Photo by Brad Ardley. Left to right/De gauche à droite : SOCAN's Kit Wheeler de la SOCAN, LU KALA, Joan Hunter of/du Jazz Bistro.
Video: Jazz Bistro honoured with SOCAN Licensed to Play Award
Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday May 14th, 2019
On May 10, 2019, SOCAN Vice-President, Licensing Kit Wheeler and SOCAN member LU KALA presented Joan Hunter, co-owner of Toronto venue Jazz Bistro, with a SOCAN Licensed To Play Award. The presentation was made at the fourth annual edition of the Live Music Industry Awards at the Sheraton Downtown Toronto, as part of Canadian Music Week.
The Licensed To Play Award is offered to a SOCAN-licensed business that show exemplary respect for, and understanding of, the music creators whose work improves their bottom line. “Jazz Bistro is all about the music,” said Hunter. “We believe in showing our customers that we honour composers, publishers, songwriters, and musicians.”
SOCAN Welcomes Shifting Paradigms Report
Story by SOCAN | Thursday May 16th, 2019
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage tabled in the House of Commons its Shifting Paradigms report as part of its study on Remuneration Models for Artists and Creative Industries to propose recommendations related to the statutory review of the Copyright Act.
On first reading, SOCAN is satisfied with the Committee’s recommendations, particularly with respect to extending the term of copyright protection (Recommendation 7), better regulating certain exceptions (Recommendation 15) and also creating a Resale Right in Canada (Recommendation 22).
Other recommendations from the music community are also well received by SOCAN, which has supported them. In the study undertaken by the Committee, the ecosystem of Canadian creators has indeed combined to join forces in order to achieve improvements that would benefit all Canadian creators.
“Now that the report is tabled, we hope the responsible Ministers will take note of the recommendations and implement them in the near future,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “These recommendations reflected an effort that transcends partisan affiliations and represents a growing consensus for the need to strengthen the growth of the Canadian creative ecosystem.”
SOCAN, however, regrets the lack of a recommendation to make the private copying regime technologically neutral – an omission even more incomprehensible, since the demand was commonly shared by all players in the music community.
SOCAN would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for their work over the last few months.
Photo by Eric Parazelli
SOCAN’s Geneviève Côté elected chairperson of Caisse de la Culture
Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday May 14th, 2019
The Board of Directors of Caisse Desjardins de la Culture today announced the election of Geneviève Côté as President of the organization. She’s the first woman to hold this position since the creation of Caisse de la Culture 25 years ago.
Côté, who became SOCAN’s Chief Quebec Officer & Visual Arts Officer five years ago, manages SOCAN’s operations in Québec. With 20 years experience on the Québec cultural scene, including TV production, artist management, music publishing, live show production, and music promotion, she’s a current board member of the Polaris Music Prize, and holds a Law degree from the University of Ottawa.
Côté succeeds Jacques L’Heureux, who was Board Chairperson of the Caisse de la Culture for the past 22 years, and will remain active in the organization as a Board Member.
The Caisse Desjardins de la Culture was born out of a desire to provide artists, craftspeople, and companies with the resources they require to realize their goals. The 7,000-member Caisse fosters Québec creativity, and supports arts distribution and promotion at home and abroad, while advocating the use of the French language. Caisse Desjardins de la Culture is a financial co-operative administered by representatives of Québec’s cultural community.
SOCAN is proud to congratulate Geneviève Côté for this achievement, one that will help SOCAN continue to shine in the Québec cultural ecosystem.