Things They Should Invent: cancon online music store

I've noticed that smaller musicians tend to release CDs, but not be on itunes or otherwise have their music available for download. This is an inconvenience for me as a consumer, because since I got an ipod I no longer want actual CDs. And sometimes I want just one or two songs, but I don't want to spend $20 and have an extra piece of clutter around to get them. (For local artists I can often find their CDs at the library, but that doesn't actually help the artist.)

I think the people who are responsible for promoting Canadian content could fix this, and promote Canadian music worldwide in the process. All we need is an online music store of literally all Canadian artists.

The store would be web-based and highly googleable, so people would land on it while looking for specific songs and artists. If it prices itself like itunes but in Canadian dollars, it will slightly undercut itunes on every sale. If they can avoid having DRM and make it open to everyone in the world to buy from regardless of which country they live in, word will quickly spread that this store is superior to itunes when buying Canadian music. This will, in turn, increase awareness of which music is Canadian and thus global awareness of Canadian culture. (I've heard that this is important in terms of international relations, although I don't grok why.)

Then if they give the store one of those ubiquitous "If you like this music, you may also like this music" functions, then people from around the world who wander in googling for mainstream music that happens to be Canadian, like Diana Krall or Nickelback, will be able to discover other Canadian artists they would never have thought of, and quickly and easily buy their music DRM-free at a price that undercuts itunes. And, of course, if the consumer would prefer a CD, they could use the website to discover new music, then purchase the CD from the artist's website like usual. Or maybe this music store could sell CDs too. If they posted lyrics on the site too, it could attract traffic from people who are googling for lyrics, and drive them to more music they might like.

Consumers get the music they're looking for, even if it's obscure, in the format they want at the best possible price. Artists get broader promotion than they could do themselves. Canadian culture gets promoted to anyone who happens to be googling for any music that happens to be Canadian. Everybody wins!