A career in music isn’t planned on the back of a napkin, and implementing strategies with a plethora of details doesn’t happen like magic. That’s where a manager becomes necessary for an artist. But is a manager really necessary to have a successful and prosperous career? We asked Idir Aissani, who manages the band Ragers.
Photo by courtesy of/courtoisie d’Idir Aissani
Photo by Jeff Knights, of/de Kaytranada
Kaytranada wins two 2021 Grammy Awards
Story by Howard Druckman | Monday March 15th, 2021
SOCAN member Kaytranada won two awards at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, held Mar. 14, 2021, and broadcast live on CBS. The Montréal-based producer, who also won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize, earned the honours for Best Dance Recording (for “10%,” featuring Kali Uchis) and Best Dance/Electronic Album (for Bubba).
Drummer/composer Larnell Lewis, of Snarky Puppy, also won a Grammy, for Contemporary Instrumental Album of the Year, awarded to the fusion band for Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
While they didn’t directly earn Grammy Awards, the following SOCAN members worked on Grammy-winning songs or albums:
- Kaytranada’s fellow Montréaler DRTWRK, honoured for his production work on Kanye West’s Jesus Is King, which won as the Best Contemporary Christian Album.
- Star producer Stephen “Koz” Kozmeniuk, credited as one of the producers, and Toronto-based expert violinist Drew Jurecka, as one of the engineer/mixers, on Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, which won for Best Pop Vocal Album
- Étienne “Demy” Gagnon and Steve Martinez-Funes, who worked on Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG, which won for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album.
- Charlotte Day Wilson, who contributed to Kaytranada’s Bubba, which won the Best Dance Recording award.
Although she didn’t earn a Grammy Award for Miss Colombia, nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, Lido Pimienta offered a beautiful live performance on the awards premiere ceremony.
It’s worth noting that at the 2020 SOCAN Gala Awards in Montréal, Kaytranada won the Electronic Music Award and DRTWRK won the International Achievement and International Song Awards.
Please note that SOCAN is currently reviewing the entire, extensive list of 2021 Grammy winners to determine any other honoured members, and may update this article accordingly.
For a complete list of winners and nominees, click here.
SOCAN congratulates our Grammy-winning, and winning-adjacent, members on their huge achievements!
Photo by courtesy of /courtoisie de Francouvertes
Francouvertes announces programming for 25th Anniversary edition
Story by Marie-Michèle Bouchard | Wednesday March 10th, 2021
Valence, winner of the 2020 edition of the Francouvertes competition, kicked off this 25th Anniversary edition of the annual event with a short but explosive performance at Montréal’s Lion d’Or club. Due to the health measures still being enforced, the seven evenings of the preliminaries of the 2021 edition will be held without an audience and live-streamed on lepointdevente.com. Thanks to a brand-new integrated voting platform, the audience will not only be able to view the performances, but also read the lyrics of the artists’ songs, consult the program, vote, and comment on the performances.
Once again, SOCAN will be part of the event by presenting the “Skátne” series of performances. The purpose of this series is to give greater prominence to First Nations and Inuit artists and their languages. The guest artists will be:
- Laura Niquay (March 15)
- Anachnid (March 16)
- Sylvia Cloutier (March 22)
- Kanen (March 23)
- Sandrine Masse-Savard (March 29)
- Samian (March 30)
- Willows (April 5)
- Matiu (April 26)
- Dan-Georges McKenzie (April 27)
- Scott-Pien Picard (April 28)
SOCAN will also present the Prix Paroles & Musique SOCAN, a $1,000 cash prize to be awarded to one of the semi-finalists, in recognition of the writing talent behind the creation of their song. The cash prize also comes with a one-week writing residency at the SOCAN House in Paris. These prizes are part of a plethora of rewards, grants, and concert opportunities to be handed out this year.
There will be seven preliminary evenings held at the Lion d’Or every Monday from Feb. 17 to March 30.
The contestants of the preliminary round are:
- Bermuda, Lampion, Super Plage (March 15)
- Mada Mada, Douance, Phil Bourg (March 16)
- Mayfly, Issa Karim, Vendôme (March 22)
- tremble, Perséide, oui merci (March 23)
- FIDÈS, A.M., Calamine (March 29)
- Sandrine St-Laurent, Ambre ciel, Étienne Coppée (March 30)
- Malaimé Soleil, Sylvie, BAIE (April 5)
The Francouvertes hope to be able to present the semi-finals (April 26, 27 and 28) and the final at Club Soda (May 17) in a hybrid format, live with an audience, and streamed online.
To find out more about the 25th edition of the Francouvertes, visit francouvertes.com (French only).