About 160 SOCAN members, key music industry personnel, and other colleagues in the community helped SOCAN celebrate the opening of its new Vancouver office with an Open House Happy Hour, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on both Jan. 22 and 23, 2019. Located at 375 Water Street, Suite 385, in Vancouver’s lively Gastown area, our new location will help to forge even closer ties with music industry stakeholders in the city.

Jocelyn Morlock, SOCAN, Michael McCarty, Eric Baptiste, Racquel Villagante, Ed Hendersen

Left to right: SOCAN’s Michael McCarty and CEO Eric Baptiste; Jocelyn Morlock; SOCAN’s Racquel Villagante; and SOCAN Board Member Ed Henderson.

The crowd at the open house included a diverse array of British Columbia-based member songwriters, composers, and producers, including SOCAN Board of Directors member Ed Henderson, Jocelyn Morlock (who was presented with her 2018 Jan V. Matejcek SOCAN Award),  Louise Burns, Mathew V, Luca Fogale, Alexandria Maillot, Jordan Klassen, Bobs & LoLo, members of The Tourist Company, Zach Gray of The Zolas, Garth “GGGarth” Richardson, and Chin Injeti.

Among the industry folk packed in to the new office were representatives from Warner Music Canada, Tonic Records, Boompa Records, Play MPE, Music BC, Creative BC, Macklam Feldman, Secret Study, Tiny Kingdom, Locals Lounge, Locals Only, Groundwerk, Nimbus School of Recording and Media, Simkin Management,  604 Records / Light Organ Records, Mint Records, Monstercat, The District, BBTV, Echoplant Studios, Amelia Artists, High Tide Artists, and more.

The Sound Lounge was by far the most popular room in the office space, and the open house saw plenty of jamming on the Roland 808 drum machine, keyboard, and drums. There was lots of singing, which drew partygoers in to listen, and join the songwriting/improvisational jam. Without being asked, members left their mark on the room’s writeable idea wall, signing their names around the “Welcome to SOCAN Vancouver” message. The room will house the Vancouver office’s Song Camp Mondays, which will occur monthly starting in February of 2019.

SOCAN, Vancouver, Jody Glenham, Savannah Wellman, Tiny Kingdom, Brenda Grunau, Creative BC

Left to right: Singer-songwriter/producer Jody Glenham, Savannah Wellman of Tiny Kingdom, and Brenda Grunau of Creative BC.

“Roland Canada is thrilled to be partnering with SOCAN for their new Sound Lounge at their beautiful new Vancouver office,” said Roland Canada CEO Brian Dupas. “As a proud supporter of Canadian music, we can’t wait to see what local artists will create with the gear we’ve provided for the space.”

SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste, Chief Membership and Business Development Officer Mike McCarty, and Vancouver-based A&R Representative Racquel Villagante (who organized the event) were at the open house on both nights, to connect with both members and industry.



Shawn Mendes is nominated for a leading six JUNO Awards in 2019, and The Weeknd for five, with both of them in the running for Single, Album

Loud Luxury

Loud Luxury

and Artist of the Year, as well as the JUNO Fan Choice honour. For his fifth and sixth nominations, Mendes is tipped for Songwriter and Pop Album of the Year, while the Weeknd’s fifth nod is for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year – an award he’s already won four times.

Close behind with four nominations apiece are newcomers Bülow and Loud Luxury, both nominated for JUNO Fan Choice and Single of the Year. Bülow is also recognized with nominations for Breakthrough Artist and Pop Album of the Year, and Loud Luxury for Breakthrough Group and Dance Recording of the Year.

SOCAN members with three nominations include Alessia Cara, Bahamas, Hubert Lenoir, KILLY, Michael Bublé, Three Days Grace, and Tory Lanez.

The nominees for the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award are:

Jessie Reyez

Jessie Reyez

So far, Corey Hart, Bülow, and Loud Luxury have been confirmed to perform and Sarah McLachlan to host at the 2019 Gala JUNO Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 17, broadcast live from Budweiser Gardens in London, ON, on CBC, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, the free CBC Gem streaming service in Canada, and globally at www.cbcmusic.ca/junos.

The nominations for Classical Composition of the Year are:

  • Ana Sokolović for Golden Slumbers Kiss your Eyes
  • Bekah Simms for Granitic
  • Cassandra Miller for About Bach
  • Nicole Lizée for Katana of Choice
  • Vincent Ho – Arctic Symphony

Francophone Album of the Year nominees are:

Cœur de Pirate

Cœur de Pirate

  • Cœur de pirate for en cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé
  • Hubert Lenoir for Darlène
  • Loud for Une année record
  • Philippe Brach for Le silence des troupeaux
  • Tire le coyote for Désherbage

In addition to presenting the Songwriter of the Year Award, and for the fourth year in a row, SOCAN is the presenting sponsor of the JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards, at which most of the awards are handed out. As well, during the week of events leading up to the awards, SOCAN will once again serve as a co-presenting sponsor of the JUNO Songwriters’ Circle – widely known as “The Jewel of the JUNO Week” – with Alan Doyle hosting, and performers TBD. Past participants include Paul Brandt, Alex Cuba, Ria Mae, Randy Bachman, Shad, July Talk, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jann Arden, Joel Plaskett, Johnny Reid, Ron Sexsmith and Dan Mangan.

For more information and a complete list of award nominees, visit the JUNO Awards website.

And stay tuned to www.socanmagazine.ca for video interviews from the JUNO nominee press conference, held in Toronto on Jan. 29, 2019.



Dennis Ellsworth won both the Song and SOCAN Songwriter of the Year honours at the 2019 PEI Music Awards, on Jan. 27, 2019, at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel. Both awards were in recognition of the excellence his song, “She’s Never Wrong.”

Besides Ellsworth, double-award honourees included Meaghan Blanchard and Rachel Beck, while Vishtèn and the East Pointers were the two big winners, taking home three trophies each. (Beck also earned a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award for “Reckless Heart” in 2018.)

For a complete list of winners, click here. SOCAN congratulates all of our award-winning members on this great achievement!

Vishten
Vishtèn won three 2019 PEI Music Awards.