Toronto, July 16, 2020 – SOCAN announced the finalists for the 15th anniversary of the SOCAN Songwriting Prize celebrating the exceptional talent of emerging Canadian songwriters over the past year.
At a time when many Canadians are experiencing financial stress, musicians have been among the hardest hit. In an effort to ease the burden COVID-19 has caused for emerging songwriters, the SOCAN Songwriting Prize will award cash prizes to all 20 nominees for the first time in its 15-year history.
Music feeds the soul during times of crisis and change, and this year’s nominated songs are meaningfully poignant, timely, heartbreaking and inspired. Voted on by music industry influencers, each displays a proficiency for the craft and are rich in both cultural and musical diversity.
The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, and the equivalent Prix de la chanson SOCAN for Francophone songwriters, is the only major songwriting award in Canada where fans determine the results with online voting.
Each grand prize winner receives $5,000, a Yamaha keyboard and a $500 gift card from Long & McQuade. Each nominated song not receiving the grand prize will be awarded a $500 cash prize.
The 10 finalists for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize (English):
From July 16 to July 30, 2020, music fans are encouraged to listen to and vote for their favourite song from the nominees by visiting https://www.socansongwritingprize.ca/ or on Twitter using the hashtag #mySSPvote and identifying the performer’s name in the tweet. Fans can vote once daily in each of the English and French prize competitions.
The winning songs are scheduled to be announced the week of August 2, 2020.
“Fifteen years later the SOCAN Songwriting Prize nominees continue to exemplify the incredible creative talent that Canada continues to be known for around the world,” said Michael McCarty, Chief Membership & Business Development Officer at SOCAN. “The decision to change the prize structure this year was an easy one rooted in our core value of supporting our members. We hope this small gesture helps them navigate the situation.”
The French and English finalists are determined by independent panels, each of 15 music-industry influencers. Panelists nominated two songs by emerging Canadian songwriters and composers released in 2019 that they feel were artistically superior. Each song had to meet the criteria for eligibility. All long-listed songs are then considered and voted on by each panel to determine the final 10 short-listed nominees in English and French.
SOCAN does not have a role in determining nominees or winners.
The 10 song finalists for the 2020 Prix de la chanson SOCAN, the Francophone counterpart to the SOCAN Songwriting Prize, exemplify an equally diverse variety of musical genres:
For the latest updates, follow the SOCAN Songwriting Prize on social media at @SOCANmusic and on Twitter via the #SOCANprize hashtag.
Media contacts:
Proof Inc. (for SOCAN): Lyndsay Wallis, 416-969-2724, lwallis@getproof.com
SOCAN: Nicole Van Severen, 416-445-8700 x 3460, nicole.vanseveren@socan.com
Previous winners of the SOCAN Songwriting Prize: grandson, “Blood // Water” (2019); Partner, “Play The Field” (2018); PUP, “DVP” (2017); Fast Romantics, “Julia” (2016); Dear Rouge, “I Heard I Had” (2015); Alejandra Ribera, “I Want” (2014); Mo Kenney, “Sucker” (2013); Kathleen Edwards, “A Soft Place to Land” (2012); Katie Moore, “Wake Up Like This” (2011); Brasstronaut, “Hearts Trompet” (2010); D-Sisive, “Nobody With a Notepad” (2009); The Weakerthans, “Night Windows” (2008); Abdominal, “Pedal Pusher” (2007); Propagandi, “A Speculative Fiction” (2006).
Previous winners of the Prix de la chanson SOCAN: Tizzo, “On fouette” (2019); Loud, “56k” (2018); Klô Pelgag and Karl Gagnon,”Les ferrofluides-fleurs” (2017); Laurence Nerbonne, “Rêves d’été” (2016); Antoine Corriveau, “Le Nouveau vocabulaire” (2015); Patrice Michaud, “Mécaniques générales” (2014); Keith Kouna, “Batiscan” (2013); Koriass, “St-Eustache” (2012); Galaxie, “Piste 1” (2011); Vulgaires Machins, “Parasites” (2010); Bernard Adamus, “La question à 100 piasses” (2009); Karkwa, “Oublie pas” (2008); Tricot Machine, “L’Ours” (2007); Ève Cournoyer, “Tout arrive” (2006).