Photo by Gary Laranja

SOCAN holds meetings with #ComposersWhoScore

Story by Howard Druckman | Monday June 18th, 2018

SOCAN held three meetings with our #ComposersWhoScore, and representatives of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC), for the fourth straight year, to strengthen our relationship with that community. This time, we held three separate meetings, in Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver, and surveyed our screen composer members in advance to determine the subjects they most wanted to address – which were international and internet royalties. At all of the meetings, there was a very healthy dialogue between SOCAN and our members, with lots of questions from the attendees.

The Toronto gathering was held June 2, 2018, as a panel at The Harris Institute in downtown Toronto, moderated by SOCAN’s Paul Stillo. SOCAN’s Connor Chapman explained how we take pro-active measures to collect international royalties for our members, including an increase in the number of personal visits to our affiliate performing rights organizations in recent years. SOCAN’s James Leacock discussed cable versus internet revenue, noting that a modest decline in cable has been limited to certain genres of programming/stations, while SOCAN has dramatically increased the number of services that it’s licensing in the past three years. SOCAN members Janal Bechthold and Greg Fisher explained the Screen Composers Guild of Canada model agreement and rate card, which help to guide music creators in doing business for movies and television.

Karine Melchior, SOCAN Screen Composers Meeting, 2018, Montreal

In Montréal on June 6, 2018, SOCAN’s Karine Melchior updates our #ComposersWhoScore about royalties for music used in advertising. (Photo: Eric Parazelli)

The Montréal meeting, held June 6 at Centre Phi, was facilitated by SOCAN’s Geneviève Côté, except for a digital platforms panel led by SOCAN’s Eric Parazelli. After an update on royalties for music used in advertising, presented by SOCAN’s Karine Melchior (who also organized the entire event), Paul-Étienne Côté, composer and founder of the music agency Circonflex, spoke about his transition from composing film and TV scores to creating music for advertising. After some information offered by SOCAN’s James Leacock, Pauline Boisbouvier, Chief of Development and Production, Digital and Brand Content for Zone3, asked about scoring content specifically aimed at digital platforms. Screen composers Nathalie Bonin and François-Xavier Dupas discussed the stakes and challenges in the growing sector of scoring interactive and video games. Michel Corriveau, winner of last year’s SOCAN Screen Composer of the Year Awards at the Montréal gala, generously shared his experience and advice in negotiating screen music contracts. And Julien Boumard Coallier, of The SOCAN Foundation, explained the organization’s various programs for screen composers.

The Vancouver meeting was held June 9, at the Canadian Music Centre. SOCAN’s Sara Pavilionis and James Leacock presented information on international royalties, internet royalties, and the online tools SOCAN has to offer to screen composers. Other SOCAN personnel in attendance were Gary Laranja and Coralie Hummel, and SOCAN members at the event included Craig Northey, Hal Beckett, Peter Allen, Dave Ramos, Robin Hughes, and Daniel Ross. Many of the attending members said that they were leaving the meeting armed with new information, which was our goal.

SOCAN Screen Composers Meeting, 2018, Vancouver

SOCAN’s Sara Pavilionis and James Leacock present information on international and internet royalties to our #ComposersWhoScore in Vancouver, on June 9, 2018. (Photo: Gary Laranja)

Photo by Victor Diaz-Lamich/Francos

Hubert Lenoir wins 2018 Prix Félix-Leclerc

Story by Eric Parazelli | Monday June 18th, 2018

The Hubert Lenoir tsunami leaves no stone unturned; the latest finds him winning the 2018 Prix Félix-Leclerc. Hubert Lenoir has become the latest in a long line of young singer-songwriters that benefitted from the prize, awarded simultaneously to a Québécois and a French-from-France artist – this year, Foué is Lenoir’s the trans-Atlantic counterpart.

Once again, SOCAN has contributed a $2,500 cash prize to the winner, which Lenoir received this year from SOCAN Montréal A&R Representative Widney Bonfils. The singer-songwriter also received a $2,500 cash prize from Groupe Editorial Musinfo, a practicum at the Chantier des Francos before his performance at La Rochelle, and a further $5,000 cash and $5,000 in tour support from Rythme FM.

Lenoir was chosen by a jury, assembled by the FrancoFolies de Montréal, of journalists and industry representatives – that included Eric Parazelli, SOCAN Paroles & Musique Editor and Francophone Communications Specialist.

Lenoir has made countless heads turn since launching his album Darlène in early 2018. He was nominated alongside SOCAN members AMÉ, Andréanne A. Malette, Claude Bégin, Corridor, FouKi, Pierre-Hervé Goulet, Roxane Bruneau and Sara Dufour.

Photo by Benoit Rousseau/Francos

AMÉ, MB featured in SOCAN showcase at 2018 Rendez-vous Pros des Francos

Story by Eric Parazelli | Thursday June 14th, 2018

Geneviève Côté, AMÉ, Étienne Chagnon, David Murphy

Left to right: Geneviève Côté, Chief of Québec Affairs at SOCAN, AMÉ, Étienne Chagnon, and David Murphy of David Murphy et Cie.

As a proud partner of the Rendez-vous Pros des Francos for a seventh consecutive year, SOCAN renewed its commitment to foster the export of homegrown talent – by once again presenting a showcase, this time featuring SOCAN members AMÉ and MB, who captivated the international representatives and general public who flocked to see them.

The free, public performances highlighted the Francos, an event organized by Francofolies de Montréal, that welcomes more than 150 professionals of the music and stage industries, promoting exchanges throughout La Francophonie.

Amélie Larocque performs at the heart of a type of pop music that entices people to dance. Sa couleur is her sophomore album, but as a songwriter, AMÉ has sprinkled her many musical hues on the work of many artists over the past few years. Now she’s ready to spread her mature talent all over La Francophonie.

Success is already knocking at her door, as evidenced by a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award, which SOCAN Chief of Québec Affairs, Geneviève Côté presented to her by surprise, onstage. The honour  recognizes her song “Déjà-Vu,” which reached the top of the ADISQ Correspondants chart on May 1, 2018. The irresistible ditty was co-written by Amélie Larocque and Étienne Chagnon, and is co-published by David Murphy et Cie and Éditions Arielle.

As for MB, a year after the release of “Couvre-feu,” his first mixtape, full of simmering violence, he’s now turned toward a more accessible brand of rap, aimed at a wider audience. This change in direction is as surprising to us, as it was carefully considered by the artist, who’s garnered millions of views on YouTube. MB and his 5sang14 collective provoked a frenzy onstage, offered testimony thatr he;s ready to conquer new territories.

Their performances were followed by a SOCAN’ meet-and-greet cocktail for the accredited professionals attending the confernece. During the event, the winners of the SOCAN Songwriting Prize – Loud, RealMind and Ruffsound, for their song “56k” – received their $10,000 cash prize, a PSR-S970 keyboard from Yamaha Canada, and a $500 gift certificate from Long & McQuade.