As part of the ACCORD umbrella group of Canadian music organizations, SOCAN filed a final reply submission to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission) on June 23, 2025, advocating for the support of both Canadian screen composers and Canadian syncs for songwriters, in the CRTC’s ongoing consultations about implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
This consultation is focused on modernizing the definition of “Canadian program” – essentially, the classification system that determines whether a screen production is Canadian or not. The current system requires six out of 10 key creative points to achieve Canadian status, meaning that Canadians fill key creative positions like director, scriptwriter, editor, music composer, and other roles. The CRTC is suggesting additional key creative roles should be added, like showrunner, costume designer, make-up artist, and visual effects creator, to move to a new system requiring nine out of 15 key creative points.
Of importance for our members, the CRTC suggested an amendment to the key creative point for music composers – one which would allow this point to be achieved if a Canadian music composer is hired to create music for the production, or if a Canadian rightsholder owns the rights to the syncs of songs used in the production. SOCAN remains deeply concerned that this would affect the hiring of Canadian music composers, and submitted that this should not be an “either/or” proposition – we should encourage the use and recognition of both Canadian screen composers and Canadian syncs in screen productions that are certified as Canadian. As such, we advocated for the key creative point for music composers to only be achieved with the hiring of a Canadian music composer.
SOCAN made a similar submission about the key creative point to the CRTC in January of 2025, and advocated, in May of 2025, to support greater promotion and recommendation of Canadian music from online music streaming services. On social media, we’ve also countered Spotify’s claims that Canadian music is “thriving globally” by highlighting domestic streaming challenges. We want to work together with digital platforms to ensure that their power works for everyone, and ensures a future for Canadian songwriters and composers.