Alessia Cara won three of the six honours for which she was nominated at the 2020 JUNO Awards, held online only for the first time in its 49-year history, on Monday, June 29. Cara earned the Songwriter of the Year Award, presented by SOCAN, as well as the Album and Pop Album of the Year for The Pains of Growing.

Tory Lanez won Rap Recording of the Year, for Freaky – his third consecutive win in that category. Lanez also became the first artist to ever win, in the same year, in both the Rap Recording and R&B/Soul Recording categories (where he was a co-winner alongside Jessie Reyez and Tainy, for “Feel It Too”).

Shawn Mendes took Single of the Year for the third year in a row, with “Señorita,” his global smash hit with Camila Cabello, and Artist of the Year for the second consecutive time.

The Francophone album of the Year went to Les Louanges, for La nuit est une panthère. Alexandra Stréliski earned Instrumental Album of the Year honours for Inscape, while Dominique Fils-Aimé garnered the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year Award for Stay Tuned!

The Classical Composition of the Year went to Ana Sokolović for Evta, and The Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year went to Celeigh Cardinal, for Stories from a Downtown Apartment. Pup earned the Alternative Album of the Year Award, for Morbid Stuff, and Dawn Tyler Watson won Blues Album of the Year for Mad Love.

While it was unusual to see an awards show online, without any acceptance speeches or thank-yous, the night was highlighted by an exclusive live-in-studio performance by Alessia Cara of “Rooting for You,” and strong, emotional songs from JUNO winners The Dead South (in the Traditional Roots Album category, for Sugar & Joy), Neon Dreams (Breakthrough Group of the Year), and iskwē (in the Music Video category, for “Little Star”).

For a complete list of winners, click here.



The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) has unveiled the first wave of recipients of the 2020 Honourary East Coast Music Awards, the majority of which will be handed out during the 2020 ECMA Pre-Awards Show on Facebook and YouTube this Friday, July 10 at 1:00 p.m. AT.

The Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented as part of the 2020 East Coast Music Awards televised special, airing Saturday, July 11 at 9:00 p.m. AT on CBC TV in Atlantic Canada and on CBC Gem across the country. The televised special also features a tribute to the legendary Ron Hynes in celebration of his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame with support from the SOCAN Foundation and Peermusic.

Five other Honorary Awards – the Stompin’ Tom Awards – will be handed out live on CBC’s Weekend Mornings and CBC’s Weekend AM radio shows this Saturday, July 11:

SOCAN congratulates all of the honourary awards winners.



The  SOCAN Foundation has announced the launch of the SOCAN Foundation Relief Fund for SOCAN members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While SOCAN members are self-isolating, the SOCAN Foundation offers this program to provide some financial support to music creators and publishers to get through these unprecedented times,” said Victor Davies, President of the SOCAN Foundation.

This new fund is open to all SOCAN members who have earned more than $500 in royalties in the four most recent SOCAN distributions.

The Board of Directors has allocated a total of $500,000, which will be available for distribution from the SOCAN Foundation Relief Fund, in up to 2,000 grants of $250 each.

Applications will be accepted from June 30, 2020 until Aug. 15, 2020. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications early; once the funds are exhausted, the application portal will be closed.

SOCAN Members can learn more about the program, and access it, by visiting www.socanfoundation.ca.