Apply now for $25,000 Top of the Country music competition

Story by Howard Druckman | Wednesday February 12th, 2020

SOCAN members who make country music are invited to apply now for the $25,000 Top of the Country music competition, sponsored by the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and SiriusXM, and supported by SOCAN and SOCAN Foundation.

The CCMA and SiriusXM will choose nine finalists (three each from Western, Central and Eastern Canada) to record in studios in Vancouver, Toronto, or Halifax. Videos of the performances will be uploaded online this spring for a Canada-wide vote, promoted by an extensive marketing campaign. The top act in each of the three regions will move on as finalists. This year, semi-finalists will be determined by a panel of industry judges, along with a public vote.

The top three finalists will have the chance to travel to Nashville on a writing trip with support from SOCAN. SOCAN will help make travel arrangements, and provide accommodations for the finalists at the SOCAN House in Nashville.

The top three will also:

  • play a set during a performance slot at a major country music festival;
  • participate in an industry mentorship program; and
  • play during Country Music Week at the Top of the Country Finale – airing across North America on SiriusXM – where one winner will be chosen by an industry panel and the audience.

For the winner, prizes will include $25,000, an appearance on the CCMA Awards broadcast in 2020, and attendance at CCMA/SOCAN song camps (in Nashville and one other location TBD).

Interested country music creators can register here, until midnight ET on Feb. 28, 2020.

Photo by Matt Barnes, of/de Lights.

Lights, Aaron Goodvin, Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, Nuela Charles, Tim Baker, Tom Wilson, Whitehorse to perform at 2020 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle

Story by SOCAN | Thursday February 13th, 2020

SOCAN members Aaron Goodvin, Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, Nuela Charles, Tim Baker, Tom Wilson, and Whitehorse will perform at the 2020 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle, presented by SOCAN in association with Music Publishers Canada, on Sunday, March 15, 2020, from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. at the Sid Buckwold Theatre at TCU Place in Saskatoon. Lights will also perform, and co-host the event with CBC q’s Tom Power.

 

Lights is a three-time JUNO Award winner, while the other Songwriters’ Circle participants are all 2020 JUNO Award nominees, as follows:

  • Aaron Goodvin (Country Album of the Year)
  • Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine (Pop Album of the Year)
  • Nuela Charles (Adult Contemporary Album of the Year)
  • Tim Baker (Songwriter of the Year, sponsored by SOCAN)
  • Tom Wilson (Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, with Lee Harvey Osmond)
  • 2016 JUNO Award winners Whitehorse (Blues Album of the Year)

The event will be broadcast live on CBC Radio One, CBC Music and live streamed via CBC Gem and cbcmusic.ca/junos.

Presented by SOCAN, the JUNO Songwriters’ Circle is an intimate and interactive event, benefiting MusiCounts. Considered “The Jewel of JUNO Week,” the Songwriters’ Circle showcases some of Canada’s most talented songwriters performing their original songs and sharing the stories behind them.

Tickets for the 2020 JUNO Songwriters’ Circle are on sale now, through TCU Place, starting at $39.00 (plus taxes and service fees).

Photo by Frédérique Ménard-Aubin/Francouvertes

Francouvertes 2020 announces 21 contestants of 24th edition

Story by Marie-Michèle Bouchard | Tuesday February 11th, 2020

Original Gros Bonnet (OGB), winners of the 2019 edition of the Francouvertes competition, kicked off the 2020 edition of the annual competition with a short-but-explosive performance at Montréal’s Lion d’Or on Feb. 10, 2020. This year’s spokespersons are Laurence Nerbonne and Émile Bilodeau, taking over from Sarahmée and Karim Ouellet.

Francouvertes announced the 21 contestants in its major Québec competition, and, SOCAN will once again support it by presenting the “J’aime mes ex” series of concerts – during which 10 Francouvertes alumni will perform as opening acts of the first round, and semi-final round, of the contest.

SOCAN will also present the Paroles & Musique Award, a $1,000 cash prize awarded to one of the semi-finalists for their songwriting talent, along with a one-week writing residency at the SOCAN House in Paris. These prizes are part of a myriad of rewards, grants, and concert opportunities that will be awarded this year.

There will be seven preliminary evenings held at the Lion d’Or, every Monday from Feb. 17 to Mar. 30, 2020.

Preliminary round

  • Mélodie Spear—Guillaume Bordel—Embo/phlébite (Feb. 17)
  • Ariane Roy—MoKa—Aramis (Feb. 24)
  • Jessy Benjamin—La Faune—Narcisse (Mar. 2)
  • Vendou—Petite Papa—dope.gng (Mar. 9)
  • Jeremy Lachance—Désarroi—La Fièvre (Mar. 16)
  • Kanen—thais—Valence (Mar. 23)
  • Mclean—Mille Piastres Please—Trop Belle (Mar. 30)

The semi-finals will be held on March 13-14-15, still at Lion d’Or, and the final round will be held at Club Soda on May 4.

The ten “exes” that will open each evening as part of the “J’aime mes ex” series presented by SOCAN are:

  • Olivier Bélisle (Feb. 17)
  • Alfa Rococo (Feb. 24)
  • Gab Paquet (March 2)
  • Marie Gold (Mar. 9)
  • Émilie Proulx (Mar. 16)
  • Jipé Dalpé (Mar. 23)
  • Louis-Jean Cormier (Mar. 30)
  • Mehdi Cayenne (Apr. 13)
  • Laurence-Anne (Apr. 14)
  • Lou-Adriane Cassidy (Apr. 15)

To find out more, visit francouvertes.com.