The 2025 edition of Gala SOCAN promises to be unforgettable, as SOCAN celebrates its 100th Anniversary in style this year. On May 4, Montréal’s La TOHU will host this prestigious event, which celebrates music creators and publishers from Québec, and from the rest of Canada’s Francophone community. More than 100 trophies in 29 categories will be awarded to those who’ve made that music landscape what it is over the past two years.
The event will be hosted by the talented Rebecca Makonnen of Radio-Canada, while the brilliant Chloé Lacasse will be in charge of the musical direction of the gala, promising surprise performances and musical tributes.
2025 Gala SOCAN Special Achievement Awards for Exceptional Talents
The Cultural Impact Award will go to Muzion for their seminal anthem “La Vi Ti-Neg,” a song that had a profound impact on the Québec music scene, and will become the first hip-hop song to be awarded for Cultural Impact in the Gala’s 34-year history.
The illustrious Diane Juster will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating her exceptional career and her essential contributions to both Francophone music, and the rights of music creators.
For songwriting excellence, Charlotte Cardin will receive the Songwriter of the Year – Performer award, while her partner in rhyme, Jason Brando, will receive the Songwriter of the Year – Non-Performer award. Hit-making duo Banx & Ranx, known for their one-of-a-kind sonic signature, will receive the inaugural Songwriter of the Year – Producer award.
This year’s International Achievement Award will be presented to Kaytranada, a songwriter and artist whose influence has grown beyond Canada and is now global. This recognition is especially meaningful, as it marks 10 years since he received his first career honour, a SOCAN Electronic Music Award, in 2015.
Film and TV music will also be celebrated, including Cristobal Tapia de Veer, who’ll receive the Screen Composer of the Year award, among others, for his acclaimed work on major international productions such as The White Lotus.
Still in the Special Achievement Award category, the important work of SOCAN’s music publisher members will be celebrated by awarding the Publisher of the Year honour.
Each of the Special Achievement Award winners will receive “The SOCAN,” the first and only major music industry trophy that is also a musical instrument. This year, the trophy’s five crotales will be tuned to play the first five notes of Muzion’s “La Vi Ti-Neg.”
Honouring the Boundless Spirit of Musical Creativity
On May 4th, several awards will be presented to the many outstanding screen composers whose exceptional creativity has left a lasting impression on television and in movie theatres, both at home and abroad.
SOCAN’s Francophone, Anglophone, and International Pop Music Awards will be presented to the most popular songs of the past two years, and the winners of Special Award categories will be announced, including:
- Breakout Award
- Breakout Screen Composer Award
- Country Music Award
- Electronic Music Award
- Hip-Hop Music Award
- Indigenous Music Award (new)
- R&B Music Award (new)
- Global Music Award (new)
- Jan V. Matejcek Award – New Classical Music
- Hagood Hardy Award – Jazz Music
SOCAN will also honour an organization that consistently defends fair music licensing, and the rights of music creators and publishers to receive fair compensation for the use of their music. This year’s SOCAN Licensed to Play (Partenaire en Musique) award will go to TRAM7, an organization that makes sure that music from Québec finds a place in a wide array of AV productions.
Gala SOCAN will award the inaugural Herbert Ruff Award for AV Post-Synchronization, recognizing music publishers and creators who actively contribute to the development of screen composing as well as the development of their own works on traditional and digital platforms. The first winner of this new award will be Les Éditions Backstage Passes.
To top it all off, the 2025 Gala SOCAN will see the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induct Richard Séguin, a well-deserved honour, celebrating his immense contribution to “la chanson québécoise.” With his 13 solo albums and seven collaborative albums, Séguin is, without the shadow of a doubt, one of Québec’s most important singer-songwriters. He is a passionate advocate for social and political causes that reflect his values of human dignity and the quest for justice. He will be inducted by Patrice Michaud, while Séguin’s long-time guitarist and bandmate Simon Godin, as well as Luce Dufault, Vincent Vallière, Ivan Boivin-Flamand, Jeanne Côté, and Jorane will all be performing during the event.
A Not-to-Be-Missed Event
“This year’s Gala promises to be unforgettable, as we celebrate both today’s music creators and the legacy forged over a century by SOCAN and its predecessor organizations,” said SOCAN’s CEO Jennifer Brown. “We’re excited to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary talent that shapes our culture, and to offer our award winners and guests an evening filled with community spirit and unforgettable performances.”
The full list of the 2025 Gala SOCAN winners will be released on the evening of May 4, 2025, via the dedicated Gala SOCAN website at galasocan.com.
The SOCAN Gala in Montréal is the French equivalent of the SOCAN Awards, being presented this Fall in Toronto, for songwriters, composers, and music publishers working primarily in English.