"Brothers In Arms" by Dire Straits has become one of the biggest-selling albums in Canada in the aftermath of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council's decision to censure a Newfoundland radio station for airing the original version of "Money For Nothing."
And, in some markets, the song has been played more prominently over the past few days than when it topped the charts in 1985.
The album was spotted reaching as high as No. 8 over the weekend at the iTunes Music Store, where its nine tracks cost $5.99.
Figures released by Nielsen SoundScan showed weekly digital downloads of "Money For Nothing" spiked from 167 to about 2,700 through last Sunday, while "Brothers In Arms" became the fifth-highest selling catalogue album in Canada.
"Money For Nothing," in its original eight-minute length, featuring the homophobic slur that prompted the CBSC decision, concurrently scaled the list of the most popular songs bought for $1.29. But a four-minute version was moving up the chart at the same time.
The fact that some buyers preferred to purchase the shorter track, without the offending "F" word, provided vindication for CBSC chair Ron Cohen. The edited version was produced by Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler, and originally featured on a 1988 greatest hits compilation also titled "Money For Nothing," a contradiction to critics who argued the ruling was an affront to his artistic freedom.
Moreover, the CBSC chair guessed that the homophobic slur was rarely heard over the Canadian airwaves in the past quarter-century.
Nonetheless, the "Money For Nothing" decision continued to provide fodder for columnists around the planet, including one too many scribblers pondering other lyrically-provocative songs that could be similarly "banned."
Classic rock stations owned by NewCap Radio, K-97 in Edmonton and Q104 in Halifax, protested the decision by the CBSC, the industry watchdog group to which they belong, by repeatedly playing the eight-minute "Money For Nothing" for a full hour on Friday night.
Montreal's CHOM, owned by Astral Media, apparently took their stand by airing the full version three times on Monday morning.
Classic rock stations Q107 in Toronto, Rock 101 in Vancouver and Q107 in Calgary, all owned by Corus Entertainment, have apparently kept the shorter "Money For Nothing" in rotation, while inviting listeners to submit comments regarding the decision.
Further complaints, none of which were submitted by Wednesday, would require each station's management to respond with an explanation that satisfies each complainant, something which OZ-FM failed to do last year, which resulted in the matter being handed over to the CBSC.
Based on the prominent placement of the decision on their website, along with links to international news coverage, the locally-owned Newfoundland station is reveling in the notoriety most of all.
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