Photo by Canadian Screen Music Awards (CASMAs). Left to right/De gauche à droite : SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown presents a CASMA to Janal Bechthold, accepting on behalf of Layal Watfeh. / Jennifer Brown, directrice générale de la SOCAN, remet un CASMA à Janal Bechthold, qui l'accepte au nom de Layal Watfeh.

Fifteen SOCAN members honoured in 2023 Canadian Screen Music Awards (CASMAs)

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday October 31st, 2023

Fifteen SOCAN members were honoured at the Screen Composers Guild of Canada’s (SCGC) second annual Canadian Screen Music Awards (CASMAs), held on Oct. 26, 2023, at El Mocambo in downtown Toronto.

SOCAN Senior Account Executive, Audiovisual, Paul Stillo co-hosted the event with SCGC Executive Director Tonya Dedrick, while SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown presented the Best Original Main Title Theme Music honour, sponsored by SOCAN. “SOCAN is always happy to partner with the Screen Composers Guild of Canada,” said Brown. “We’re very honoured to present this award.” Music Publishers Canada (MPC) CEO Margaret McGuffin presented the honour for Best Original Song, sponsored by MPC.

The CASMAs honour composers for their outstanding work in media and screen-based industries, and are the first to be juried and awarded by fellow composers in Canada. A total of 52 musical works received nominations in 11 categories covering feature film, television, animation, documentary, games, and interactive media.

And the winners are:

Best Original Main Title Theme Music
Presented by SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown
Layal Watfeh, for Under Guardianship – Taht Al Wisaya

Best Original Song (Sponsored by Music Publishers Canada)
Presented by Music Publishers Canada CEO Margaret McGuffin
Jesse Zubot, Wayne Lavallée, and Marie Clements, for “You Are My Bones”

Best Original Score, Animated Series or Special
Spencer Creaghan and Neil Parfitt, for Matchbox Adventures: Season 3

Best Original Score, Comedy Series or Special
Peter Chapman and Maylee Todd, for Workin’ Moms – “The End” episode

Best Original Score, Documentary, Factual, Reality Series or Special
Ben Fox, for The Climate Baby Dilemma

Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature Film
Jonathan Kawchuk, for True Survivors

Best Original Score, Dramatic Series or Special (Sponsored by DGC National)
Spencer Creaghan, for Slasher: Ripper – “The Slaughterhouse” episode

Best Original Score for Games and Interactive Media
Jim Guthrie, for Nobody Saves The World

Best Original Score for a Narrative Feature Film (Sponsored by Orchestral Tools)
Steph Copeland, for Outpost

Best Original Score for a Short Film (Sponsored by Cinesamples)
Amin Bhatia, for Jane Goodall’s Reasons for Hope

Best Original Score for a Television Special
Kristjan Bergey, for Swindler Seduction

Distinguished Services to the Industry Award
Darren Fung

In addition to these awards, an “In Memoriam” segment honoured the late screen composer, and 2022 CASMA winner, Phil Strong – who was fondly remembered as “a brilliant and kind creative spirit.”

Photo by Brad Ardley. Left to right: Marine Frackowiak, Martin Lavallée

Webinar: maximizing your royalties with reproduction rights

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday November 1st, 2023

The realm of music rights can be complex, and sometimes there’s nothing better than a good introduction session to make it clearer. SOCAN understands this, and has for several years offered “101” training sessions, both in person and online. That’s why we’re offering you a captivating free webinar, in French, that’s open to all – where we’ll dive into the world of SOCAN’s Reproduction Rights department.

 Find out how to maximize your royalties when your music is reproduced in films, on television, and on various other media platforms, including streaming, downloads, and CDs.

Presented online on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. ET, Maximizing your music royalties with reproduction rights will be hosted by Tessy Pokuah Paquin, SOCAN’s Creative Programming and Partnerships Coordinator. The speakers will be Martin Lavallée, SOCAN’s Head of Reproduction Rights, and Marine Frackowiak, SOCAN Customer Relations Specialist. They’ll talk about the basics of reproduction rights, and how to earn more of the royalties you’re owed when your music is reproduced. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A period.

Don’t miss this opportunity to better understand SOCAN Reproduction Rights and increase your royalties. Register today to attend this webinar by clicking on this link.

Martin Lavallée, SOCAN’s Head of Reproduction Rights
Martin is part of SOCAN’s executive team, and is responsible for the strategic vision for SOCAN’s reproduction rights business. A lawyer by trade, he’s also actively involved in government relations, advocacy, and tariff negotiations.

Marine Frackowiak, SOCAN Customer Relations Specialist
Marine Frackowiak is an accomplished specialist in rights management and licensing for the film and music industry, with more than a decade of experience. Marine started working at SOCAN Reproduction Rights in 2022, where she’s actively involved in optimizing the client experience. Prior to this, Marine spent several years at Warner Music Canada, working as a member of the sync team, responsible for licensing masters for film, TV, commercials, and videogames. Her expertise in intellectual property also led her to work in the film industry, where she conducted visual and script research. Marine’s passion for music and film is only matched by her dedication to supporting artists and creators in receiving fair compensation for their work.

Photo by SOCAN. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Gary Furniss (Sony), Michael Brandolino (Valley), Rob Laska (Valley), Hari Sridhar (SOCAN), David Quilico (Sony), Houtan Hodania (SOCAN), Alex Dimauro (Valley), Karah James (Valley), Mishelle Pack (Sony), Cameron Kennedy (SOCAN).

SOCAN honours Valley, Sony Music Publishing Canada, with No. 1 Song Award

Story by Howard Druckman, with files from /avec la participation de Houtan Hodania. | Tuesday October 31st, 2023

SOCAN presented the band Valley, and their publisher, Sony Music Publishing Canada, with a No. 1 Song Award for their song “Break for You,” which scaled the peak of the CBC Music Top 20 Countdown on June 29, 2023.

“Break for You” was co-written by band members (and SOCAN members) Rob Laska, Michael Brandolino, Alex Dimauro, and Karah James, along with Mathijs Kriebel (SOCAN), David Pramik (N/A), and Peter Fenn (N/A), and published by Sony Music Publishing Canada.

Receiving the No. 1 Song Award, in addition to the Valley band member co-writers, were Sony Music Publishing Canada representatives Gary Furniss, David Quilico, and Mishelle Pack. (The other SOCAN co-writer of “Break for You,” Mathijs Kriebel, will be awarded at a later date.) The trophies were presented by SOCAN Director, Creative, Cameron Kennedy; Creative Executive, East Coast, Houtan Hodania; and Account Executive Hari Sridhar.

SOCAN congratulates the members of Valley, their co-writers, and Sony Music Publishing Canada on this great achievement!

Valley, Break for You

Select the image to play the YouTube video of the Valley song “Break for You”