As we all know, The Junos were just a few weeks ago this year. The Junos of course, is a yearly awards ceremony giving recognition and applause to the best music talents that Canada has to offer…

…but to whom?

In previous years, there has been strong debate as to whether the stated intent of the Junos matches that of how it works in reality. While many artists see the Junos as what they present themselves as, an awards ceremony giving recognition to the best of Canadian music talent, others see the Junos as advertising Canadian talent to the American music industry.

Some artists have been quite outspoken about the latter opinion, with Matthew Good not attending the ceremony for any of the four awards he’s won as a result of it. Others such as Kardinal Offishall have openly criticised the awards for having American acts such as The Black Eyed Peas perform.

This week we discuss our thoughts on the Junos, and the extent it serves as a marketing tactic for larger music industries outside our borders.