SOCAN welcomes Copyright Board Reform

Story by SOCAN | Wednesday October 31st, 2018

SOCAN welcomes the introduction of Bill C-86 by the federal government containing provisions to improve the effectiveness of the Copyright Board of Canada. We are pleased that the Government of Canada has responded to repeated requests from stakeholders, both from users and from rights holders, to create a framework that will help the Copyright Board achieve its goal of rendering more timely decisions.

After increasing the resources available to the Board and filling vacant positions, this procedural reform stands to be yet another step in making the Board more efficient and expeditious.

“With all of the efforts undertaken by government to improve the Copyright Board, all creators should benefit and hopefully see positive results sooner rather than later,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN.

SOCAN wishes to thank the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Honourable Navdeep Bains and his colleague the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, their teams, the Copyright Board and the civil servants involved in the reform of the Copyright Board for their work. SOCAN will continue to assess the proposed changes and work with the government to get this legislation properly finalized as quickly as possible and it can continue to count on our support throughout the process.

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

ADISQ Awards 2018: Lapointe & Moreau, a winning combination

Story by Eric Parazelli | Thursday November 1st, 2018

The 40th edition of the ADISQ Awards had Montréal’s Place des Arts buzzing on Oct. 28, 2018. Pierre Lapointe has already won many Félix Awards, and this year was no exception, as he walked away from the ADISQ gala with the Adult Contemporary Album of the Year for La science du cœur. The album was co- created in close collaboration with composer and arranger David François Moreau, from France – so it only made sense that both would accept the prize together. We met the pair backstage, in the media room, to discuss their craftsmanship with words and music, and the similarities between the album’s reception in both Québec and France.

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Loud at 2018 ADISQ Awards: Looking back on a record year

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday October 31st, 2018

The 40th edition of the ADISQ Awards had Montréal’s Place des Arts buzzing on Oct. 28, 2018. Ever since his album Une année record (A Record Year) came out a year ago, almost to the day, Loud has been showered with awards and prizes. He earned the 2018 SOCAN Songwriting Prize, as well as the Urban Music and Breakthrough Artist awards at the 2018 Montréal SOCAN Awards Gala. His “Toutes les femmes savent danser” (“All the Women Know how to Dance”) became the first hip-hop song to reach No. 1 on the BDS chart in Québec. Loud exploded on the music scene in France like no other Québec hip-hop artist before him. Now, to top it all off, he’s won two Félix awards: Québec Artist who Achieved the Most Success Outside of Québec, and Hip-Hop Album of the Year. Not to mention the Record Producer of the Year Award, won (for his album) by his collaborators, Ajust and Ruffsound.  We met with Loud, who told us about the very intense last 12 months, why the audiences in France seem to like his music, and offered a sneak peek at what the next few months have in store for him on the other side of the Atlantic.