For a SOCAN member who wants to reach audiences beyond Canada’s borders, being selected for a showcase in front of international delegates, at a festival like M for Montréal, is an opportunity not to be missed. It’s not always easy to make a good first impression, however, and you have to consider several aspects so that your performance attracts foreign ears, and maximizes your chances to generate enough interest to yield invitations to perform abroad. Isabelle Ouimet, Executive Producer of M for Montréal, shares some of her precious advice.
Photo by courtesy of/courtoisie d’Isabelle Ouimet
SOCAN adds new platforms for online concert submissions
Story by SOCAN | Thursday March 25th, 2021
While music has provided invaluable spiritual help to get Canadians through the pandemic, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on musicians who rely on in-person concerts and touring to help sustain their livelihood. Today, SOCAN announced an expanded program to enable music creators and publishers to earn more of what they deserve from online performances.
SOCAN members will now be able to receive royalties from both free and ticketed online concerts on more digital platforms. Both “performance” and “reproduction” rights royalties will be paid for, respectively, one-time live digital broadcasts and copies of music.
The permanent change replaces SOCAN’s well received “Encore” initiative launched last May in which royalties were paid for live performances on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram.
“Over the past year, online concerts have become an essential way for SOCAN members to connect with their fans and earn income,” said Jennifer Brown, Interim-CEO of SOCAN. “Our expanded distribution will return more royalties to those who have rightfully earned them for their work, helping music creators and publishers through this difficult period.”
For qualifying free online concerts, including those on Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube and Twitch, $75 will be distributed. This applies to all setlists provided and to a maximum of 30 concerts per quarter per performer. The funds will be distributed to the music creator and publisher rightsholders of the music performed. More digital platforms will be added as they become licensed with SOCAN.
For paid/ticketed online concerts on any digital platform, performance royalties will be distributed to rights holders as they would be for in-person concerts. Reproduction royalties will begin to be distributed later in 2021. The new online concert distribution rules will remain in effect post-pandemic.
“Even when the time comes to welcome the return of in-person live performances, online concerts will continue to be an important source of music creators and publishers’ royalties, as our members realize new ways to bring their invaluable music to all to enjoy,” Brown added.
SOCAN members can submit their online performances the same way they’ve submitted in-person concerts in the past, using the Notice of Live Music Performance form in their SOCAN member accounts. Any royalties distributed will appear in the concert distributions section of their statements. For more information on how to submit online livestream concerts, members can visit http://www.socan.com/get-set-get-paid/. We hope this expansion of platforms within the new online concert distribution rule allows our members to benefit even more from sharing their incredible talent online. As always, if members have any questions, they can contact us at members@socan.com.
Photo by Benoit Rousseau (Gala SOCAN 2017, le gagnant du Prix de l’éditeur de l’année/Winner of the Francophone Publisher of the Year, Éditorial Avenue/Daniel Lafrance)
Apply now for SOCAN Francophone Publisher of the Year Award
Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday March 24th, 2021
The next edition of the Gala SOCAN in Montréal will once again celebrate the essential work of music publishers by presenting its Publisher of the Year Award. Publishers are invited to submit their nominations now.
The SOCAN Publisher of the Year Award recognizes a SOCAN publisher member who has made significant and positive contributions to the music industry and the creative community over the one-year period preceding the year of the award’s presentation.
The eligibility period for the 2021 edition of the SOCAN Awards is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, and only the accomplishments which occurred during this period will be taken under consideration. All nominations will be assessed by a jury of music industry professionals.
To be eligible, a publisher must be based in Canada, and their repertoire be in large part Francophone, or having had a significant Francophone impact creatively and commercially. Publishers with a representative sitting on the selection committee are not eligible for this award.
Nominations for the Montréal SOCAN Gala must be submitted to Stéphanie Falco (stephanie.falco@socan.com) no later than May 7, 2021, at 5:00 p.m., ET.
The SOCAN Francophone Publisher of the Year Award will be presented during the 32nd edition of SOCAN Gala, at a date to be confirmed shortly.