Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. Ron Hynes.

ECMA announces 2020 Honourary Award recipients

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday July 7th, 2020

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.

Eighteen SOCAN members nominated in 2020 Gémeaux Awards

Story by Marie-Michèle Bouchard | Wednesday July 8th, 2020

The 2020 edition of the Gémeaux Awards has, once again, nominated several SOCAN members in various music categories, for this 35th annual celebration of the Québec television industry. The Technical and Documentary Gala will be presented as a three-fold event on the organization’s Facebook page on Sept. 17, 2020.

The finalists are:

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE : FICTION

Patrick Lavoie
C’est comme ça que je t’aime, Episode 4
Productions Casablanca

Jonathan Cayer
Faits divers — Season 3, Episode 26
(Les Productions Sovimage)

Martin Roy, Luc Sicard
La Faille, Episode 7
Productions Pixcom

Philippe Brault
Léo — Season 2, Episode 12
Encore Télévision

Michel Corriveau
Les Pays d’en haut — Season 5, Episode 46
Encore Télévision/Les Productions Sovimage

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE : DOCUMENTARY

Alexandra Stréliski
Faire œuvre utile, Episode 13
Denis Villeneuve et Alexandra Stréliski
Zone3

Alexis Martin, François B. Richard
Génération d’anxieux
Lamarche à Vélo productions

Marie-Pierre Arthur
Mont tétons
Blimp Télé

Viviane Audet
Polytechnique : ce qu’il reste du 6 décembre
Entourage Télévision

Catherine Major
Sylvie Bernier : Le Jour où je n’ai pas pu plonger
Téléfiction

BEST MUSICAL THEME : ALL CATEGORIES

Patrick Lavoie
C’est comme ça que je t’aime, Episode 4
Productions Casablanca

Michel Corriveau
Fragile, Episode 3 — “Saint-Valentin”
Amalga

Vincent Roberge
Infoman 2019
Zone3

Pier-Luc Boisvert, Charles Dubreuil, Alexandre Parr, Simon Proulx
La Semaine des 4 julie
Productions Toros

FM Le Sieur
Ruptures, Episode 50
Aetios Productions

SOCAN congratulates its members on their nominations, and wishes them the best of luck!

The main gala will be broadcast live on ICI TÉLÉ on Sunday, Sept. 20, hosted by Véronique Cloutier.

For more information on the various categories and the nomination process, visit the Gémeaux website.

Alessia Cara wins three honours at 2020 JUNOs, including SOCAN songwriting award

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday June 30th, 2020

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.