APEM’s 2026 Synchros de l’année : Vote Now for the Public Choice Award

Unveiled as part of the Quand la musique rencontre l’image event held on Feb. 5, 2026, at the Cinémathèque québécoise, the Synchros de l’année celebrate the use of Québec music in local screen productions.

As the conclusion to its afternoon of discussions, APEM unveiled the five winners of the third edition of its Synchros de l’année initiative, which recognizes production teams that have featured Québec music in a local screen production. A selection of five scenes synchronizing images to a pre-existing musical work was made by a committee, following a call for entries.

For the second year in a row, a Public Choice Award will also be presented. An online vote is currently underway to determine the winner. The public favourite will receive an additional grant of $2,000 (50% awarded to the screen production and 50% to the music). Voting is open until Feb. 22, 2026, and the winner will be announced in the Spring of 2026.

This initiative, spearheaded by the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM), was presented in partnership with the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, ADISQ, AQPM, AQTIS 514 IATSE, ARRQ, SARTEC, SPACQ-AE, SOCAN, and UDA, as well as with the financial support of SODEC, SOCAN, and the SOCAN Foundation. To watch and vote for your Synchro de l’année, visit https://www.apem.ca/synchro2026-vote/.

The 2026 Synchros de l’année Winners :

The film Amour Apocalypse, featuring “Sight Of (Amour Apocalypse Remix)”
Production: Sylvain Corbeil – Metafilms
Director: Anne Émond
Screenplay: Anne Émond
Music Supervision: Joss Dumas – Bandit
Musical Work: Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux and Ariane Bisson-McLernon
Sound Recording: Lesser Evil

Les 50 ans de Gens du pays tribute, featuring “Gens du pays”
Production : Stéfany Brulier – FAB | Télé-Québec
Director: Myriam Leblond
Music Rights Clearance: Cybèle Carette
Musical Work: Gilles Vigneault and Gaston Rochon – Éditions Le vent qui vire, represented by David Murphy et cie
Sound Recording: La Fabrique culturelle, under the supervision of music director Amélie Mandeville

The ad L’orange, featuring  “Si fragile”
Production : Rodéo FX//Gorditos
Réalisation : Ben & PH//Raphaël Ouellet
Scénarisation : LG2
Supervision musicale : Laurence Guichandut – Circonflex
Œuvre musicale : Luc De Larochellière et Marc Pérusse – Janvier Musique et Kennebec Musique
Enregistrement sonore : Octave-Lévi Côté – Circonflex

The Rouge forêt series, featuring “Messie”
Production: Urbania in collaboration with Télé-Québec
Director: Charles Grenier
Original Concept and Head Writer: Alexandre Gauthier
Rights Clearance: Marie-Laurence Asselin and Carmel Scurti-Belley – Fair Enough
Musical Work: Étienne Dupré, Francis Ledoux, and David Marchand – Simone Records
Sound Recording: zouz – Under exclusive license to Simone Records

The Six petits cœurs brisés trailer, featuring “Chaussée”
Production : Émile Lavoie and Camille Mongeau – Martine aimait les films
Director: Émile Lavoie
Screenplay: Émile Lavoie and Camille Mongeau
Musical Work: Vincent Roberge and Félix Petit – Les éditions Bonsound
Sound Recording: Les Louanges – Under exclusive license to Bonsound

SOCAN congratulates all of our  members who won the Synchros de l’année award, and all the teams involved in this essential development for Canadian music in screen productions.

An Afternoon of Positive Dialogue

“Quand la musique rencontre l’image,” an event organized by the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM) in collaboration with the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, aims to raise awareness around music use practices in screen productions, while fostering dialogue between professionals from the music and screen industries.

Hosted by SOCAN member Marième, the event included two panels and a special conversation that both took place before the Synchros de l’année awards. The first panel focused on the unprecedented success of the series Empathie, directed by Guillaume Lonergan. Both the original score, composed by Simon Leoza, and the synchronization of pre-existing tracks, played a central role in the excitement generated by this series, written by Florence Longpré.

Olivier Grenier-Robert (General Manager, Rosemarie Records) and Annie Sirois (Co-President, Trio Orange) spoke about the process of selecting the works that make up the soundtrack, the challenges encountered, and Simon Leoza’s composition work. They highlighted how the series, which enjoyed a warm reception in France, allowed the composer to gain unprecedented visibility in that market.

The success of Empathie and its music also enriched the conversation with Louise Lantagne, President and CEO of SODEC, who addressed, among other topics, the importance of reaching new audiences, a key priority for the organization. “Empathie is definitely paving the way,” she said. “It’s a love match between the visuals and the music, not a forced marriage. It’s a path we need to explore more and more.”

This discussion naturally led to the third and final panel, “Building the Future of Music and Audiovisual,” which brought together Sandy Boutin (President, Simone Records); Antonello Cozzolino (Vice-President, Attraction); Nadine Dufour (Vice-President, Content, Télé-Québec); and Julien Manaud (General Manager, Lisbon Lux Records). While the conversation addressed the challenges and barriers to integrating local music into television and film productions, the tone remained decidedly positive and confident.

The four speakers agreed on the importance of leaning into the bold, unique nature of Québec music in order for it to stand out – while emphasizing that solidarity and collective effort are essential to ensure greater visibility for local music, both in Québec and internationally, where demand continues to grow.