Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Gala de l’ADISQ : Alexandra Stréliski wins two more honours

Story by Eric Parazelli | Monday October 28th, 2019

It was no secret that Alexandra Stréliski stood very good chances of winning Félix Awards last night, and she didn’t leave the 41st edition of the Gala de l’ADISQ empty-handed. She didn’t have to write lyrics in order for her album Inscape to win the prestigious Author or Composer of the Year Félix Award, and she also won Breakout Artist of the Year, for a total of three, including the Album of the Year – Instrumental honour she won during the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ last Wednesday.

SOCAN met her backstage at the Gala just after she won her two awards, where she explained her acceptance words – “One must not underestimate the power of softness” – for her first award, and talked about the evocative power of her music, which was sufficient enough to win her the Author or Composer of the Year award, without lyrics (see left).

Among the other big winners of the evening were Cœur de pirate, who walked away with two major awards, namely Album of the Year – Pop, and Female Artist of the Year, while Loud was the Male Artist of the Year. Florent Vollant won the inaugural Native Artist of the Year. Roxane Bruneau won the Song of the Year Félix award for “Des p’tits bouts de toi,” and Alaclair Ensemble won the Rap Album of the Year award. Fred Pellerin’s album Après won Folk Album of the Year. Michel Rivard received the Show of the Year – Singer-Songwriter Award for his autobiographical one-man show L’origine de mes espèces while Bleu Jeans Bleu capped a whirlwind year by winning the Group or Duo of the Year honour. Ginette Reno won the Album of the Year – Adult Contemporary.

For a complete list of the evening’s winners, visit the ADISQ website.

Submit now for SOCAN Publisher of the Year Award

Story by SOCAN | Monday October 28th, 2019

The 2020 edition of the SOCAN Awards in Toronto will salute the remarkable work of Anglophone music publishers with the fourth annual Publisher of the Year Award. Publishers are invited to submit their nominations starting today, until the deadline of Nov. 22, 2019.

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 publisher member who contributed in a significant and positive manner to the music industry and creative community during the year prior to the year of the next SOCAN Awards.

The eligibility period for the 2020 edition of the SOCAN Awards is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019, 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 Events Team, at events@socan.com, no later than Nov. 22, 2019, at 5:00 p.m., EST. The Publisher of the Year Award will be presented during the SOCAN Awards in Toronto on Monday, March 30, 2020, at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto. Publishers can download the submission form here.

Photo by Photo by Brad Ardley. SOCAN Foundation Young Canadian Songwriter Awards 2019 winners / Lauréats des Prix de la Fondation SOCAN pour les jeunes auteurs-compositeurs 2019. Left to right / De gauche à droite : Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Arianna Ohlsson, Emily Glifford (GRAE), Kasia Thorlakson (Kasia Leigh), Mahmoud Ismail.

SOCAN Foundation 2019 Young Canadian Songwriters Award winners play at SOCAN

Story by Howard Druckman | Friday October 25th, 2019

The five winners of the 2019 edition of the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Canadian Songwriters – created in partnership with Sirius XM Canada Inc. – gathered on Oct. 24, 2019, at the SOCAN offices in Toronto, where they each played their winning song to assembled SOCAN staff in the Harmony Lounge.

The talented, emerging songwriters – each under 21 years of age, and each of whom won $5,000, performed powerful, moving versions of their songs, as follows:

  • Mahmoud Ismail, “Sigada”
  • Lou-Adriane Cassidy, “Poussière”
  • Arianna Ohlsson, “Heaven”
  • Emily Gifford (a.k.a. GRAE), “Your Hands”
  • Kasia Thorlakson (a.k.a. Kasia Leigh), “Love Song #1”

After these short but powerful performances, the quintet enjoyed a catered lunch with SOCAN Foundation Executive Director Charlie Andrews and Administrator of Programs Julien Boumard Coallier.

Then they spent the early afternoon in an educational workshop with Andrews and Coallier, as well as SOCAN A&R Representatives, including the Director, A&R, Rodney Murphy.

SOCAN congratulates these strong young songwriters on their SOCAN Foundation Awards!