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.
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.
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.
