Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

I might be biased just because I'm from there, but I have a really deep seeded love for a lot of Canadian artists. I mean if there was some kind of objective way we could measure quality I'm sure the US would win by sheer fact that there's a vast difference in population.

Canada is kind of funny with their perception of themselves from a cultural world view. We know it's pretty hard to compete with the US for cultural influence, so instead we try to make it a little easier for people to gain cultural fame within our own borders. For example, the Government of Canada gives out grants to developing musicians in order to help them get studio time (I don't know the exact specifics of the grant) and it seems all the band has to do is mention that the album was helped funded by that grant. There's also the Canadian Radio Content rule, which dictates that every 10th song played on a music station be a Canadian band. It creates funny situations wherein bands like The Tragically Hip are legends in Canada, but they play at a dingy bar in San Francisco on a Tuesday night.