SOCAN has launched the 2019 SOCAN Songwriting Prize, the pre-eminent competition celebrating the exceptional talent of Canadian songwriters over the past year, as voted on by music industry influencers.
This year’s nominated songs, released in 2018, span a wide range of genres, showcasing the varied musical styles of the nominees, and emblematic of the youthful diversity of Canada itself; pop, rap, alternative indie-rock, and electronic funk songs are vying for the title.
The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, and the equivalent Prix de la chanson SOCAN for Francophone songwriters, is the only major songwriting award in Canada where fans determine the results. Each winner receives $10,000, a Yamaha PSR-S975 keyboard, and a $500 gift card from Long & McQuade.
The 10 finalists for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize are:
- “Bad Biology” – written by Elizabeth Ball, Kathleen Monks, Benjamin Reinhartz, James Anthony Rowlinson; performed by Dilly Dally.
- “Blood//Water” – written by Chester Krupa Carbone, Kevin Hissink, Jordan Benjamin; performed by grandson; published by B Height Music, SONY ATV Music Publishing Canada.
- “Chances” – written by Kevin Celestin, Shanice Mohamed, Anthony Pierre; performed by Kaytranada feat. Shay Lia; published by Casablanca Media Publishing Inc.
- “Elephant Man” – written by Sam Lucia, Geoff Millar; performed by SO LOKI; published by Owake Records.
- “Hang Ups” – written by Scott Helman, Thomas Salter, Gordie Sampson, Simon Wilcox; performed by Scott Helman; published by EMI April Music Canada, SONY ATV Music Publishing Canada.
- “Payback” – written by Sarah Hagen, Maxwell, Pankiw, Isaiah Steinberg; performed by Bad Child.
- “She’s The One” – written by Chloé Soldevila, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, Gabriel Lambert, Zachary Irving; performed by Anemone.
- “Soundboi” – written by Dominique Dias, John Samuels; performed by Just John + Dom Dias.
- “Tortoise” – written by Clairmont Humphrey II; performed by Clairmont the Second.
- “Whatever Comes To Mind” – written by Seth Nyquist, Adrian Cook; performed by Mormor
Listen and vote now for your favourite, from June 3 to June 17, 2019, at www.socansongwritingprize.ca, or on Twitter, using the hashtag #mySSPvote and identifying the performer’s name in the tweet. Fans can vote once daily through each platform, for each of the English and French prize competitions. The winning songs are scheduled to be announced the week of June 17, 2019.
“Canadian songwriters are among the most talented in the world,” said Michael McCarty, Chief Membership & Business Development Officer at SOCAN. “It’s SOCAN’s continued pleasure to honour the incredible talent of Canadian songwriting each year with the SOCAN Songwriting Prize, and the 2019 nominees are as musically varied as Canada is culturally diverse.”
The French and English finalists are determined by respective independent panels of 14 music-industry influencers, each nominating two songs, written by by Canadian songwriters and composers, within the eligibility period, that they feel were artistically superior (see Rules for complete criteria). All long-listed songs are then compiled, reviewed, and voted on by each panel to determine the final 10 short-listed nominees in English and French.
SOCAN doesn’t have a role in determining nominees or winners.
The 10 song finalists for the 2019 Prix de la chanson SOCAN, the Francophone counterpart to the SOCAN Songwriting Prize, exemplify an equally diverse variety of musical genres:
- “Best I’ll Never Have (version française)” – written by Brandon Mignacca, John Nathaniel, Mariane Cossette-Bacon; performed by Brandon Mig; published by John Nathaniel Productions Inc.
- “Fille de personne II” – written by Hubert Chiasson; performed by Hubert Lenoir.
- “La valse des trottoirs” – written by Tommy Bélisle, Philippe Gauthier Boudreau, Thierry Malépart, Marc-Antoine Barbier, Félix Bélisle; performed by Choses Sauvages; published by Avenue Editorial.
- “Manche ouverte” – written by Simon Bolduc; performed by Bolduc tout croche.
- “On fouette” – written by Teddy Laguerre, Shawn Volcy, Marc Casseus, Valdimi Methelus; performed by Tizzo, feat.
- “Pas né” – written by Obia Magloire Pierre-Louis, Amhed Saghir; performed by Obia le chef; published by Disques 7ième Ciel.
- “Premier juin ” – written by Lydia Képinski; performed by Lydia Képinski.
- “T’as pas cru” – written by Sarahmée Ouellet, Thomas Lapointe, Diego Montenegro, Ingrid Phd Prifti; performed by Sarahmée.
- “Tercel” – written by Vincent Roberge, Félix Petit, Simon Saint Hillier; performed by Les Louanges; published by Éditions Bonsound.
- “Zaybae” – written by Léo Fougère, Clément Langlois-Légaré, Tom St-Laurent; performed by FouKi; published by Disques 7ième Ciel.
For the latest updates, follow the SOCAN Songwriting Prize on social media at @SOCANmusic and on Twitter via the #SOCANprize hashtag.