When music went digital Canada was at the front of the line. What happened?
About this episode
The episode discusses the transformation of the music industry in Canada during the late '90s and early '00s, focusing on the rise of digital music and Canadian startups.
In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing $0.99 singles on iTunes. But before iTunes was available in Canada, and before the US giants took over the industry, Canadian startups were at the front of the pack. In this episode, we reminisce on a very strange and transformative time in media--you might remember the first CD you ever bought, but you probably don't remember the last one. We speak to Cam Gordon, author of Track Changes: The Origin Story of Canadian Music on the Internet, about Maple Music and Puretracks. And if you were a Canadian music fan in the early '00s ... you might know what we're talking about.
People in this episode
Hosts: Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Laura Palmer, Mat Keselman
Guest: Cam Gordon
Topics covered
- music industry
- digital transformation
- Canadian startups
- iTunes
- media history
Keywords
- music industry
- digital music
- Canadian music
- iTunes
- Maple Music
- Puretracks
- CDs
- media transformation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Maple Music, Puretracks
Books & works: Track Changes: The Origin Story of Canadian Music on the Internet
More episodes of CanCon
- Can Canadian tech fix 911 wait times? Do we trust AI enough to let it try?
- What makes a company "Canadian" enough for government contracts?
- Canadian happiness scores are dropping fast. Why?
- Canada's a video game powerhouse. Why don't we ever talk about it?
- Inside Canada's struggling emergency rooms, six years after Covid struck
- A year after a major flip, Canada's polls are shifting again
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the CanCon podcast page.