Apple Music kicked off day four of the CRTC’s The Path Forward hearing on supporting Canadian and Indigenous audio content, positioning its streaming service as having fostered Canadian and Indigenous musical talent for two decades without regulatory mandates.

Mike Lawless, Head of Apple Music and Apple Podcasts Canada, stressed that Apple’s support for Canadian artists is driven by belief and investment, not regulation.

“We do all of this, not because we’re regulated and directed to do so, but because our teams are proudly Canadian and because we believe in and continually invest in supporting the talent coming out of this country,” Lawless told the hearing.

He highlighted Apple Music’s commitment to quality and artist connection, particularly as a paid-only service that does not include an ad-supported tier, noting the streamer’s local editorial teams in Toronto and Montreal, responsible for curating over 500 playlists, including those dedicated Canadian, Indigenous, and Francophone music.

Relying on the argument that streaming services pay approximately 70% of their revenue directly to music rights holders in the form of royalties – effectively 8.5 times more than the commercial radio sector does – Apple’s position is that it is already making an outsized financial contribution to the Canadian music sector and that imposing additional levies, particularly to subsidize competitors like radio, would divert from music industry initiatives.

James Mauer, Apple’s Head of Government Affairs for Canada, also cautioned against a “one-size fits all” approach.

“We believe that recognizing the innovative and creative ways that Apple Music makes this content discoverable every day will lead to the best outcomes for Canadian audiences, Canadian creators, and the Canadian music industry as a whole,” said Mauer, arguing that Apple’s unique efforts should be recognized and not subjected to prescriptive radio-era rules.

Apple is advocating for regulatory flexibility to allow streamers to innovate and compete, in favour of annual reporting allowing each platform to outline their own unique initiatives. Apple supports the idea of “principle-based direction” – a reference to the overall policy direction the federal government issued to the CRTC in 2023, following the Online Streaming Act becoming law, instructing the commission to adopt a flexible, adaptable, outcomes-focused approach.

“We welcome broad direction on discoverability,” Mauer stated, suggesting an annual reporting process filed confidentially with the commission.

Roberta Weston, Principal Counsel, added that the framework could involve requiring services to have a dedicated space to promote Canadian and Indigenous content and offer Canadian playlists.

“We operate in a very dynamic market…providing innovation in our discoverability initiatives are really key for us to differentiate ourselves and be competitive,” she concluded. “We are supportive of a principle-based approach.”