The National Campus and Community Radio Association Inc./L’Association nationale de radios étudiantes et communautaires Inc. (NCRA/ANREC) in conjunction with Canadian campus and community radio stations, and the Canadian music industry (record labels, distributors, independent artists, etc.) have come together to develop the !earshot Digital Distribution System.
!earshot-Distro is an online platform that will allow the Canadian music industry to upload musical recordings to be searched, reviewed, and downloaded by campus and community radio stations to be broadcast across Canada.
The NCRA/ANREC has estimated that between $870,000 to $2,000,000 is lost annually by the Canadian music industry when it comes to distributing music to campus and community radio stations. This is due to a substantial number of CDs being rejected by campus and community radio stations due to a lack of storage space. With the implementation and usage of the !earshot Distro the NCRA/ANREC has reduced the cost of physical distribution to campus and community radio stations and has also made it easier for independent artists and labels to reach stations across the country by simply doing one upload.
!earshot-Distro is created by the NCRA/ANREC which is a small not-for-profit that represents 125 not-for-profit campus and community radio stations, with 97 of them being licensed to a CRTC campus and community radio station. Collectively, they represent over 54% of the entire licensed campus and community radio sector within Canada. Our volunteer base of 15,000 work to ensure that campus and community stations keep running, and work to promote artists from their local communities, and across Canada.
Cost: Uploads start at $7/song or $50/Album (8-20 songs) Canadian +tax.
!earshot-Distro is currently available for Canadian record labels, distributors, publishers, promoters, and independent artists (as long as you have the rights to distribute the music) to use and you can sign-up now.
A list of Canadian campus and community radio stations that currently have access to !earshot-Distro can be found here.