CBC's announcement of 657 job losses and $130 million cut to its budget sent shockwaves throughout Canadian media circles today. But some of the news regarding what the cuts mean to music and music programming on the various CBC channels, particularly CBC Radio, are becoming a little bit clearer.
According to tweets posted by CBC's Dave Seglins earlier this afternoon, Chris Boyce, executive director of Radio and Audio CBC English Services, revealed that there will be cuts to "recorded concerts" as well as cuts to 12 regional music producers, hosts and engineers. No names were given as to who would be let go but Boyce also stated that CBC Radio 2 program "In Tune" will be cancelled.
The "In Tune" classical music program is hosted by Katherine Duncan. Seglins also tweeted that CBC Radio One's scheduled would see no programs nixed but three network jobs would be eliminated.
On Oct. 18, 2012, Boyce wrote a letter to The Globe and Mail explaining how the "bulk of the costs associated with CBCMusic.ca are in creating the content..." He also wrote the service was "not there to make a profit" but aimed at providing Canadians "with a service they use, value and can't get elsewhere."
The executive director also stated at the time that over 17 million hours of music had been streamed since the service launched in February, 2012 as well as having over 8 million visits to the site. "We're spending the same amount of money we always have creating music content, but as technology changes the way people consume content, we're delivering it to them in different ways."
Although CBC Radio 3 host Grant Lawrence re-tweeted some messages from people showing their support, he stated he wouldn't speak on the news regarding the cuts but tried "keeping it positive."
"I am not going to go there but you can easily find the information at CBC.ca, it's also trending on Twitter as well," Lawrence said during his Thursday show. "It is not a wonderful day I know that. There are, well let's just say there are alleged rumors of a bottle of tequila being passed around in Toronto. Not sure if there's any truth to that or not or if it's just a rumor." Lawrence later said it was a "strange day" while citing how others shared their reactions via Twitter, including CBC Q host Jian Ghomeshi.
There's no word if the cuts will have any impact on the forthcoming CBCMusic.ca Festival featuring Tegan and Sara, Spoon, Arkells and Hannah Georgas among others. The festival takes place June 14 in Burnaby, B.C.
Here are some of the reactions thus far from artists and others with CBC affected by the cuts.