On Feb. 12, 2025, at Montréal’s Le Ministère, SPACQ-AE (Société professionnelle des auteurs, compositeurs du Québec et des artistes entrepreneurs) launched a new, free music-listening space, MUSIQC, dedicated to promoting and showcasing Francophone music, an initiative proudly supported by SOCAN.
According to the most recent figures from the Observatoire de la culture et des communications (OCCQ), out of the 10,000 most-streamed songs in Québec in 2023, five percent were Francophone music from Québec, and a mere two percent were Francophone new releases from Québec. The SPACQ-AE team set out to create a tool where Francophone music would no longer be at the mercy of the algorithms of major streaming music platforms, which have a clear bias toward suggesting Anglophone music to listeners with passive listening habits.
Rather than trying to compete with existing platforms, MUSIQC allows Francophone music to find its audience online. It’s free, offers an intuitive user experience, and there’s no need to log in. The platform offers editorial programming by humans, in an exclusive and centralized space for Francophone music. Users will have access to a multitude of varied, diverse, and authentic playlists that aren’t generated by artificial intelligence or algorithms. These playlists re-direct the listener to the platform of their choice, offering a simplified experience to enable music lovers to fulfil their discovery needs.
Left to right: Jean-Christian Céré (SOCAN), Alexandre Alonso (SOCAN), Ariane Charbonneau (SPACQ-AE), Corneille. (Photo : Marie-Michèle Bouchard)
Jean-Christian Céré, SOCAN’s Chief Membership Officer, couldn’t hide his enthusiasm when he took the floor at the launch of MUSIQC: “We at SOCAN hope that MUSIQC will serve as an example in Québec, in Canada, and elsewhere in the world, when it comes to finding solutions to enhance the discoverability of local music. Congratulations to the entire SPACQ team; this was a monumental endeavour!”
Says Alexandre Alonso, SOCAN’s Executive Director of Québec Affairs, “MUSIQC is an innovative project that will give control back to the people, over their discovery and consumption of music, on a human and local scale. SOCAN is pleased and proud to support an initiative that shakes up the status quo, and doesn’t give in to the fatalism of a globalized, standardized, uniform, and de-humanized digital economy – but instead, wants to make room for collective, emotional, cultural, educational, popular, civic intelligence, and put Québec and Francophone music back at the heart of our listening habits.”
In addition to SOCAN’s support, MUSIQC also counts the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and the Fondation Musicaction as partners, as well as the Caisse de la Culture Desjardins, who was a partner for the launch.
During the event, SOCAN met with Ariane Charbonneau, general manager of SPACQ-AE, and Corneille, a SOCAN member and MUSIQC spokesperson (see video below).
Select the image to access the SOCAN YouTube interview about MUSIQC