Drake, Kaytranada, each earn three 2021 Grammy Award nominations

Story by Howard Druckman | Thursday March 12th, 2020

SOCAN members Drake and Kaytranada have each earned three nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, to be held this Sunday, Mar. 14, 2021, and broadcast live on CBS.

Drake earned all three 2021 Grammy nods for singles he released last year. “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” featuring Lil Durk, is nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Song, while Future’s video for the song “Life is Good,” featuring Drake, and co-written by SOCAN member OZ, is up for Best Music Video.

Kaytranada, who won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize, earned his first-ever Grammy nominations in three categories: Best New Artist; Best Dance Recording, for “10%,” featuring Kali Uchis; and Best Dance/Electronic Album, for his 2020 Polaris-short-listed album, Bubba, which includes contributions from SOCAN member Charlotte Day Wilson.

Other SOCAN member nominations include:

  • Lido Pimienta, Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, for Miss Colombia
  • deadmau5, Best Remixed Recording, for “Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix)”
  • The late Leonard Cohen, Best Folk Album, for Thanks for the Dance
  • Jayda G, Best Dance Recording, for “Both of Us”
  • JP Saxe, Song of the Year, for co-writing Julia Michaels’ “If the World was Ending”
  • Sam Ellis, Best Country Song, for co-writing Ingrid Andress’ “More Hearts Than Mine”

While star producer Frank Dukes wasn’t directly nominated, his work with Post Malone was associated with two nominations for the American rapper: Record of the Year for “Circles,” and Album of the Year for Hollywood’s Bleeding. Similarly, SOCAN member Kaan Güneşberk co-wrote “Circles,” which also appeared on Hollywood’s Bleeding, while BadBadNotGood’s Matthew Tavares and Seth Nyquist, aka MorMor, also contributed to the album.

Justin Bieber (ASCAP) was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, for Changes, which includes  songwriting and/or production contributions from SOCAN members Boi-1da, Nasri Atweh (of MAGIC!), Cvre, Nineteen85 and Daniel Daley (aka the duo DVSN), Maneesh, and Majid Al Maskati (of Majid Jordan). Atweh is also a co-writer of R&B Song of the Year nominee “Slow Down,” by Skip Marley & H.E.R.. Similarly, Toronto-based expert violinist Drew Jurecka was one of the engineer/mixers on Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now,” which was nominated for Record of the Year.

Star producer Stephen “Koz” Kozmeniuk is credited for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, up for Album and Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year. Sevn Thomas produced the Giveon EP Take Time, up for R&B Album of the Year. Drummer/composer Larnell Lewis, of Snarky Puppy, is up Contemporary Instrumental Album of the Year, for the band’s Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

SOCAN congratulates our Grammy-nominated members on this huge achievement!

Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. Allan Reid of/de CARAS.

SOCAN Stands with CARAS

Story by SOCAN | Friday March 13th, 2020

The cancellation of the 2020 JUNO Awards was met with sadness and disappointment by all at SOCAN.

“We stand with our friends at CARAS,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “SOCAN had been looking forward to celebrating the success of nearly 250 of our music creator and music publisher members who had been part of a JUNO nomination, and many others who were scheduled to perform at the event. We look forward to better days ahead for all in the Canadian music industry.”

SOCAN was one of the many sponsors and supporters of the 49th JUNO Awards and JUNO Week, which were scheduled to be held in Saskatoon before their necessary cancellation due to the COVID-19 situation.

“Our congratulations still go out to SOCAN members on their success, and to CARAS for the incredible effort that their staff and contractors put into the 2020 JUNOS,” Baptiste added. “We offer whatever help that we can provide as they work through the situation. The Canadian music industry is very much a family, and it’s important that we stand together during this crisis.”

SOCAN is currently reviewing various options and asking its members for their input regarding the SOCAN Awards in Toronto on March 30th.

SOCAN participates in Tune Up/The Bout panel co-presented by Women in Music Canada

Story by Howard Druckman, with files from/avec la participation de Racquel Villagante | Wednesday March 11th, 2020

SOCAN A&R Representative Racquel Villagante took part in a Tune Up/The Bout panel, co-presented by Women in Music Canada, at a “Monetize Your  Music” event held March 5, 2020, at The Hideout in downtown Toronto.

The gathering, also sponsored by Music Ontario and Music Publishers Canada, included a panel of royalty experts;  a presentation by the Canadian Federation of Musicians presentation; a lightning round of one-on-one Q&As with representatives of various rights organizations; and a post-event cocktail reception for networking directly.

The event drew more than 100 people, mainly artists, songwriters, producers, and their managers. The panel was moderated by Margaret McGuffin of Music Publishers Canada, and there were speakers from SOCAN, ACTRA-RACS, CONNECT Music Licensing, The Canadian Federation of Musicians, MROC, and RE:SOUND.

Attending music makers got to connect with the rights and royalties people in their corner. They learned how organizations collect royalties on their behalf when their music is publicly performed, reproduced, and synchronized, and how those companies pay them. They also were educated on how to ensure their works are properly registered with these organizations, and advocate with them, to make sure they’re getting properly paid for the use of their music.