What is it?

!earshot Distro partners up with provincial and national music associations to bring you the MAPL!e Grant Program. The MAPL!e Grant offers association’s members access to !earshot distro at a discounted rate, with the chance to receive a 25% to 50% discount to the system! We are offering this to all music associations, including local chapters and genre-based groups. 

We are excited to be bringing back the MAPL!e Grant Program back! August 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2022.

List of participating Associations & Groups:

• CIMA
• MusicOntario
• Manitoba Music
• MMF Canada
• Musicians’ Rights Organization Canada (MROC)
• Alberta Music
• Collective Music Nation
• Music Yukon
• Folk Music Ontario
• SaskMusic
• Music Newfoundland and Labrador
• Music New Brunswick
• Indie Week
• Music Publishers Canada
• British Columbia Country Music Association
• New Brunswick Musicians’ Association

If you are a part of one of these associations make sure to take advantage of these discount codes, from August 1st to December 31st 2022. Make sure to check their newsletter and reach out to get your discount code today!

Step by Step for members to follow:

• Create/Log in into their https://earshot-distro.ca/ account 
• Follow the upload process, if there is any questions they can follow our tutorial 
• When it is time to pay, apply the Discount Code on the 2nd screen of the checkout: CODE AVAILABLE VIA YOUR ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP LOGIN OR EMAIL
• Discount code will be valid from August 1st to December 31st, 2022)

Why?

We know artists are struggling to share their music even 2 years after COVID-19 (most stations are not accepting CDs), there is no cheap distribution system (commercial alternatives cost $500+) and we want to reduce the environmental impact of mailing content.  As such, we have teamed up with a handful of the national and provincial associations to offer this great opportunity to all musicians in Canada. 

The NCRA / ANREC recognizes the need to support under-represented artists and musicians and has introduced self-identification to help with discoverability, as of right now there are: 1,450 QueerCon, 3,808 FemCon, 1,143 IndigenousCon, 498 FrancoCon, 1,012 BlackCon, ALL self identified uploads and made to increase discoverability.

Artists may choose to self-identify for discoverability or drill down into all the sub and hyper genres for unique music styles. The CRTC requires radio to use a set of music and spoken word content categories as a way for programmers to highlight local content and musicians. Our sector faces challenges including the geography, loss of live venues and the drastic loss of the local print publications which were key to seeking out our new music and features of artists. The internet improves reach but not locality. Local and diverse content can get lost in the vastness of the internet, especially related to music – moving us to support under-represented artists in this fashion.

!earshot-Distro has the benefits of carbon reduction with no packaging or transport waste, as well as expanded access to content online without taking up increasingly expensive storage space at stations.

Previously

2020-2021 Summary – The first MAPL!e Grant took place from November 2020 to March 2021. It was such a success that by artists demands the program was extended until April 30th, 2021, with over $20,000 being offered for free uploads to 450 new users who uploaded approximately 4,000 songs into the system at no cost. We hosted approximately 15 different training sessions, often partnering with the provincial or national associations. We presented to an estimated 800 participants between November 1st and April 28th. 

2021-2022 Summary –  The second MAPL!e Grant took place from August 1st, 2021 to January 31st, 2022. This time around offering associations the opportunity to receive 25% of upload sales or to give their members a 50% discount, since it was not sustainable to keep offering free uploads like the year before. Overall the program was somewhat successful, increasing the number of songs in the system by 194, and with that an increase of new accounts of about 6%. 

About the NCRA/ANREC:

The National Campus and Community Radio Association/L’Association nationale des radios étudiantes et communautaires (“NCRA/ANREC”) is a not-for-profit national association working to recognize, support, and encourage volunteer-based, non-profit, public-access campus, community and native radio broadcasters in Canada. We provide advice and advocacy for individual campus and community (“c/c”) stations and conduct lobbying and policy development initiatives with a view to advancing the role and increasing the effectiveness of our sector. Our goals are to ensure stability and support for individual stations and to promote the long-term growth and effectiveness of the sector. The NCRA/ANREC currently has 116 member stations.

Got a question? Contact us!