# When music went digital Canada was at the front of the line. What happened?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791/when-music-went-digital-canada-was-at-the-front-of-the-line-what-happened
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791/when-music-went-digital-canada-was-at-the-front-of-the-line-what-happened.md
Podcast: [CanCon](https://stenobird.com/podcast/cancon-7243791)
Published: 2026-04-23T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://elbows-up.simplecast.com/episodes/when-music-went-digital-canada-was-at-the-front-of-the-line-what-happened-bx3yAOri
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/651f3112-796a-485e-b005-e50532570169/13039807-2ea8-4138-bba4-ff99d4da8b96/episodes/audio/group/25c9cd59-ef7a-438f-81e7-8ee13aa8939a/group-item/4501fe74-5b42-4817-b71a-6d20b76b065c/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=5KDCoHqs
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Duration seconds: 1824

## Resource

In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing $0.99 singles on iTunes. But before iTunes was available in Canada, and before the US giants took over the industry, Canadian startups were at the front of the pack. In this episode, we reminisce on a very strange and transformative time in media--you might remember the first CD you ever bought, but you probably don't remember the last one. We speak to Cam Gordon, author of Track Changes: The Origin Story of Canadian Music on the Internet, about Maple Music and Puretracks. And if you were a Canadian music fan in the early '00s ... you might know what we're talking about.

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## Transcript

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