Original 24 CanCon visionaries to be honoured at 2021 SOCAN Awards

Story by SOCAN | Tuesday May 11th, 2021

At this year’s SOCAN Awards, 24 visionaries will be recognized for the roles they played in boosting made-in-Canada content nationally and internationally.

Fifty years ago, they understood the need to protect and amplify Canadian music, giving rise to CanCon. These trailblazers will be awarded the SOCAN Guardian Award for their efforts in preserving and boosting Canadian culture.

The SOCAN Guardian Award was created to pay homage for the service of these proud thought leaders, whose original efforts have had direct impact on more Canadian music creators than ever gaining national and worldwide stature.

As the Baby Boom generation came of age, young Canadian artists dreamed of joining the global musical and cultural revolution, but home-grown music was considered inferior to the foreign records that dominated the charts. For Canadian artists, the doors to Canadian radio and television were essentially locked. They were forced to make a choice between abandoning their dreams or leaving the country.

The situation was so bad that, in 1965, in a desperate attempt to get radio play of their single “Shakin’ All Over,” Winnipeg’s Chad Allen and The Expressions hid their Canadian identity by changing their name to The Guess Who, daring disc jockeys to figure out who they were. Not realizing they were Canadian, the DJs played the record and made it a hit, but assumed the pseudonym was real. To sustain visibility, the band kept their new name.

By Canada’s centennial in 1967, a chorus of music industry voices harmonized with a group of strong-willed entrepreneurs, journalists, and artists who refused to believe that Canadian creators were second-class. Together, they stood up and called on the federal government to mandate fair airplay of Canadian music.

Not everyone was happy with the idea of quotas for Canadian music, with some even questioning if Canada had enough talent to meet the proposed quota. Others wondered if there was even a Canadian culture to protect. One foreign record industry spokesman was attributed as saying, “a single container of yogurt has more culture than the entire country of Canada”.

In June 1970, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) declared a new regulation that required radio stations to devote at least 30 per cent of their playlists to Canadian music, and CanCon was born. Now, in today’s online world, the role of CanCon and the CRTC is again in the spotlight.

“CanCon regulations created space for Canadians in broadcast media, but in the new digital streaming world, it’s déjà vu all over again,” said SOCAN Interim CEO, Jennifer Brown. “SOCAN’s data shows that the future of Canadian culture is once again in jeopardy as the consumption of streamed Canadian music by Canadians has fallen off a cliff. It’s clear that we need the music industry to unite once again to fight for the future of Canadian music, this time working with our partners in digital services to find a solution that works for everyone.”

SOCAN Awards, 2021, Justin Trudeau“Investing in Canadian content is not only a smart thing to do for our economy, but it also has a personal connection for me,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a special video message for the SOCAN Awards. “I learned the importance of promoting and supporting Canadian content in large part from my father. My dad always knew that broadcasting Canadian content was important to maintaining and promoting our country’s unique culture and heritage. Together, we will build on this legacy and create a better future for our creators.”

Accessing music is easier and more prevalent than ever, but being introduced to new Canadian creators has lagged. The discoverability advantages that CanCon brings to radio and television has not carried over to borderless digital streaming platforms. Networks that have disproportionate control of the content introduced to their customers have little motivation to introduce regional creators to their customers. Once again, many Canadian artists are faced with bypassing their home country to have their work heard.

The 2021 SOCAN Awards will be the second year that the annual event will be held online due to pandemic safeguards. During the week of May 24, more than 50 SOCAN awards will be presented to the year’s most successful music creators and publishers, in an event that’s often cited as a crowning achievement in the careers of songwriters, composers, and music publishers.

Sadly, many of the CanCon Guardians have passed on, but their legacies remain through their profound efforts to promote and protect Canadian culture. The following list was determined through research and interviews with those involved at the time.

