About
The Canadian Catalogue of Instrumental Music was born out of necessity. In creating a modern interpretation of the Easy Listening Format, the programmers at the Evanov Radio Group quickly realized that sourcing instrumental music was not a simple task. There was no single source to go to, nor was there an easy way to ascertain the appropriateness of the interpretation for the needs of the station. It also came to light that a great deal of music was being produced by artists who were neither affiliated with large, or even independent, music labels. Nor were they distributing their music through traditional channels.
When word spread that a format of this nature was being proposed for Canadian radio, and the proposal was for a commercial radio station, the programmers putting together the station were besieged by artists and composers who hoped to receive support through air play. It quickly became evident that there was more music to choose from than could immediately and reasonably be incorporated into the single playlist of any station, and far from elevator music, the range of productions was suitable for play on stations with formats that were neither Easy Listening nor Jazz.
The question was how to bring this to the attention of the radio industry. From this, the challenge was quickly expanded to how to assist artists and composers in getting the attention of other users of music, such as television and film producers and ultimately, how to make it available to the Canadian public. Many artists have their own website where you can order their CDs, or even in some cases, download their music.
The challenge in sourcing music using this route is that you need to know of the artist, or correctly guess at their name, including correct spelling, and make an intelligent guess at the domain name of their site. For only the most successful, this approach would result in a profitable promotional opportunity. There are also many artists that do not have a website, although they are successful in producing world class music and developing loyal fans and a listening audience. Furthermore, it would be virtually impossible to search for a specific song and for broadcasters to determine if it qualified as Canadian music.
The solution to many of these challenges is provided by the Canadian Catalogue of Canadian Instrumental Music. While the initial phase is planned to be a comprehensive online database, it is envisioned that in subsequent iterations, and through ongoing development, the Catalogue will permit sampling and provide information on new releases, new artists, awards received by Canadian artists, and concert and performances by region.
Oversight of the Catalogue
The Catalogue has been incorporated into a "not for profit" organization where a 100 percent of the investment goes into development and promotion of the content, artists and composers. CCIM is a recognized third party Canadian Talent Development initiative dedicated to finding, listing, promoting and marketing Canadian instrumental artists and their music to local, national and international markets.
There is a Board of Directors that oversees the operations and ensures that the goal and mandate are being fulfilled. For a copy of the bylaws please click here.