Galaxie turns 10 years old this week (as of yesterday, actually). And soon, subscribers will be able to listen on their cell phones. Also in the plans: those tuning in on digital television will see more on-screen visuals, and soon will be able to perform Karaoke with Video on Demand.

More than six million households in Canada receive the music offered through Galaxie (CBC/Radio-Canada’s continuous music network). More than half of these households tune in each month, according to a 2006 Media Technology Monitor survey.

And now, for the stat geeks in the crowd:

• 6.5 million: number of music titles that are played each year.
• 6.2 million: number of Canadian households that subscribe to Galaxie.
• 1.5 million: average number of subscribers who listen to Galaxie each week.
• $4 million plus: amount dedicated to supporting the work of Rising Stars winners and music organizations in Canada since 1997. The Galaxie Rising Stars program of CBC/Radio-Canada is designed to discover, encourage and promote new artists.
• 600 plus: number of Canadian artists who have received a Rising Stars award under Galaxie’s music development program.
• Close to 50: number of programmers behind the Galaxie channels, including new international channels.

Galaxie is available on several platforms, including the basic service of most digital cable, satellite TV and IPTV distributors and now through some Internet service providers. Check with your local Internet service providers for availability of Galaxie.

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	Galaxie Music	Posted at 8:07 am (11 Sep 2007)

CBC’s continuous music service Galaxie (did you know we own that?) is usually buried in the upper channels of your digital cable or satellite provider. I tend to listen to music only on my computer, though, as I’m working through the day.

Well, Galaxie Max Trax has launched its Internet service. Unfortunately, for now it’s only with one carrier — Shaw. If you have a high-speed connection with Shaw Internet, you can log on at http://music.shaw.ca to listen.

The service also allows users to download digital songs, buy CDs, and purchase band merchandise. In addition, the service features artist profiles, bios, discographies and concert information alongside the music. It’s compatible with both PC and Mac users.

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	Galaxie Music	Posted at 8:44 pm (09 Sep 2007)

The CRTC will not permit satellite TV provider Bell ExpressVu to offer subscription radio services (like XM or Sirius) on its service without getting Commission approval first. [ruling]
     The CBC complained to the Commission in March that both Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice were said to be readying deals with satellite radio services. The CBC said to do so without specific prior CRTC approval would contravene federal regulations.
     ”The concern is that [the providers] would have done it outside of existing pay audio rules,” Bev Kirshenblatt, CBC’s senior director of regulatory affairs told InsideTheCBC.com. “And because Galaxie is a discretionary service, it would seem likely that either [providers] would drop Galaxie or it could have driven down prices.”
     Under current regulations, both CBC-owned Galaxie and its competitor MaxTrax can carry only music — no talk.
     Bell ExpressVu says it’s disappointed by the decision. “It denied Bell Xpressvu the right to immediately carry out these exciting licenced Canadian services,” said Bell spokesperson Jeff Meerman. “It seems inconsistent of the Commission to permit content to reach Canadians in their vehicles and homes using one form of receiver, but not using a satellite receiver.”
     Sirius Canada, 40% of which is owned by the CBC, opposed the CBC’s original petition. “We’re interested in getting our content out in a different way to a different audience,” Sirius Canada spokesperson Jeff Roman said. He declined to comment on if talks are underway with various providers.
     The door is not closed, though. The CBC says Rogers, Bell, Videotron, and Telus have each asked the commission to amend their licence so they can add such services. The CBC has already intervened in these cases. A CRTC decision is expected within two months.

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	Galaxie Music, Sirius Satellite, The CRTC	Posted at 1:08 pm (03 Nov 2006)

{yawn} XM Radio proudly announced last week it had upped the ante in the competitive and growing satellite radio field with the launch of XM Radio Online, ostensibly an online music service. (XM Canada is a competitor to Sirius Canada, of which CBC is a partner.) With the service, XMs existing customers who own satellite receivers can listen to about 60% of XM’s channel lineup (XM Online reduced channel lineup).
     I’ve tried the service. You can too for free for three days. It sounds like hell. It’s compressed down to what sounds like 32k to my ears. (Note to XM: If your brand is built around crystal-clear audio, why on Earth would you allow this quality to stream under your name?) Internet audio can sound great. Check out CBC Radio 3‘s site to hear how good.
     But worst of all, XM Radio Online requires customers to already own a XM satellite radio and plan. I suppose they’re positioning it as a value-added service for their existing customers — a serious strategic blunder. This ignores a large and fast-growing market of Internet-connected folks who gladly pay for good-quality audio with a choice of channels.
     But imagine. Imagine if we had our own network with dozens of digital-quality music channels operating 24 hours a day. And imagine if the music rights-holders would come to an agreement (the same agreement, presumably, they signed with XM) about letting us stream it. Imagine the amount of serious ass we could kick if we put it online and charged for it.
     Well, we’re working on it. Eric Albert (no, not that Eric Albert), the new GM of Galaxie Music has several projects in development currently, including an initiative to offer Galaxie Music Channels through the Internet. Like XM, the service will be first be offered through CBC’s commercial partners free of charge to the customers of those partners as an added value to their digital cable or satellite subscriptions — the difference, of course, is that many more Canadians already have cable or satellite. But Galaxie is also considering offering the service to consumers directly on a subscription basis as well.
     As for quality of the audio, Eric told me listeners will get a level of service “much better than the one offered by XM. We will be streaming at a higher rate, resulting in better sound quality for the listener. Since all of our channels are programmed in Canada, we’ll have the ability to offer a service that will be better suited to the taste of Canadians, including the French speaking population, which XM can not do currently.”
     Plus — and here’s a nice killer-app — customers will be able to purchase songs heard on the service, tickets to concerts and other items related to the artists directly from the music player.
     Hope it comes soon. Customers are waiting.

Related: How to Hack Galaxie (not really)

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	Galaxie Music, Sirius Satellite, The Media Landscape	Posted at 11:00 am (17 Jul 2006)

Turns out there is a hidden Galaxie music channel they don’t tell you about! Here’s how to find it. Tune to the 80s channel. Hold down the 9 key on your remote control, then aim your remote toward magnetic north and let go of the 9 key. You should now have access to channel 555 which is the All Rita MacNeil channel*. Nice.
     I was digging around Galaxie this week because CBC just appointed former video game executive Eric Albert as its general manager. Or, as the official CBC news release reads: “Eric brings the skills necessary to drive the growth of Galaxie to new strategic platforms and new markets.” (One of these days, someone will explain to me what a “strategic platform” is.)
     Anyway, here’s a cool trick I found out:

You can go to the Galaxie.ca web site and get a window that shows you what’s playing on now on your five favourite channels (though I do wish I could tell it what those channel numbers are on my system). Kinda cool. ‘Cause it’s very important that I never miss an airing of Rosanna by Toto.

Incidentally, this guy is the fellow who programs the Dance channel on Galaxie. Don’t be fooled by the cover. Nigel was a house DJ at Legends in London UK, spent the 90s designing dance clubs around the world, and runs a respected dance label.

* Rita MacNeil channel not available in all provinces or where prohibited by law.

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	Galaxie Music	Posted at 2:22 pm (07 Jun 2006)