CanCon Guardians (alphabetical)

  • Terry Brown, Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Paul Clinch, Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder*
  • Frank Davies, Love Productions / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Don DiNovo, Lighthouse*
  • Bob Ezrin, Nimbus 9 / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Bernie Finkelstein, True North Records / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Tommy Graham, Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Walt Grealis, RPM Magazine*
  • Greg Hambleton, Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Kelly Jay, Crowbar*
  • Pierre Juneau, CRTC chairman*
  • Stan Klees, RPM Magazine / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Betty Layton, SOCAN / BMI Canada*
  • Allan MacMillan, Nimbus 9 / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder
  • Alexander Mair, Early Morning Productions
  • Ben McPeek, Nimbus 9 / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder*
  • John Mills, SOCAN / CAPAC*
  • Harold Moon, SOCAN / BMI Canada*
  • Skip Prokop, Lighthouse*
  • Jack Richardson, Nimbus 9 / Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder*
  • Mel Shaw, music manager
  • Art Snider, Canadian Independent Record Production Association co-founder*
  • Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada*
  • Ritchie Yorke, Billboard / The Globe & Mail journalist*

* posthumously awarded

Photo by Frédérique Ménard-Aubin. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Ambre ciel, Calamine, Étienne Coppée

Ambre ciel, Calamine, Étienne Coppée in finals of 2021 Francouvertes

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday May 11th, 2021

The three finalists of the 2021 Francouvertes are here! Ambre Ciel, Calamine and Étienne Coppée have been selected after three weeks of intense semi-finals, judged by a jury of professionals and members of the public, who were able to vote online via a platform specifically designed for the occasion.

Étienne Coppée, Francouvertes, 2021

Étienne Coppée

To conclude the last night of the semi-finals for this 25th edition of the event, several prizes were awarded, including the Paroles & Musique SOCAN Award – which went to Étienne Coppée, for the quality of his songwriting. The honour comes with a $1,000 cash prize offered by SOCAN, and a writing residency at the SOCAN House in Paris or Nashville. “I’m incredibly grateful, because this award allows me to believe in what’s to come: picturing myself creating songs at SOCAN House in Nashville or Paris, ‘crime bine,’ it’s sick. Thank you!” said Coppée, who also finished first in the semi-finals.

Additionally, the SOCAN Foundation has offered Bermuda a $1,500 grant to create the theme song for the 2022 edition of the Francouvertes. To learn more about the other prizes awarded during the semi-finals, and all those to be distributed at the end of the grand finale, visit the Francouvertes website.

Due to health measures still in effect, the grand finale will be held on May 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Montréal’s Lion d’Or, without an audience – but in the presence of the jury, which includes Eric Parazelli, Paroles &Musique Editor and SOCAN Manager of Francophone Communications. The public will be able to watch and vote live via the streaming platform on thepointofsale.com.

SOCAN will once again present the final performance of the “Skátne” series, featuring Shauit. The purpose of this series is to give greater prominence to First Nations and Inuit artists and their languages.

Good luck to the finalists of this 25th edition of the Francouvertes!

SOCAN set to distribute first MLC royalties

Story by SOCAN | Monday May 10th, 2021

Last February, we shared the news of our relationship with the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), the newly-formed organization collecting digital royalties in the U.S. The MLC is a centralized database making efficient matching and distribution of royalties a reality in that territory.

In April of 2021, SOCAN received our first monthly payment from the MLC. Royalties received reflect performances in the U.S. for the month of January 2021, and will be distributed to SOCAN reproduction right clients on the next scheduled distribution date, June 15, 2021.

Keep in mind SOCAN has long-standing reciprocal agreements with more than 100 sister societies around the world. These agreements ensure that you receive all of the international reproduction and performance royalties that you’ve earned.

SOCAN will continue to receive monthly payments from the MLC for current performances, and are expecting the February 2021 payments in mid-May.

You’ll recall that the MLC also had a mandate to ingest historical data from digital service providers representing previously unmatched and unpaid performances. The MLC continues to work through this process, and plans to begin paying on previously unmatched performances this summer. Until then, payments and associated distributions will include only current performances.

It’s important that all music creators’ works are represented in the MLC database accurately and thoroughly so that they can receive all the money that they’ve earned, or will earn, in the U.S. from reproductions of their music.

Provided you’re a client of SOCAN for reproduction rights and have granted SOCAN the right to collect in the U.S on your behalf, you’re covered.

SOCAN is the only music rights organization in Canada that handles both performing and reproduction rights, and a one-stop, made-in-Canada solution, with a nearly 100-year track record of delivering your royalties on time, every time.

What more can you do as a SOCAN member? 

  1. Make sure you’re a SOCAN Reproduction Rights client. If you’re a publisher or a self-published writer, and you aren’t yet a SOCAN reproduction rights client, contact us at reproduction@socan.com .
  2. Ensure all of your works are registered and up-to-date.
  3. Check that you’ve granted SOCAN a license to collect your reproduction rights in the United States. If you’re not sure, or would like more information, or have any questions ,contact us at reproduction@socan.com.