Photo by courtesy / courtoisie. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Joni Mitchell, Alex Cuba, The Weeknd, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

SOCAN members Joni Mitchell, Alex Cuba, The Weeknd, Yannick Nézet-Séguin win at 2022 Grammy Awards

Story by Howard Druckman, with files from / avec la participation de Racquel Villagante, Kathryn Hamilton | Monday April 4th, 2022

Iconic singer-songwriter and SOCAN member Joni Mitchell won – and accepted, in person – a Grammy Award during the non-televised portion of the ceremonies, in the Best Historical Album category, for Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967), on the afternoon of April 3, 2022. Mitchell, who was earlier honoured as Grammy’s MusiCares Person of the Year, also co-introduced (along with Bonnie Raitt) a performance from her friend, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlisle, during the televised broadcast awards that night.

Although he’s already earned several Latin Grammy Awards, British Columbia-based Alex Cuba won his first Grammy, in the Best Latin Pop Album field, for Mendó. The Weeknd – who’s abandoned the Grammies since his world-conquering Blinding Lights album received no nominations last year – nonetheless earned a trophy for his feature (along with Lil Baby) on Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” which won Best Melodic Rap Performance. Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin won his first Grammy, in the Best Orchestral Performance category, for Florence Price, Symphonies No. 1 in C Minor & No. 3 in E Minor, recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Montrealer had been nominated in three classical categories.

All of these awards were presented during the non-televised portion of the show, where three-time-nominee Allison Russell performed a stellar version of her nominated song, “The Nightflyer.” On the televised broadcast, Daniel Caesar joined Justin Bieber and Giveon for a performance of their thrice-nominated song “Peaches,” while Avril Lavigne presented the award for Best Pop Duo Performance.

While not directly nominated, several other SOCAN members were involved with Grammy-winning projects. Michael “DZL” Holmes was one of the co-writers of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Pick Up Your Feelings,” which won for Best R&B Performance (in a tie with Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open”), and was included on Sullivan’s Heaux Tales, which earned Best R&B Album. DZL also co-wrote “Dream,” by Lucky Daye featuring Naija, which appeared on Daye’s Table for Two, winner of the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album. Nathalie Bonin contributed to three songs on the album Women Warriors: The Voices of Change, which won for Best Classical Compendium. Ryan Ofei appeared as a guest singer on a live recording by U.S. gospel group Maverick City Music, whose Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition, won for Best Gospel Album. Ron Korb played flute and served as associate producer on Divine Tides by former The Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej, which won for Best New Age Album.

Jenna Andrews, SOCAN, No. 1 Song

L to R: Lucas Keller, Jenna Andrews, Ron Perry, Jenna’s mom Deborah, SOCAN’s Vanessa Thomas. Photo: Gaby Duong

At the SOCAN Grammy party, held the evening before the show, Jenna Andrews received a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award for co-writing BTS’ nominated song “Butter,” which reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 5, 2021., and many other charts around the world as well. The song was co-written with Rob Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, Ron Perry, Kim Nam-Joon (RM of BTS), Pdogg, Alex Bilowitz, and Sebastian Garcia, and is published by Sony Music Publishing and Andrews’ own company, Twentyseven Music.

Attendees at the party included “Butter” co-writers Stephen Kirk , Alex Bilowitz, and Ron Perry (also the CEO of Columbia Records); SOCAN member singer-songwriters Michael “DZL” Holmes, Laura Roy, Boslen, and Sammy and Bobby Kuya; composer Nathalie Bonin; TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio; TikTok representatives Erin Ashley, Kat Kernaghan, Vanessa Adora (all from Toronto) and Marisa Jeffries (from Los Angeles); artist representatives Frank Gironda (Joni Mitchell), Lucas Keller (Jenna Andrews), and Kari Zalik (Alex Cuba); and five representatives from the Canadian Consulate. SOCAN attendees at the party, and Grammy weekend, were Vanessa Thomas, Vice President, Member & Industry Relations; Steve Ambers, Vice President, Corporate Development; Kathryn Hamilton, Director, Creative Operations & Programming; and Racquel Villagante, Creative Executive, Los Angeles.

SOCAN congratulates all of our Grammy and Grammy-connected winners in 2022!

