Video: The Breakdown – “Building your dream team”

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday February 23rd, 2021

Words & Music is pleased to extend its helpful “how-to” series for our members, “The Breakdown,” into the realm of short, question-and-answer videos.

In this episode, SOCAN Editor in Chief Howard Druckman talks with grandson (aka Jordan Benjamin), who won the 2019 SOCAN Songwriting Prize for co-writing (and performing) “Blood//Water.” The song, whose hard rock and social comment is typical of grandson’s approach, was also certified Gold in the U.K., and Platinum in the U.S. and Canada. His single “Apologize” reached the Top Five on the Billboard Canadian Rock Chart , while “Dirty” was Top 10, and also reached No. 11 on the Billboard U.S. Alternative Chart. He’s toured with Smashing Pumpkins; worked with his early heroes Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine; and performed on Late Night with Seth Myers.

Our question for him this time is about how to build your dream team (and your audience).

Photo by Laura Godwin

Colin Linden wins SOCAN songwriter honour at 2021 Maple Blues Awards

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday February 23rd, 2021

Colin Linden won the SOCAN-sponsored Songwriter of the Year honours at the 24th annual Maple Blues Awards, presented virtually this year by the Toronto Blues Society, on a once-weekly basis throughout the month of February 2021, from four different locations in Canada: Montréal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto.

For the second year in a row, Matt Anderson took home awards for both Acoustic Act and Male Vocalist of the Year, while Dawn Tyler Watson – a double winner last year – earned the Entertainer of the Year honour. The Blues With A Feeling Award for lifetime achievement was a tie, going to both Ken Whiteley of Toronto and Joe Murphy of Halifax.

For a full list of nominees and winners, click here.

Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Michael McCarty, Rodney Murphy, Gavin Brown.

Kilometre Music Group launches, to reclaim Canadian Artists’ music rights

Story by Howard Druckman | Friday February 19th, 2021

Veteran Canadian music industry leaders Michael McCarty, Gavin Brown and Rodney Murphy have announced the formation of the Kilometre Music Group, a music rights management company whose mission is to reclaim the financial rewards of the multi-decade, worldwide “Canadian music invasion,” for the benefit of Canadian artists, investors, and culture.

“Canadians dominate the global music charts right now, but this has been building for over five decades,” says Kilometre CEO Michael McCarty. “This Canadian invasion has fostered some of the greatest songs of all time, and we see a brilliant future investing in them. Since the rights to most of these songs are owned by foreign companies, the Canadian economy has been deprived of billions in global royalty revenue. We want to reverse that flow by bringing home the rights to our most important music.”

Kilometre has partnered with Barometer Capital Management Inc., an independently owned Toronto investment firm that manages more than $1 billion in assets. Together they formed the Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund, a limited partnership with a targeted size of USD $200 million that will invest primarily in the iconic catalogs and music rights of Canadian creators.

The Kilometre team has been intimately involved in discovering Canadian artists and helping them grow their careers and royalties for several decades across rock, rap, pop and country genres. McCarty is a well-respected music publisher who was inducted into the  Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2019. He was president of EMI Music Publishing Canada for 17 years, spent four years as the president of Anthem (formerly ole), and the last seven years as the Chief Membership Officer of SOCAN. McCarty has worked in various capacities with artists such as Neil Young, Michael Jackson, Glass Tiger, Loverboy, Jim Vallance, Bryan Adams, Drake and Alessia Cara.

Brown is an accomplished songwriter and the recipient of the JUNO Award for Producer of the Year. His work on numerous artist projects over his career has been nominated for 37 JUNOs. He has produced The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies, Billy Talent, Three Days Grace, Sarah Harmer, and Metric.

Murphy is a 17-year veteran of SOCAN, where he worked with Canada’s top global hit-makers, such as Boi-1Da, Belly, Murda Beatz (Migos, Drake), Frank Dukes (Camilla Cabello, Post Malone), OZ (Future, Travi$ Scott), and artists such as Jessie Reyez, Shawn Mendes, and The Weeknd.

Rounding out the team is noted royalty analyst Kyle Mullen, who was a key part of the success of Barometer Music Royalty Fund I, launched in 2018.