cultural landscape is changing.
“Other than the natives, every Canadian traces their roots to some country in Europe or Asia…the food, the customs, the music is different for everyone…who decides what is Canadian Music? The Italian Canadian, Polish Canadian, British Canadian or the French Canadian??” one X user said.
However, other Canadians are proud of the growing diversity in the nation being reflected in the music industry.
“Canada is multicultural and has been for some time [due] to immigration policies. There are Canadian Indians who support this artist’s music. It is a reflection of Canada’s diversity in the arts and music scene,” 2023 JUNO nominee LOWKYST posted as a response to the tweet.
Other social media outlets have also been reposting Faulkner’s viral tweet to ask Canadians about their opinions on what exactly “Canadian” music is considered to be.
BlackLantic podcast reposted it on Instagram, criticizing its racist undertones.
“That’s crazy. Man needs to find God,” African Nova Scotian Music Association executive director Julien Matwawana commented on the post.
Exclaim Magazine wrote an opinion piece about the viral tweet as well, clarifying that Aujla came to Canada when he was a teenager and both worked and went to school in British Columbia.
Despite the controversy on whether Aujla’s music is considered Canadian, his music is handled by the Canadian division of Warner Music, Canadian sound engineers, and was first released in Canada, according to Warner Music’s artist directory.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED CANADIAN MUSIC?
Now Toronto reached out to JUNOS President Allan Reid for comment, but did not receive a response in time of publication.
However, the JUNOS site clarifies the TikTok Juno Fan Choice Award is determined by fan votes via JUNOFanChoice.ca as well as on TikTok and Twitter using the nominee’s hashtag.
“Artists who have one of the Top 20 tracks based on consumption are given an individual rank. Next, these artists are evaluated using social data to measure their growth and popularity across social networks,” the website states.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refers to the MAPL system to define what constitutes a Canadian song.
“M (music): the music is composed entirely by a Canadian, A (artist): the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian, P (performance): the musical selection consists of a live performance that is recorded wholly in Canada, or performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada, and L (lyrics): the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian,” the CRTC website states.
Under the MAPL acronym, anyone who is a permanent resident, Canadian citizen, or who has lived in Canada for the last six months before being nominated for a musical production, is considered a “Canadian.”
