Words & Music is pleased to extend its helpful “how-to” series for our members, “The Breakdown,” into the realm of short, question-and-answer videos.

 In this episode, former SOCAN A&R Representative Racquel Villagante talks with Shane Gill, the Head of  Music for Opposition, BBTV’s music division, which has built a name in the music industry working with clients Lyrical Lemonade, 21 Savage, Juice WRLD and more. Opposition helps music artists to succeed on their own terms, by growing their fanbases, mastering digital streaming, and monetizing their content.

Our question this time is, “How do I better connect with audiences during live-streams?”



Words & Music is pleased to extend its helpful “how-to” series for our members, “The Breakdown,” into the realm of short, question-and-answer videos.

 In this episode, former SOCAN A&R Representative Racquel Villagante talks with Shane Gill, the Head of  Music for Opposition, BBTV’s music division, which has built a name in the music industry working with clients Lyrical Lemonade, 21 Savage, Juice WRLD and more. Opposition helps music artists to succeed on their own terms, by growing their fanbases, mastering digital streaming, and monetizing their content.

Our question this time is, “What’s the best thing to do during lockdown?”



The 32nd edition of the SOCAN Awards will salute the remarkable work of Anglophone music publishers with the fifth annual Publisher of the Year Award. Publishers are invited to submit their nominations starting today, until the deadline of Feb. 19, 2021. Past winners include Sony ATV, peermusic Canada Inc., Red Brick Songs, and Third Side Music.

To be eligible, a publisher must be based in Canada, and their repertoire must be in large part Anglophone, or having had a significant Anglophone impact, creatively and commercially. A publisher with a representative who sits on the selection committee is not eligible for this award.

The award recognizes a SOCAN publisher member who has made a significant and positive impact on both the music business and the creative community within the year being awarded, in this case 2020.

The eligibility period for the 2021 edition of the SOCAN Awards is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, and only the accomplishments which occurred during this period will be taken into consideration. A jury of music industry professionals will evaluate all the nominations.

Eligible publishers must submit nominations to SOCAN’s National Events Manager Olivia Cummings at olivia.cummings@socan.com, no later than Feb. 19, 2021, at 5:00 p.m., ET. The Publisher of the Year Award will be presented as part of the 2021 Toronto SOCAN Awards, and publishers can download the submission form here.