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Shanti Loiselle , Dix-Iple Deca, Guillaume Lafrance, Carlos Munoz, Dorothée Parent-Roy

Music & Technology Summit: First steps to seeing things more clearly

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday April 5th, 2022

On March 30, 2022, members of APEM and ADISQ gathered at Montréal’s Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) for the Music and Technology Summit x Rendez-vous de l’ADISQ to discuss the state of the music industry in Québec from the perspective of the technological considerations that affect it.

Jerome Payette, APEM, ADISQ

Jerome Payette

Moderated by Myriam Fehmiu, this afternoon of discussion began with the presentation of the first data on Québec’s streaming music consumption, by Marie-Julie Desrochers and Simon Claus of ADISQ. Although preliminary, the results of this research should shed more light on the precarious state in which Canadian music is evolving on these platforms. It has shown, among other things, that rap has the lion’s share as far as music made in Québec that’s being streamed online. It has also shown that hits have a much shorter lifespan online than on the radio; that the share of Québec artists in the streaming realm is only 8 percent; and that throughout 2020, this proportion experienced a significant decline, a trend that’s shown signs of a slow recovery since.

Next up was Jérôme Payette, APEM’s Executive Director, who presented an analysis of SOCAN royalties for music publishers in Québec. According to his interpretation of the numbers obtained from SOCAN, there has been an 8 percent decline in royalties paid to publishers since 2012. This is due in part to royalty sharing with a larger number of publisher members in total, and a drop in revenue from traditional broadcasts. Royalties from digital platforms are up, but not enough to offset the decline in royalties from traditional media, according to Payette. A 36 percent increase in revenues from international sources was also observed for the same period. Mr. Payette also insisted on the aspect of discoverability and visibility of Québec music, which is intrinsically linked to potential revenues from streaming, but also from synchronization and concerts. He concluded his presentation by inviting people to support the essential Bill C-11.

Jacynthe Plamondon-Émond, APEM, ADISQ

Jacynthe Plamondon-Émond

This was followed by a very interesting presentation from Jacynthe Plamondon-Émond, president of InTempo and founder of Amplitude Distribution, who shared her observations on the “echo chamber” of streaming platforms, meaning streaming services’ algorithms too often confines listeners to a limited number of musical choices shared with all listeners whop have similar tastes. This observation underlines the importance of similar artists in the algorithmic suggestions which act as a loop that limits the discovery of artists outside this echo chamber. Plamondon-Émond also talked about a project on the discoverability and export of Québec music, on which she’ll be working, in collaboration with Jean-Robert Bisaillon and his team at LATICCE (Laboratoire de recherche sur la découvrabilité et les transformations des industries culturelles à l’ère du commerce électronique – Research laboratory on discoverability and the transformation of cultural industries in the era of e-commerce).

A panel entitled “The secret is in the sauce, or how to succeed in the age of platforms” brought together Carlos Munoz (Joy Ride Records), Dorothée Parent-Roy (La Swell, Amplitude Distribution), Dix-Iple Deca (artist and entrepreneur), Guillaume Lafrance (Éditorial Avenue), and Shanti Loiselle (Analekta). The discussion was centred around the market share of music made in Québec, and the main challenges and various strategies of these stakeholders to increase this market share and to better reach their audiences.

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Top Secrets Video: “1 + 1” by Sia (featuring Amir), Banx & Ranx Re-mix

Story by Eric Parazelli | Thursday March 31st, 2022

In our Top Secrets video series, songwriters who’ve earned a No. 1 spot on a major chart, one that was celebrated by a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award, tell us all about the secrets behind the creation of their hit.

Internationally-renowned production duo Banx & Ranx celebrated the release of their new single “Headphones,” featuring Rêve, as well as the signing of a major contract with Universal Music Canada, on Mar. 24, 2022, in their home base of Montréal. SOCAN Creative and Partnerships Executive Sara Dendane presented them with a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award for the song “1 + 1,” performed by international pop star Sia, featuring Amir. Soké and KNY Factory (Banx & Ranx) produced a re-mix that propelled the song to the top of the ADISQ BDS chart on Sept. 6, 2021.

“1 + 1,” which spent six weeks at the top of the chart, was co-written by Sia Furler, Amir Haddad, Jessy Shatkin, Nazim Khaled, Yannick Rastogi, and Zacharie Raymond and is published by Sony Music Publishing.

In our Top Secrets video, Banx & Ranx reveal how this prestigious collaboration came about, and the process that led them to produce three different re-mixes, including the one with singer Amir that earned them the No. 1 Award.