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Montreal, Québec is where progressive pop musicians like Grimes, Arcade Fire, and Kaytranada got their start, but these artists found international success as outsiders. Québec is Canada’s second most populous province, with a music industry that is largely independent from the rest of the country. It has a self-sufficient star system, fuelled by a strong radio culture and successful independent labels such as Audiogram, Dare to Care, Coyote Records, Indica Records, and more. In Québec, French-language artists and record labels have unique privileges because of the laws protecting the province’s Francophone culture.

The sole goal of the 1977 Charter of the French Language was to “make French the language of Government and the Law, as well as the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business.” White Catholic Francophones, particularly baby boomers who identified as ‘Québecois’ — a phrase that also invokes nationalist sentiment — came to define the province’s default culture, from government institutions to the arts. This tacit nationalism, established through the protection of language, precludes the presence of Indigenous peoples on this land. And, because the Charter was set up to assimilate newcomers, it has persisted through waves of French and non-French speaking migrants to the province, from across Canada — and around the world.

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Montreal, Québec’s biggest city and cultural epicenter, is quite diverse: according to a 2011 census, 56% of the population are immigrants, and 57.7% are bilingual. (A 2006 study found that 24% of Montrealers are trilingual). But protective legislation has had a lasting impact on diversity and representation in Québec’s media, as well as its lucrative music industry.

So who gets access? Artists making music that is predominately French-language, and aligned with Francophone cultural ideals. Right now, a musical project must contain 70% French content in order to be subsidized by the majority of granting institutions. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), an independent body that regulates broadcasting in the country, has created special rules for Francophone media: 65% of radio content must be French language, while 35% must contain Canadian content. The Québec industry promotes music in French because it is legally sanctioned as the dominant culture, but there are many artists living in Montreal, that speak and perform in English, English/French, and ‘Franglais.’ They don’t feel represented in print and broadcast media, or recognized by awarding bodies like ADISQ — the ‘Québec Association for the Recording, Concert, and Video Industries.’

The FADER spoke with nine people working in Montreal’s music industry about the reality of making bilingual, multicultural art in a Francophone province.