Are you a thrash, metal or hardcore fan? You may be out of luck next time you call the city about trash collection or snow removal.

The City of Toronto is soliciting song tracks from local artists to be used on its 311 customer service line. Called Music 311, the program is an attempt to showcase local talent and move past the mundane instrumental music callers are used to hearing on hold.

To appeal to a broad-based audience, however, the city’s discouraging thrash, hardcore and metal submissions.

“It’s not a this-is-better-than-that-genre kind of thing,” says Mike Tanner, music sector development officer at the City of Toronto. “It’s what is appropriate for the situation.”

The city’s preferred genres? The list is extensive, but includes country, folk, blues, R&B, hip-hop, acoustic and soul.

The artists selected will receive a $50 honorarium for each track used, and will get a bio and photo on the city’s music webpage. The artist and song names won’t be read out to listeners, so those interested would have to look them up afterward on the city’s website.

For now, four acts are being featured during the project’s first run. All have been recently involved with the city’s Music Advisory Council.

Amanda Martinez

Martinez, who sings mostly in Spanish, grew up in Toronto but has South African and Mexican roots. She performed Monday night as a part of Panamania at Nathan Phillips Square.

Her two Music 311 songs, “Guajira Sola” and “Va y Viene,” are her most up-tempo tracks.

“They’re upbeat and hopeful,” she says. “When you’re being put on hold, it’s nice to have something that… can entertain you.”

Martinez believes the city should make better use of local talent, and Music 311 is an example of how to accomplish this.

“This is just one way where, rather than just having a blank silence, we could be spicing it up with music from our city,” she says.

The Cocksure Lads

This semi-fictional ’60s band started as an inside joke between Mike Ford and Murray Foster, members of the now-defunct Moxy Fruvous. Two albums and a full-length movie later, it’s clear the Cocksure Lads have become somewhat of a serious endeavour.

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Their song “Mr. Man,” which has been made into a music video, was selected for Music 311. It “represents the band’s best,” according to creator and band member Murray Foster. Their second 311 track, “Yes I Do,” is a ’60s ballad Foster thought would work well as hold music.

Foster, also a part of legendary band Great Big Sea, says he appreciates that the city thought to pay the artists involved.

“$50, sure, every musician would want that fee to be higher, but I think for me, it was a sense of relief that it wasn’t just free music,” he said.

Miranda Mulholland

Mulholland, a singer and fiddler, believes Music 311 is a vote of confidence for local talent.

“Canadians have a reputation for waiting until another country thinks our artist is great, and then accepting them,” she says. “I’m really encouraged by this.” She added that the initiative is good exposure for the artists involved, since they’ll likely reach new audiences.

Mulholland, who also performs as part of Great Lake Swimmers, has two tracks being used for the program: “Bar Rage” and “Whipping Boy.” The former is a fiddle tune, while the latter is the title track off her 2014 debut solo album.

Jay Douglas

There’s no doubt that Douglas’s 311 track, “Reggae Lane” is local music.

Last summer, the North York Community Council named a small alley near Oakwood and Eglinton Aves. “Reggae Lane” in recognition of the neighbourhood’s Jamaican roots. Douglas, a Jamaican immigrant, was asked by local Councillor Josh Colle (open Josh Colle's policard) to write a song for the occasion.

Colle, Douglas says, was concerned that the culture of the area might be affected by the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown. Reggae Lane — both the song and laneway — is an effort to help preserve that culture.

“So many great international reggae artists and other artists came through that neighbourhood,” Douglas says.

This summer, a historical plaque and mural in the laneway will be officially revealed.