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.
Jazz Cartier songs offer complex explorations of relationships, self-determination, and the pitfalls of pursuing one’s art. SOCAN member Cartier has twice been a long-listed nominee for the Polaris Music Prize, in 2015 for Marauding in Paradise and 2016 for Hotel Paranoia. Starting out in Toronto, he quickly attracted attention, and his song “Switch” was regularly played at Toronto Raptors games. In 2016, Cartier performed at the Osheaga Festival, and his “Dead or Alive” was a short-listed nominee for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize. Hotel Paranoia won Rap Recording of the Year at the 2017 JUNO Awards, after which he signed an major-label American deal with Capitol Records.