MONTREAL - The federal broadcast regulator has cracked down on the use of English-language pop music montages on French-language stations.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission made limits on the use of montages a condition of the licence renewal of two stations and warned it could take similar measures with other stations.

The rulings on Thursday don't affect stations in English Canada because they address French-language content.

The CRTC was acting on complaints by three Quebec associations representing composers, promoters and the music and video industries about the montages broadcast by the Quebec stations.

The organizations described the use of the montages as "abusive," saying the succession of English-language songs that were broadcast almost in their entirety shouldn't be counted as a single selection.

A musical montage is a compilation of a batch of songs played without interruption. It's counted as a single piece of music under federal broadcasting rules.

They can be used to help stations meet their Canadian or French-language content quotas.

In the case of French-language station CKOI-FM, the regulators found that of the 101 montages broadcast in one particular week, all counted as English-language selections. They amounted to 17.9 per cent of the 126 hours of programming.

The regulator told the stations that they have to limit their broadcasting of montages to no more than 10 per cent of total programming for the week and made it a condition of their licence.

"If the commission finds that a broadcaster is using montages improperly, it could decide to impose specific measures or any other measures deemed necessary," the regulator said.

The Broadcasting Act says Canada's broadcasting system must contribute to the creation of Canadian content and reflect the country's linguistic duality.

"There is a widespread trend on the part of some French-language broadcasters to use montages inappropriately," said Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC's vice-chairman of broadcasting.

"Some licensees appear to be using montages to circumvent the requirements for French-language vocal music. We are finding that for some francophone commercial stations, the current quotas represent a particular challenge given their target audience and the market they serve."

It is acknowledged that montages can often help audiences discover new artists or sample new music.

Broadcasting rules say montages should only make up about 10 per cent of programming and stations CKTF-FM and CKOI-FM were broadcasting up to 18 per cent.

CKTF-FM is owned by Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.A) while CKOI-FM now belongs to Cogeco Inc. (TSX:CGO).

Richard Lachance, the vice-president in charge of Cogeco's radio arm, pointed out Cogeco did not own CKOI-FM at the time the complaint was made and has since reduced the percentage of montages used across the chain's stations.

The regulator said it would examine the French-language market in the winter of 2012, looking at the radio industry as well as the francophone music industry.

It will also look at the evolution of the market and the role of radio in broadcasting and promoting French content.

The regulator said it would revisit its regulations on French-language vocal content and montages when it reviews policies affecting the francophone commercial radio sector next year.

Solange Drouin, director general of ADISQ, one of the complainants, said the CRTC's decision reaffirmed principles and objectives the regulator set on the industry in the 1990s.

"It's a victory," she said.