RIDEAU, 2020, panel, ecology, SOCANThe 33rd annual edition of the RIDEAU conference was held in Québec City on Feb. 16-21, 2020. On Feb. 17, SOCAN presented a panel on environmental responsibility on tour and in music venues, attended by a packed room of more than 100 attendees.

The panel was hosted by Geneviève Côté, SOCAN Chief of Québec Affairs & Visual Arts. Her guests were Laurence Lafond-Beaulne, one half of Milk & Bone, and the co-founder of ACT (Artistes Citoyens en Tournée, whose mission is to promote environmentally responsible practices in the live events industry) and David Jolin, operations co-ordinator for Théâtre Petit Champlain.

Environmentally responsible policies in the music industry are important to SOCAN, and the goal of the panel was to start the conversation required to identify viable solutions. On several occasions during the discussion, panelists reminded everyone in attendance that “going green” is a project that can only be accomplished over a long period of time.

In the following interview with SOCAN, they addressed the following questions:  Why is it important for SOCAN to get involved in this awareness program? Is it possible to raise the awareness of all parties in the entire chain of the live booking process? What’s their takeaway, following this panel and the interactions with the participants? What are the next steps?

To find out more about ACT, click here.

To find out more about Théâtre Petit Champlain’s environmental actions, click here.

Rideau, 2020, Nicolas Gémus, SOCAN

Left to right: Jean-Philippe Sauvé (SODEC), Nicolas Gémus, Widney Bonfils (SOCAN). Photo: Vincent Champoux

Also during RIDEAU, various grants were awarded as part of the very popular showcases that pepper the event. Among those, SOCAN, in collaboration with SODEC and RIDEAU, offered a stay at the Paris SOCAN House to the winner of the European bookers’ jury award, Nicolas Gémus. The artist turned out to be the most awarded of this year, after also winning the ROSEQ/RIDEAU Jury Award and the Stingray Stars Jury Award, which salutes the boldness and quality of the creative project of an emerging artist on the music scene.