This year was quite an auspicious one for rap in Québec, and the musical quality of the nominees in that category at the ADISQ Gala on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, offered living proof. Any one of FouKi, Koriass, Loud, Souldia, and Alaclair Ensemble could have won, and no one would have argued against it. But in the end, the members of Alaclair Ensemble walked away with the Félix for the Album of the Year – Rap, for their album Le sens des paroles. They fine-tuned the lyrics and production of this latest album a lot more than their previous ones, as KNLO and Eman explained when SOCAN met with them in the press room. They also commented on the 100% rap opening number of the gala, and said they believe Québec rap is now completely de-marginalized, and is dominating current popular culture.
Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard
SOCAN #ComposersWhoScore Meeting: At the Speed of Digital Evolution
The second annual Québec meeting with SOCAN #ComposersWhoScore was held on Oct. 29, 2019, at the Gésu in Montréal. The event was divided into four segments, and was followed by a networking cocktail reception.
Web Series
Hosted by SOCAN Account Executive Karine Melchior, the first panel was about the creative stakes of web series, an increasingly popular format. Participants were treated to a stellar panel of guests, including Sophie Bégin, Chief of Content for ICI TOU.TV; Julia Langlois, Content Producer and Fiction Development at Trio Orange; and Martin Métivier Senior Producer, Digital Entertainment and Media, for Attractions Images.
Left to right: Martin Métivier, Julia Langlois, Sophie Bégin.
Licensing and New Media
Hosted by Simon Henri, Synch Licence Agent for SOCAN in Montréal, the second panel discussed the various licences attached to digital screen services. Henri talked about the challenges of digital, and compared traditional broadcasting models with those of new media, like Netflix.
Reproduction Rights and Broadcast Incidentals
Hosted by SOCAN Senior Legal Advisor Martin Lavallée, the third panel was about reproduction rights and broadcast incidental copies. In what was clearly the densest segment of the day, Lavallée explained in layman’s terms how SOCAN’s tariffs and their licences work, when it comes to reproductions.
Left to right: Martin Lavallée, Geneviève Côté
Screen Music
The meeting continued with a fascinating panel on the unconventional artistic approach to music for the film Les Affamés. The panel was hosted by Éric Parazelli, Editor of SOCAN’s Paroles & Musique magazine and Francophone Communications Specialist. His guests were the film’s director, screenwriter, and actor, Robin Aubert, and the composer/producer of the film’s music, Pilou (Pierre-Philippe Côté). The creative synergy between these two artists was the highlight of this session. They shared with the attendees their atypical creative process, and their ongoing collaboration throughout the film’s shooting, and the final edit that gave Les Affamés a ground-breaking soundtrack that won, among other awards, the Prix Iris for Best Original Soundtrack at the 2018 Gala Québec Cinéma.
SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste, who attended the event, and he concluded the event by thanking the guests, participants, and organizers for such an instructive, constructive meeting.