Canadians say Cancon books, film, music, magazines are important: survey
TORONTO - Canadians believe it's important to have access to homegrown cultural content but don't think our films are getting the attention they deserve, according to a new report.
The Department of Canadian Heritage commissioned a study to assess how much people valued and were able to access made-in-Canada books, films, magazines and music.
Respondents across the country — of all ages and sexes — agreed that Canadian content is essential, according to the June survey of 2,003 adults.
About 92 per cent of respondents said access to Canadian books and music was important, while about 90 per cent said the same for films and magazines.
About 80 per cent said they could easily find Canadian books and magazines of interest, and 69 per cent said they had no trouble finding Canadian music online.
But when it came to Canuck film, respondents felt there's more to be done.
While 77 per cent said they were interested in watching Canadian films, large numbers suggested they weren't getting enough chances to do so.
About 73 per cent said more Canadian films should be aired on TV and 65 per cent said there should be more Canadian movies in theatres.
Only 51 per cent believed they could easily find Canadian films to watch and just 36 per cent thought they were well-promoted and advertised.
When asked if they were familiar with a number of recent Canadian films, about half recognized "Resident Evil: Afterlife" and "Goon," nearly 40 per cent knew of "Starbuck" and "Barney's Version," and only around 25 per cent were aware of "Monsieur Lazhar" and "Incendies" — which both earned best foreign language film Oscar nominations — and the star-studded "A Dangerous Method."
Some other details from the report:
BOOKS
— Reading appears to be on the rise compared to a year ago. About 22 per cent said they read more during the past year while 12 per cent said they read less. Social media users and women aged 18 to 34 were most likely to have read more.
— One in five Canadians said they read ebooks "often" or "sometimes."
FILM
— About two thirds of Canadians said they were still buying DVDs or Blu-rays, although mostly only a few times a year. About one in three were downloading or streaming movies online. About 12 per cent said they download or stream every day or at least once a week.
— Forty-four per cent of respondents visited a video store in 2012, down from 80 per cent in a similar 2005 survey.
— The number of people watching movies on video on demand or pay per view services increased from 18 per cent in 2005 to 50 per cent.
MAGAZINES
— About seven in 10 Canadians said they read print magazines, while three in 10 said they download digital magazines.
— Of print magazine readers, about half said all or most of their reads are Canadian, while 32 per cent of digital magazine readers said they mostly read Canadian publications.
— The main reasons given for not reading print magazines were a lack of time (24 per cent) and lack of interest (21 per cent). For digital magazines, the reasons were preferring print (24 per cent), not owning an e-reader or tablet (13 per cent) and a lack of time (10 per cent).
MUSIC
— Radio is still said to be the most common way to discover new music, with 79 per cent of respondents saying that they "often" or "sometimes" find new songs and artists on the radio. About 64 per cent said friends and family were outlets for new music, and 42 per cent used newspapers and magazines for new finds.
— Although the market is being flooded with a slew of subscription streaming services, Canadians mostly said they were not interested. About one in three said they were "very" or "somewhat" interested in free streaming services that run advertisements for revenue. Only 17 per cent said they are likely to subscribe to one of the paid services that offer unlimited access to millions of songs for a monthly fee.
— Almost 40 per cent of Canadians said they would likely purchase songs or albums online within the next six months. When asked whether they still expect to buy CDs in the future, 13 per cent said no, 29 per cent said they'd mostly download, 26 per cent said they'd choose mostly CDs or records, and 25 per cent said they'd only buy physical copies of albums.
The report was prepared by Quorus Consulting Group Inc.
