Whether you broadcast a TV or cable TV show that includes music in some of the programming, or operate a terrestrial, satellite or online radio station that broadcasts music, getting Licensed To Play by SOCAN means that the people who created that music are compensated for your use of their work. You’re also making sure that the music used to build your viewership or listenership is used fairly, legally and ethically. The license fees that broadcasters pay to SOCAN for the public performance of music – whether via cue sheets for individual music performances or blanket licenses for all music performances within a given time period – compensate songwriters, composers and music publishers that make up SOCAN.
What happens to the license fees my business pays to SOCAN?
SOCAN is a member-based, not-for-profit organization. All the royalties that we collect – less operating costs– are passed on to our members, and members of SOCAN’s affiliated international societies, who create the music that you use in your business and at your events.
Rapper Tory Lanez (a.k.a. Daystar Peterson) received major recognition from the mixtape Lost Cause (2014) and the later singles, “Say It,” and “Luv,” which peaked at No. 23 and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. In 2015, he signed to Mad Love Records and Interscope Records, then released his debut studio album, I Told You, in 2016, and made a guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing “Say It.” The SOCAN singer-songwriter and wild live performer describes his own personal style as "Swavey," which fuses more than one genre together. Lanez has collaborated with the likes of Soulja Boy, Boi-1Da, Sean Kingston, Meek Mill, and many more.