Photo by SCGC

Cue-Sheet-Palooza Hackathon

Story by SCGC and SOCAN | Thursday December 9th, 2021

The Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) and SOCAN will host the Cue-Sheet-Palooza Hackathon, to be held in-person on Apr. 9-10, 2022, in Toronto. This one-of-a-kind event will provide software developers and designers, along with music and tech-industry mentors, the opportunity to showcase their creativity to not only re-think, but re-define the cue sheet process for screen composers and music publishers.

Partnering with the SCGC and SOCAN on the Hackathon are the Canada Council for the Arts, the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC), the Société professionelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ), the SOCAN Foundation, Music Publishers Canada (MPC), the Canadian Guild of Music Supervisors (CGMS), and Devpost.

Cue sheets are lengthy documents that identify all of the music and its stakeholders in a particular screen production, in order to accurately distribute royalties; the process of using them has proven tedious and outdated. The Cue-Sheet-Palooza Hackathon will offer an opportunity to revolutionize how royalties are paid to music stakeholders for screen productions.

John Welsman, President of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, said, “Cue Sheets are the means by which music creators register their musical works in audio-visual productions. They contain all of the information necessary to track and pay out performing and reproduction rights royalties to composers, songwriters, and music publishers. These royalties provide financial stability to the often unpredictable livelihoods of music creators, allowing them to keep doing what they do so well – creating music!”

“We’re only just beginning to realize the potential of technology to allow music creators to receive what they’ve rightfully earned from their work,” said SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown. “This hackathon is an opportunity to bring speed and accuracy to what traditionally has been an extremely complicated process, and SOCAN is excited to see the results.”

Developer teams will use sponsor APIs (application program interfaces) or SDKs (software development toolkits) and other technology, to create a more efficient, user-friendly payment process for music professionals. Musiio, AI for the music industry, and Jaxsta, the world’s largest public-facing, dedicated database of official music credits, are the initial technology partners. SOCAN will also introduce its much-anticipated Cue Sheet API, billed as a game-changer for music creators and stakeholders.

The event will be judged by a roster of industry veterans, including award-winning screen composer Amin Bhatia; VP of CONNECT Music Licensing Catherine Jones; Executive Director of the SOCAN Foundation Charlie Wall-Andrews;​​ Senior Manager of Broadcast Operations (Audio) at BellMedia Michael Nunan; and Mohamed Moutadayne, CTO & SVP of Product & Services at LyricFind.

Participants of the Hackathon will have the opportunity to work with experienced industry mentors, including technologist/media and entertainment industry professional Mathew Sherman, a 29-year veteran of BellMedia; composer/software developer Toby Sherriff; University of Toronto Adjunct Professor, Music Technology & Digital Media Program, Catherine Moore; Songwriter/Producer and founder of MDIIO, Justin Gray; Chief Technology Officer, Slaight Music, Barnaby Marshall;  VP Strategy and Operations at MDIIO, Ryan Maule; and Tobi Akinwumi, Manager – Product Management, Member Digital Products at SOCAN.

Teams will compete for cash prizes, and the winning team will also receive registrations for Canadian Music Week 2022, which is happening in April of 2022. Interested hackers can sign up to participate here. Want to sponsor or partner on Cue-Sheet-Palooza? contact us.

Photo by Brad Ardley via Zoom

Video Interview: Snotty Nose Rez Kids create Life After

Story by Howard Druckman | Monday December 13th, 2021

Formed in 2016, the Haisla Nation hip-hop duo Snotty Nose rez Kids, from Kitimat, B.C. – composed of rappers Yung Trybez (Quinton Nyce) and Young D (Darren Metz) – have won both Best Hip-Hop Artist and Breakout Artist at the Western Canadian Music Awards; have been shortlisted twice, back-to-back, for the Polaris Prize; and have earned a JUNO Award nomination. Now they’re starting to swim in the mainstream, with coverage in the Toronto Star and on the CTV National News, and headlining performances in the U.S.

In a video interview with SOCAN just after the release of their new album Life After, SNRK talk about surviving the past few years, how their personal is automatically political, and following in the footsteps of giants.

Click the image to watch the video by Snotty Nose Rez Kids

Click the image to watch the video by Snotty Nose Rez Kids

 

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

SOCAN website gets fresh new design and content

Story by SOCAN | Wednesday December 8th, 2021

A page in SOCAN’s history has been turned with today’s launch of our new public website, with bolder visuals, easier navigation, and a more intuitive, informative, and user-friendly experience.

The number-one goal of the redesign was to give SOCAN members, licensed businesses, and partners an easy way to join and/or learn about our organization. We developed a comprehensive user experience research strategy by talking to existing and future users.

“We wanted a website that was easier to use – a place where visitors can find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily. The needs of music creators, publishers, music users, and our partners are varied, and now they can navigate quickly to the tools, resources, and benefits that are most important to them,” says project lead and Communications & Marketing Manager Nicole Van Severen.

The website is more accessible than ever, with a fresh new look, an improved layout, more prominent calls-to-action to give users better access to useful information about SOCAN, what we do, and who we work with.

“We used important member feedback to significantly simplify the information architecture and enhance the overall look and feel. We’re now able to present a cleaner, easier-to-use website format that reflects our variety of rights-management offerings,” explains Saba Seyedi, Associate Product Manager, Member Digital Products, who spearheaded the user-research portion of the project.

Streamlined navigation and compelling pages are just a couple of ways that the new site gives users better access to useful information about SOCAN. The site also offers a dynamic company FAQ and integrated content from Words & Music magazine as well as greater member visuals across the website.

The new SOCAN.com is mobile-friendly – completely optimized for all devices and mobile platforms.

The completion of the project was the result of diligent and exhaustive user-experience research, planning, and work across nearly every department. Using an agile approach to short- and long-range planning, the site will receive updates and additions, to meet the changing needs of our members, music users, and other stakeholders, as well as our own ever-changing business.

Visit the new www.socan.com to start exploring!