Photo by courtesy. The Weeknd.

The Weeknd dominates 2021 Billboard Music Award nominations, with 15

Story by Howard Druckman | Monday May 17th, 2021

After being shut out by the 2021 Grammy Awards, SOCAN member The Weeknd is dominating the 2021 Billboard Music Award nominations, with no less than 15 of them.

He’s nominated eight times as an artist, for

  • Top Artist
  • Top Male Artist
  • Top Hot 100 Artist
  • Top Streaming Songs Artist
  • Top Song Sales Artist
  • Top Radio Songs Artist
  • Top R&B Artist
  • Top R&B Male Artist

His song “Blinding Lights” has earned five nominations, for

  • Top Hot 100 Song
  • Top Streaming Song
  • Top Selling Song
  • Top Radio Song
  • Top R&B Song

His LP After Hours is nominated for Top Billboard 200 Album and Top R&B Album.

Drake’s seven nominations are for

  • Top Artist
  • Top Male Artist
  • Top Billboard 200 Artist
  • Top Hot 100 Artist
  • Top Streaming Songs Artist
  • Top Rap Artist
  • Top Streaming Song (for “Life Is Good,” by Future featuring Drake)

The song “WHATS POPPIN,” by Jack Harlow featuring DaBaby, Tory Lanez, and Lil Wayne, is nominated for

  • Top Streaming Song
  • Top Collaboration (Fan Voted)
  • Top Rap Song

The Billboard Music Awards will be held on Sunday, May 23, 2021, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast live from NBC, and will be hosted by Nick Jonas. The full list of performers is yet to be announced.

SOCAN congratulates The Weeknd, Drake, and Tory Lanez on these achievements!

Photo by Frédérique Ménard Aubin

Étienne Coppée wins grand finale of 2021 Francouvertes

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday May 18th, 2021

There was a pleasant sense of normalcy in Montreal’s Lion d’Or on Monday night as jury members (including myself), the Francouvertes team, online recording technicians, and a few fans of the three finalists gathered for the final stage of this year’s 25th Anniversary contest.

Etienne Coppee, Francouvertes,. 2021On the program, a musical menu as diversified as can be, true to the core mission of this Francophone competition that includes all musical genres. But since a decision had to be made (the ultimate decision at the Francouvertes is shared equally between the specialized jury and the public, who vote online), the third place prize went to Ambre Ciel’s soothing offering that straddles the border between classicism and modernity; second place went to Calamine and her groovy-jazzy-electro-feminist-queer rap from Hochelag’; and the top honours – along with a plethora of prizes, including a $10,000 grant from Sirius XM – went to Étienne Coppée. His contagious smile, his ease for communicating empathically with the audience, and especially his undeniable qualities as a melodist and lyricist, won the hearts of the people at the venue, and online, as well via a broadcasting platform specifically designed for the occasion.

Coppée’s formula – a vehicle for hope and sunshine, thanks to music very much inspired by his Québec idols of the ’70s (one inevitably thinks of Harmonium) – also won him the $1,000 Paroles & Musique cash prize offered by SOCAN during the semi-finals, along with a writing residency at the SOCAN house in Paris, or Nashville.

The evening began with the final performance of the Skatné series, co-presented by SOCAN and Musicaction, and featured Shauit, a First NationS singer-songwriter whose folk sound is tinged with reggae.

For the complete list of the prizes given out to the 2021 finalists, visit the Francouvertes website.

The Francouvertes finals were broadcast live online, but you can hear the entire evening in a special broadcast on Influence Franco – SiriusXM 174 – on Wednesday, May 26, at 12 noon ET, and on Friday, May 28, at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Photo by Tse Daniel

SOCAN presents “Cookin’ Beats” panel with Prezident Jeff at CMW 2021 onine

Story by Howard Druckman | Thursday May 13th, 2021

SOCAN will be out in full force online throughout CMW 2021, including at our ever-popular “Cookin’ Beats” panel, this year featuring Prezident Jeff. In discussion with SOCAN A&R Representative, Rap & R&B, Michael Asante, Jeff will show CMW delegates how he crafts a killer beat. It all happens on Thursday, May 20 (Day Three), from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. ET. (All further times are ET.)

Earlier the same day, from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m., SOCAN Interim CEO Jennifer Brown will deliver opening remarks, along with The Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, and Karen Thorne-Stone, the President & CEO of  Ontario Creates.

Immediately after, Brown will join SOCAN A&R Representative Melissa Cameron-Passley; Warner Chappell Music Canada General Manager (and member of SOCAN’s Board of Directors) Vivian Barclay; and Ultra Music Senior Director of A&R (and former SOCAN A&R Representative) Andreas Rizek, for a panel presented by SOCAN, “Collective Collab: The Writer-Publisher Relationship in the Era of the Social Media Explosion.” Also attending will be JR Antoine, Co-Founder and President of Studio 44, as well as singer-songwriter Nick Henriques and artist JESSIA.

SOCAN Vice-President, Royalty Collections, Kit Wheeler, will participate in another panel on May 20, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., “Locking Down Corona-Royalties: Online Concert Revenue and How to Secure It”

Again on the same day, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the “Rights & Revenue Streams for Songwriters” session, will get you tapped into all the ways you can make money as a songwriter, from performance rights to mechanical royalties to NFTS to funding. This panel features SOCAN West Coast A&R Representative Houtan Hodania, and the Executive Director of The SOCAN Foundation, Charlie Wall-Andrews.

Andrews is also — along with Keziah Myers, Executive Director, ADVANCE, Canada’s Black Music Business Collective — presenting “CALL-TO-ACTION: Allies in Music,” on Tuesday, May 18, at 2:50 p.m. It’s a session teaching current ways to challenge the status quo, and take action to promote inclusivity and belonging in the Canadian music industry.

A full schedule of all CMW events can be viewed here, and you can register to attend here.