Reports of the JUNOS planning to pullout reggae, gospel, children’s music, and international music categories from the renowned awards show have left Canadian musicians devastated.
Just a few weeks before the deadline for artists to submit their music, all four genres could reportedly be cut from the 2025 JUNO Awards.
In a letter obtained by the Canadian Press, JUNO organizers told committee members this month of plans to put on “hiatus” reggae recording, children’s album, Christian/gospel album and international album of the year.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) says the decision is part of a “broader set of updates” that have yet to be announced, according to the Canadian Press.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL MUSIC COMMUNITY?
Some musicians from the affected genres have been preparing for months to submit their music to be considered for the JUNOS next year, according to music producer and artist manager Richard Picart, who’s served on and off as a CARAS judge for the Christian music genre for the last 24 years.
Despite being a judge, Picart told Now Toronto that nobody has contacted him about the genre changes.
“Removing the Christian gospel category is saying that Christian/gospel music doesn’t make a contribution to the art form of music. When the irony is that gospel music is the foundation for most of the remaining genres like rock and country, and so for them to remove this is culturally irresponsible and institutionally appropriating what we’ve done,” Picart said.
Picart says the Christian/gospel genre was implemented back in the early 90s and has made meaningful contributions to both Canadian heritage and the rest of the world, which is why it’s shocking for it to be removed.
“Here’s the funny thing about it, is that Canadian artists like Justin Bieber are doing gospel songs, right? Yet they still deny the opportunity for this genre to thrive. What I’m curious about is the decision making around it. Is it costing them money? Is it costing them time? Because I’m a member of the community of judges. They don’t pay me. So, what is the actual cost to the Academy for them to have this category?” Picart said.
CONCERNS OF INCLUSIVITY AT THE JUNOS
While the news is concerning, Picart says he’s had mainly positive experiences working with the JUNOs and has never felt there’s been any practices of racism or discrimination.
“If CARAS was known as an organization that lacked an attitude of inclusivity, then I can say this has been brewing for a while, but that wouldn’t be an honest statement from my perspective. I wouldn’t initially say this is rooted in any sort of discrimination or racism without more information, but I can tell you, as a person in the community, it certainly doesn’t feel good,” he said.
One of the gospel artists he used to manage is Londa Larmond, a JUNO nominee and Toronto-based gospel artist who’s been working in the industry for over 20 years.
“It’s a genre that is part of Canada’s fabric as well, just like any other genre. I think for too long, we had to fight to get it, and now it’s being taken away from us again. I think that’s very unfair to the gospel community at large,” Larmond told Now Toronto.
Larmond, like many Black Canadians who were born and raised in Toronto or have parents who are immigrants, says it’s not a good look for reggae and gospel to be singled out.
“How do you have a festival like Caribana and you’re going to take out the reggae category? A festival that brings thousands, if not millions of people, every year and the music that is represented at that festival, one of the styles of music, you’re going to remove it based on what? That doesn’t make sense nor is it fair,” she said.
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Although Larmond doesn’t feel there’s any outright racism from CARAS, she believes there’s some kind of prejudice at play.
“I don’t know if I would say racism. When it comes to this specific issue, we’ve had Black secular artists that win and are recognized. Would I necessarily say it’s racism or prejudice against our cultural music?” she said.
Even when it comes to gospel, Larmond says there’s the issue that non-Black artists are recognized and awarded more often than their Black counterparts.
“Non-Black artists are recognized more in Christian music than Black artists, but that could be for other reasons as well because they’re exposed a lot more and there’s a whole lot more travel that happens. So, they’re recognized, you know, there’s a lot more exposure,” Larmond said.
HOW THE REGGAE COMMUNITY WILL BE AFFECTED
Kirk Diamond, 2024 JUNO winner for reggae recording of the year, told Now Toronto that the awards serve as accreditation for Canadian reggae artists to compete internationally due to a lack of opportunities here.
“Reggae is going to be OK. We have Jamaica that produces reggae artists every day. We have the U.K., Germany, you know, all of Europe and the United States. It’s just where Canada is concerned. We have our stories that we want pulled to. We want to be heard. We want to be seen as well,” Diamond said.
Diamond, just like many other established artists and musicians, was only aware of the possible genre cut because of seeing the news online. However, that won’t stop him from advocating for reggae music in Canada, which was here long before the award show started in 1971.
“Reggae music is built out of things like this, you know? I mean, out of the struggle. This is what it’s for. It is for us, fighting for the voices, for the people. And this is just another hurdle that we have to jump, another river we have to cross,” he said.
University of Toronto music professor Catherine Moore says music awards usually make changes to categories to match what is happening in the recording music industry.
“These changes cause not only confusion and draw a lot of criticism but also lag behind what is really happening in the music industry,” Moore told Now Toronto.
“CARAS will release its promised ‘broader set of updates’ soon. Then, it’s important for them to provide clear guidance to creators about where music fits within the 2025 categories. It’s also important for them to explain the reasons for changing the categories, and explicitly acknowledge how they have taken into account representation of the many different music communities in Canada,” Moore continued.
Now Toronto reached out to JUNOS for comment but did not hear back in time of publication.
