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Montréal — The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) warmly and proudly welcomed more than 200 of its creator and publisher members, journalists, representatives from across the Canadian music ecosystem, and members of government from all political parties to the official opening of its new Montréal offices.
After 25 years in a downtown office tower, SOCAN Montréal has moved into modern new office space in the heart of Montréal’s creative centre. Renowned architectural firm Provencher_Roy masterfully designed a space that is at once functional, dynamic and bold. With a usable area of over 8,600 sq. ft., this new space is located on the 5thfloor of 33 Milton Street, a few steps from St-Laurent Boulevard and a stone’s throw from the Quartier des spectacles.
In sync with SOCAN’s objective to forge close ties with stakeholders in the music ecosystem, the new space will be shared with various associations, creating a dynamic hub for music rights. The first of those, APEM (Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale, the Professional Music Publishers Association), has already moved into their office space.
“I believe more than ever in the strength of collectives in our constantly evolving world,” said Geneviève Côté, Chief Québec Affairs Officer at SOCAN. “Whether in creation or in copyright management, the challenges we face daily alongside our music creator and publisher members require strength in numbers. In such a highly stimulating environment, SOCAN is more ready than ever to embrace existing and future changes in the music industry.”
More than a dozen songwriter and publisher members were also celebrated at the event for their recent chart success:
- Karim Ouellet, Claude Bégin and their publisher Coyote Records were awarded a plaque for their song « Rien ne sert de courir », which stayed at the top of the BDS chart during the weeks of May 19 to June 2, June 30 to July 7, July 14 to 21, and August 25 to September 22, 2014. They were also awarded a second plaque for their song « L’amour est un monstre », co-written with France, DRouin, Jules, To and Luis of Misteur Valaire which reached No. 1 in the week of November 3, 2014.
- Alex Nevsky, Gabriel Gratton and their publisher Éditorial Avenue were rewarded for their songs « On leur a fait croire », « Les coloriés » and « Vivre pauvre » (a co-write with Mathieu Laliberté who was also presented with a plaque), which, collectively, spent a total of 17 weeks at the top of the BDS chart throughout 2013 and 2014.
- Éric Maheu, from Kaïn, and Éditions Groupe Archambault were rewarded for the song « La bonne franquette », which reached the No. 1 spot of the BDS chart during the week of Jan. 5, 2015.
- Marc Dupré, Nelson Minville and Gautier Marinoff as well as their publishers Éditions Dama inc. and Éditions Chansons du Suisse enr. were presented with a plaque for the song « Là dans ma tête », which reached the No. 1 position during the week of Jan. 12, 2015.
- Patrice Michaud, winner of the 2014 Prix de la chanson SOCAN, was presented with an award for his song « Je cours après Marie », which reached the first position of the BDS chart during the week of Oct. 20, 2014.
Guests were also treated to surprise performances by SOCAN members Alex Nevsky, Félix-Antoine Couturier and Foxtrott – the promising solo project of multi-instrumentalist Marie-Hélène Delorme – all bringing their unique touch to this colourful housewarming party.
“Montréal is an integral part of SOCAN and today we proudly demoinstrated its importance. It’s an important new phase for our Montréal SOCAN personnel,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “This modern and positive new office space will help us to build our presence and continue to forge stronger links with the stakeholders in the music industry. We will continue to improve the services we offer to our members and licensed businesses here, in the rest of Canada and in foreign territories so that that the ever-increasing prestige of music creators and publishers from Québec and the Canadian Francophonie continues, so that they can receive their fair share of royalties throughout Canada and the rest of the world.”
About SOCAN
SOCAN is a member-based organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of more than three-million Canadian and international music creators and publishers. SOCAN is proud to play a leading role in supporting the long-term success of its more than 120,000 Canadian members, and the Canadian music industry overall. SOCAN licenses more than 125,000 businesses in Canada, and distributes royalties to its members and music rights organizations around the world. SOCAN also distributes royalties to its members for the use of their music internationally in collaboration with its peer societies.
Media contact:
SOCAN: Éric Parazelli – parazellie@socan.ca, (514) 844-8377, ext. 4934