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.
We already pay the performers. Why do we have to pay SOCAN?
When you hire a band or a DJ, you’re paying for their services as performing artists, but not for the public performance of the music, that is, for the people who created the music being performed. Performing music and creating music are two separate types of creative work, and each deserves fair compensation, even in cases where the performers are also the creators of the works.
Winner of the first-ever Screen Composer of the Year Award at the 2017 SOCAN Gala in Montréal, SOCAN member Michel Corriveau is an impressively artistic music creator. Corriveau creates sonic atmospheres using both sounds and instruments, juggling emotions, and combining tradition and high tech. Dozens of Québec productions have been graced with his compositions, including Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2007), Ésimésac (2013), Les Pays d’en haut (SRC), Mensonges (TVA) and Prémonitions (AddikTV), as well as the series from France, Versailles (Canal+). He’s also composed music for the feature film Anna, which was saluted at the Gala Québec Cinéma, the Prix Écrans canadiens, and rewarded at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards.