You know how that whole illegal music downloading issue never seems to go away? Yeah, it's true. This time, the perpetual media controversy is dragging us to Canada. As if piraters didn't already have enough incentive to switch over to the legal version of their library-building habit - other than the free album art you get now with an iTunes Music Store download - the Copyright Board of Canada has decided that it is best to start taxing legally purchased music downloads. The decision was prompted by significant pressure from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, or SOCAN. It appears the Board didn't put up too much of a fight. Basically, under the new yolk of this MP3 tax, online music stores are obligated to pay 3.1 cents (in Canadian money) for each individual song downloaded and 1.5 cents per track on the purchase of a full album. These funds will be handed directly to SOCAN, which will then be held responsible to distribute "compensation" to the "impoverished" artists (perhaps Alanis and Avril?) that are its members. If this wasn't enough, according to one news source, this tax will be applied retroactively to music purchases dating all the way back to 1996.
Now, I'm not one to bash Canada - though I did chuckle heartily when I heard that the country is simply a loft above a really cool party - and I'm not going to publicly support the act of illegal music downloading (R.I.P., Napster). What I do support, however, are decisions that are logical. No one's going to make any more money because of this new levy. First of all, the concept of a tax being directly proposed by artists for their own music does a great deal to severely "unenthuse" music fans. Furthermore, I've always been a supporter of artists making good enough music so that they don't have to rely on added fees imposed on their listeners in order to make their dime. But, alas, we must adhere to the law. I guess we Americans will just have to avoid driving up to Canada for a while to do our iTunes downloading. Rats. All I have to say is that a tax like this better not find its way to America. It could be the Boston Tea Party all over again - except this time, it would clearly be called the Canada Music Downloading Party. Prepare for the uprising!
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