Live Music Venues

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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.

How does SOCAN’s Licensed To Play program work?

Licensed To Play is a long-term program with a core objective of encouraging businesses and their customers to think of music as an instrumental aspect of their experience. By displaying the Licensed To Play emblem proudly, businesses affirm that they put music to work ethically and legally, and recognize that music adds value to their business and their customers’ experience. Staying current with a SOCAN license enables an organization to be “Licensed to Play,” and upholds its support for those who create the music that their customers love.

Boi-1da

Boi-1da (a.k.a. Matthew Samuels) is a rap producer who started by winning three consecutive awards in Battle of the Beatmakers, then – along with Noah “40” Shebib – became a key member of Drake’s production team. In addition to his extensive work for Drake, Boi-1da has co-written and/or produced songs for Eminem, Jay Z, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and Chris Brown, among others. He’s earned eight Grammy nominations, and a 2015 SOCAN Pop/Rock Award for his work co-writing Down With Webster's “Chills.” The Jamaican-born, Toronto-based SOCAN member also helped bring a Caribbean influence to Drake on his 2016 Views album.