Video: The Breakdown – Standing out by finding your unique voice

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday March 9th, 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 standing out by finding your unique voice.

Photo by Zoom

SOCAN presents screen composing panel at Kingston Canadian Film Festival

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday March 9th, 2021

SOCAN presented a screen composing panel at the 21st annual Kingston Canadian Film Festival, on March 6, 2021, in Kingston, ON.

The workshop, moderated by SOCAN A&R Representative Melissa Cameron-Passley, featured Martin Macphail, member of the award-winning trio Blitz//Berlin, which has worked on films like BirdBox, The Girl on the Train, Bad Times at the El Royale, Fifty Shades of Grey, Top Gun: Maverick, and the Blade Runner 2049 prequel Nexus Dawn. Attendees were also joined by Australian-Canadian composer Michelle Osis and music producer and screen composer Terry Benn, who together scored the music for BLOODTHIRSTY, which played at the festival this year.

The panel was designed to help those looking to get started in film scoring by providing an overview of important first steps. The panelists shared their stories about how they broke into the film world as musicians. And attendees took full advantage of the many opportunities to participate and ask questions.

Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Jennifer Brown, La Bronze, Desirée Dawson, Charlie Wall-Andrews

SOCAN/SOCAN Foundation video recognizes International Women’s Day 2021

Story by SOCAN | Monday March 8th, 2021

To mark International Women’s Day 2021, SOCAN and SOCAN Foundation have released a video that features conversations about gender equality issues that women continue to face in the music community, and emerging and potential solutions to close the gender gap.

It presents the experiences of female-identifying creators and industry professionals, including SOCAN’s Interim CEO Jennifer Brown; SOCAN member singer-songwriters Desirée Dawson and La Bronze; and Charlie Wall-Andrews, Executive Director, SOCAN Foundation.

International Women’s Day can be traced back to the early 1900s. The event is now recognized annually on March 8th, and has been celebrated in recent years with thousands of rallies and events worldwide.