Live music venues offer music fans a space to enjoy unique, real-time musical performances – concert experiences only made possible by songwriters and composers who create the music that those musicians perform. When you become Licensed To Play with SOCAN, you have the freedom to engage all the live music your business needs to be successful, while ensuring that the artists you hire to perform are compensated for their work as songwriters as well. Your license to play music demonstrates to artists, songwriters, music fans and peer businesses that your venue is using music legally and ethically, while supporting Canadian music creators. The license fees that live venues pay to SOCAN for the public performance of live music are used to compensate SOCAN-member songwriters, composers and music publishers that make up SOCAN.
What is a performing right?
A performing right is the right to perform musical works in public or communicate them to the public by telecommunication. SOCAN members have assigned this right to SOCAN to administer (i.e., license and distribute royalties) and enforce on their behalf. Tariffs for performing rights are set by the Copyright Board of Canada.
Les Hay Babies is an indie-folk trio comprised of three women with colourful personalities and an engaging live show. Hailing from various small-town, Acadian corners of New Brunswick, SOCAN members Katrine Noël, Vivianne Roy and Julie Aubé blend their different accents to create a unique musical approach. Their music is stomping, stormy, harmony-heavy folk with elements of dream-pop, country noir and playful nods to ’60s rock. After performing at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France, Les Hay Babies were described as “an instant hit in Europe,” which led to at least six tours there, encompassing Switzerland, Germany, France and Belgium. In 2013, Les Hay Babies won the Francouvertes competition.