Photo by SOCAN

SOCAN transfers visual arts & crafts collective management business to COVA-DAAV

Story by SOCAN | Wednesday January 4th, 2023

SOCAN has announced an agreement with Copyright Visual Arts/Droit d’Auteurs Arts Visuels (COVA-DAAV) that will see the transfer of SOCAN’s visual arts and crafts business to the Ottawa-based company. 

The move means that COVA-DAAV will be the only copyright collecting agency in Canada tasked with licensing and distributing copyright royalties to the visual arts and crafts sector. 

“After careful analysis, we’ve decided to focus entirely on our core work of managing the performing and reproduction rights of songwriter, composer, and music publisher members and clients,” said SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown. “We’re delighted that visual arts and crafts members will be in great hands with COVA-DAAV, a proven leader and expert in that market, and wish them and their members every success for the future.” 

“This new consolidation of services simplifies access to licensing support for visual artists, their estates, and other rightsholders, and we share SOCAN’s vision for the future of licensing and copyright management for our sector,” said Marcia Lea, Executive Director of COVA-DAAV. 

Copyright Visual Arts has the full support of CARFAC (Canadian Artists’ Representation/le front des artistes canadiens) and RAAV (Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels), the national associations for visual artists in Canada and Québec, respectively. CARFAC and RAAV have always been confident in the collective’s deep understanding of the visual arts ecosystem, allowing them to negotiate the best terms for their artist-members. 

“We’re thrilled with this news, knowing that artists in Québec and Canada will feel welcome and supported, and that COVA-DAAV will continue to provide high quality service to their new artist-members and rightsholders,” said Paddy Lamb, CARFAC’s National President. 

Following its acquisition of SODRAC in 2018, SOCAN has managed a visual arts department, representing more than 40,000 creators and rightsholders worldwide. The agreement with COVA-DAAV underscores SOCAN’s heightened commitment to its music creator and publisher members and clients, through the company’s member-centric strategic pillar. 

SOCAN plans to conclude its visual arts and crafts business on January 30, 2023, with the recommendation that relevant members join Copyright Visual Arts. 

Copyright Visual Arts also responds to a shifting art economy by providing effective digital tools to enable visual artists to achieve sustainable careers. This includes their new Image Bank digital licensing service, and Copyright Visual Arts’ partnership in building Imprimo, a new Blockchain platform, which helps artists organize and present their work, authoritatively track its provenance, make connections within the arts community, and create opportunities for discovery. 

Photo by SOCAN

Attention SOCAN members! We’re implementing a new cue sheet

Story by SOCAN | Wednesday January 4th, 2023

SOCAN has collaborated with other international societies around the world to develop a new standardized cue sheet, part of a global initiative to ensure that societies around the world collect consistent information.

Receiving a complete cue sheet is integral to SOCAN ensuring that screen composers, songwriters, and music publishers are fairly compensated for their work in film, TV, and online productions. By streamlining efforts, cue sheet details can be processed more efficiently, ensuring royalties are paid for productions played in all countries, not just Canada.

A cue sheet completed by the producer of a film, television show, or digital production has typically been considered the authoritative source, but cue sheets may also be submitted by broadcasters, distributors, international performing rights organizations, and SOCAN members.

We’re making every effort to connect with all parties that regularly submit, in order to provide them with the new cue sheet – though we’ll continue to accept cue sheet details in alternate formats at this time.

It’s important as a SOCAN member songwriter, composer, or music publisher, that you notify the production companies with which you work that they should file their cue sheets with SOCAN. You should also request copies for your records. Alternately, if you have complete information, we encourage you to submit your cue sheets. If you have a publisher, it’s important that you discuss your submissions with them.

A complete cue sheet means we can enter details directly into our system and send royalties soon after airing.

DOWNLOAD NEW CUE SHEET

While the new cue sheet will feel familiar, and many fields remain the same, we’ve created a video to help you navigate it, highlighting the process and providing resources to guide you.

By using the new cue sheet template, you’re participating in a global initiative to ensure that screen composers, songwriters, and their music publishers are compensated for the incredible work they do to bring the viewing experience to life.

The new cue sheet is available for Windows and Apple users, in both English and French.

Additional questions are answered in Cue Sheet FAQs.

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Video – Keep creating, no matter what

Story by Éric Parazelli | Wednesday December 14th, 2022

2022 was the year when live shows rerurned, much to the delight of artists and audiences alike. But 2022 was also a year of painful assessments concerning the difficulty of generating substantial revenues from streaming platforms, not to mention the discoverability issues of Canadian and Québec music, especially Francophone music, on these platforms. Add to that the rising costs of touring, while concert fees aren’t increasing at the same rate, and you have a situation that could potentially discourage the most die-hard artists. Fortunately, the SOCAN members interviewed during the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ on Nov. 2, 2022, still find the motivation to carry on creating and performing, despite adversity and recurring bad news in the music ecosystem. In this video, Pierre Lapointe, Souldia, Lisa LeBlanc, Jean-Michel Blais, and Hubert Lenoir share what motivates them to keep creating, no matter what.   

Interview thumbnail

Click the image to view the video