Video Interview: Anachnid’s Musical Medicine

Story by Eric Parazelli | Sunday November 21st, 2021

Anachnid’s emotion was visible when her name was called by Elisapie Isaac as the recipient of the Félix Award for Aboriginal Artist of the Year at the ADISQ Gala on Nov. 7, 2021. The Oji-Cree artist won for his first album, Dreamweaver, where she amalgamates electro, indie pop, soul, and trap. It’s an album that’s far from Indigenous musical tradition, and which defies reflexive pigeonholing.

Interviewed by Paroles &  Musique Editor Eric Parazelli, she shares her pride in being accepted by the Québec music industry, and reveals her favourite themes and sonic research, and analyzes how her music is perceived by both the non-Aboriginal public and her own community. As a bonus, she also explains how she learned to sing with wolves!

(Originally posted in November 2021)

Gagan Singh joins SOCAN as A&R Executive, Film/TV & Visual Media

Story by SOCAN | Monday November 22nd, 2021

SOCAN is pleased to welcome Gagan Singh as A&R Executive, Film/TV & Visual Media, a new role created to focus on the development of our screen composer members.

In his new role, Singh will work to strengthen relationships with screen composers, along with film/television music ecosystem influencers, both in Canada and globally. He’ll meet with screen composers to support their needs from business and creative perspectives, alongside the Film/TV Account Executive team in Membership.

Singh is already working to develop workshops and education initiatives that will benefit and expand the knowledge areas of trends and best practices among the emerging screen composer community. He also serves as a strategic liaison between composers and industry associations.

Gagan is a successful composer, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC), so he has a first-hand understanding of the challenges and interests of screen composers. He’s dedicated his career to the craft of music for media, and has a proven track record in many facets of music production, voice directing, and delivering high-quality content to various clients. Gagan also has a tremendous understanding of Canada’s multi-cultural and pluralist musical landscapes, and serves as co-chair of SCGC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

He comes to SOCAN from the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC), where he served as Assistant Director of Special Projects, working alongside the Executive Director to foster and grow their songwriter mentorship programs. This allowed him to further develop programming for emerging and established members of SAC.

Before joining the SAC, he was at Hard Music Group, a Sony Music-affiliated publisher, working as Product Manager, overseeing all aspects of production schedules for album releases and projects.

Singh has garnered a lot of success as a composer, receiving honours from the New York International Film Awards, LEO Awards, and Durham Film Festival, among others. He holds a B.A. as a Specialist, Arts Managers, Music & Media, from the University of Toronto.

Photo by SOCAN Foundation / Fondation SOCAN. Leonard Sumner, right/ à droite.

SOCAN Foundation announces more money for Black and Indigenous music

Story by SOCAN Foundation / Fondation SOCAN | Monday November 15th, 2021

The SOCAN Foundation is proud to add 10 new cash prizes to the TD Indigenous Songwriters Awards and the SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards, giving more opportunities for exceptional emerging music creators to benefit from the awards.

Each award category will be augmented with five $1,000 Honourable Mention prizes, in addition to the current prizes of $10,000 for the Indigenous Songwriter Awards and five $5,000 prizes for the Black Canadian Music Awards.

“The quality of the submissions we receive year after year is so high that we felt it was our duty to find a way to reward more music creators,” said Charlie Wall-Andrews, Executive Director of the SOCAN Foundation. “We hope that this additional support will continue to help foster a more inclusive representation of communities throughout the Canadian music ecosystem.”

In addition to the new honourable mention cash prizes, the Songwriters Association of Canada and the Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec are offering free one-year memberships to the Grand Prize winners in each competition, giving the winners privileged access to their services.

Music Creators must submit their applications for consideration by Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. E.T. Applications can be submitted here. For more information, please visit the SOCAN Foundation website.

The Indigenous Songwriter Awards is a partnership between TD Bank and the SOCAN Foundation. Its purpose is to celebrate the outstanding work of music creators from First Nations communities.

Works submitted to the competition are reviewed by a panel of distinguished songwriters appointed by the SOCAN Foundation. The judges will give primary consideration to works of outstanding merit, and the decisions of the jury are final. A cash prize of $10,000 is awarded to the winner of the competition, which is open to songwriters of Indigenous descent without age restrictions. An Indigenous person is defined as a Canadian who is a member (registered or non-registered) of a First Nation, Métis, or Inuit. Proof of membership in a recognized community or organization may include a status card, membership card in an Aboriginal entity, or letter of reference indicating Aboriginal status.

The Black Canadian Music Award is a partnership between SiriusXM Canada and the SOCAN Foundation. Its purpose is to celebrate the outstanding work of Black Canadian music creators. It’s open to creators of all types of music: folk, blues, rock, hip-hop, R&B, etc. To be eligible, the creator of the work submitted must identify as Black and be a Canadian citizen. In the case of a collective or band, each member of the group must meet the competition’s eligibility criteria. Up to five grants of $5,000 each are awarded to the finalists of the competition. Entries will be judged by a panel of Black artists and Black leaders in the Canadian music industry. Black music is defined as music created, produced, or inspired by Black people, by people of African descent, including African musical traditions and African popular music, as well as the musical genres of the African diaspora, including Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latin, Afro-Brazilian and Afro-American music.