Quebec commercial radio stations want to play more English-language songs, saying they're losing listeners who want to hear the latest American hits.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) mandates that 65 per cent of music played on French-language stations must be in French.

"Every radio station sounds the same because we all play the same hits, and there's not a lot of them," Radio Rock Detente's Andre Lallier told CTV News.

French-language stations want the quota dropped by at least 20 per cent.

Ric Peterson, a talk radio host with Montreal's CJAD, said French-language stations could be losing listeners, but likely not to English-language stations.

"We are not seeing those increased numbers," he told CTV Newsnet. "We are not seeing what the French broadcasters are saying, that (listeners) are actually jumping in and listening to the English music stations more."

Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) argued that such quotas are outdated, because the Internet and digital radio offers access to stations far beyond Quebec's boundaries.

The Apple iPod, capable of storing thousands of songs, could also be turning listeners away from radio.

"The borders are no longer impenetrable," said CAB president Glenn O'Farrell. "What's coming across in the way of new technologies does not stop at the Quebec border or Manitoba border."

O'Farrell addressed the issue in a presentation to the CRTC on May 15, in which he said Canada has "both a regulated system developed over the past 80 years, and a largely unregulated, parallel system of new delivery options for audio content."

The association argued that radio stations should have more freedom in the amount of Canadian music they play, but be given extra credits for playing new artists.

However, the Association quebecoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ) said the CRTC needs to toughen regulations, so that radio stations play more new French music.

ADISQ president Yves-Francois Blanchet said existing quotas have helped push Quebec music to the attention of consumers. Without them, he argued it would have been much harder for artists like Celine Dion to rise to prominence.

"I am absolutely certain that a majority of the top-selling artists in Quebec music would not be there," he said.

With files from CTV's Jed Kahane and The Canadian Press