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 COVID-19 update

Story by SOCAN | Friday March 13th, 2020

SOCAN’s operations during the COVID-19 situation continue.

We’re following guidelines and working with employees, members, and visitors to mitigate risk of spread of the virus.

While every situation is unique and fluid, we’ve prepared well in advance to work through a crisis like this. We’ve already halted non-essential travel, moved to online meetings, and all employees will work from home starting on Monday, March 16th.

We have every reason to believe that our operations will continue to run well. We will work to keep you informed on developments.

This situation affects all people and organizations. SOCAN has taken and is taking measures to ensure that our business runs as smoothly as possible.

We wish you good health and safety as we work through this challenging situation together.

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!