Photo by courtesy of/courtoisie de Cristobal Tapia De Veer

#ComposersWhoScore: Cristobal Tapia De Veer nominated for a 2021 BAFTA

Story by Eric Parazelli | Friday April 30th, 2021

SOCAN member Cristobal Tapia de Veer, the first screen composer to win the International Award at the 2017 SOCAN Awards has been nominated for a second time at the prestigious BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Gala.

Tapia de Veer is already the recipient of three international honours – the FIPA d’Or and BAFTA for Best Original Score for National Treasure, and Best Original Score at the Gérardmer Film Festival in France for his work on the film The Girl with All the Gifts.

This time, he’s being celebrated internationally for his score to the horror series The Third Day. “Being nominated for a BAFTA Award after winning one not so long ago is like a confirmation that the first time wasn’t just a fluke!,” said Cristobal said when we reached him.

Asked what the biggest challenges were in composing the music for this production, he said, “Recording an orchestra in Prague for the first time was quite a change of scenery, but incredibly rewarding.”

The BAFTAs take place on Sunday, June 6, 2021, and the Television Craft Awards on Monday, May 24, 2021. It is during the May 24 gala that Tapia De Veer will know if he’s won the award for a second time. SOCAN wishes him the best of luck!

Photo by courtesy of / courtoisie de Roxane Bruneau

Top Secrets: Roxane Bruneau’s “À ma manière”

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday May 5th, 2021

In our “Top Secrets” videos, music creators who’ve reached the top of a major music chart, and were celebrated by a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award, discuss the secrets behind the hit songs..

Roxane Bruneau is a mainstay on the Québec charts. But in the case of “À ma manière,” we can qualify the song as a long-lasting success: co-written with Mathieu Brisset, and published by Les Éditions Musique Variole enr., it’s been on the BDS chart for 15 weeks, and spent nine weeks on the ADISQ Correspondants chart.

In this new episode of Top Secrets, she lets us in on the process of writing the song, which wasn’t among her favourites on her Acrophobie album. But her fans’ strong reaction, and the impact of the video, made her realize the evocative power of this hymn to personal fulfillment, no matter how people might see and judge you.

SOCAN Statement on Bill C-10

Story by SOCAN | Thursday April 29th, 2021

When Canadians are engaged in a national discussion on how to support our songwriters and creators in the digital age, that’s positive.

SOCAN has been engaged in this discussion for many years, and we applaud the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the ways we support Canadian Content adapt and evolve with the technology Canadians use to access it.

Legislation has always been, and will always be, a complex exercise involving the balancing of many competing interests, and many credible points of view on a wide range of regulatory options.

Legislation that touches the lives of every Canadian, every day, will always be even more challenging.

Bill C-10 achieves the right balance by bringing digital media platforms that act like broadcasters under the umbrella of the CRTC, just like traditional broadcasters.

What Bill C-10 does not do is bring individual social media users under that umbrella, notwithstanding some inaccurate and reactionary headlines we have seen this week.

SOCAN believes that digital media platforms that act like broadcasters should make an equivalent contribution as traditional broadcasters when it comes to supporting and promoting Canadian music. This is long overdue.

SOCAN does not believe that individual Canadians who use social media platforms to stay connected with their friends and families should be subject to regulation. Full stop.

But the platforms they use should be, especially if their business model generates revenues from the use of copyrighted music.

SOCAN urges all parties to support C-10, to ensure that digital media platforms that generate many millions of dollars every year from the inspiration and artistry of Canadian creators give back to those creators in a predictable, transparent, and equitable manner, just as many other countries have done.

“Digital platforms, including social media, play a huge role in the discovery of music, but return three to five times lower royalties than traditional media,” said SOCAN’s Interim Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Brown. “We don’t think that’s fair. A level playing field for all digital media is the right way to go.”