jennifer brown

Socan CEO

jennifer brown

Socan CEO

Welcome to the 2022 SOCAN Annual!

I feel that in 2022, SOCAN really turned a corner in recovering from the last three years, and I’ve heard from others in the global music ecosystem who feel it as well.

Marc Ouellette

Chair, Board of Directors & President

Marc Ouellette

Chair, Board of Directors & President

In 2022, we took great strides toward a full-strength return.

In 2022, the SOCAN Board of Directors led us boldly toward a full-scale comeback from the conditions imposed by the past three years, and continued to advocate for our members as strongly as possible. As always, the Board of Directors worked hard to represent the interests of our reproduction rights clients, member songwriters, composers, screen composers, and music publishers.

SOCAN Song Camps

A return to in-person

In 2022, SOCAN not only returned to holding live and in-person song camps, but launched a series of first-ever events of this kind, from the monthly series of the new Kenekt Studio Song Camp in Montréal; to the debut of our Sync Camp (creating a song for a movie) in L.A.; to to the inaugural editions of the annual Indigenous Song Camp and Screen Composer Song Camp, both in Toronto. These small groups of music-makers met to write and record new songs or compositions, learn new skills, and make new connections, together.

https://www.socanannualreport.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IndigenousSongCamp_2022_1.png

SOCAN Awards 2022

Special Achievement Award Winners

Tom Cochrane

“Life is a Highway”
Cultural Impact Award

SOCAN No.1 Song Awards 2022

Throughout 2022, SOCAN returned to presenting No. 1 Song Awards live and in person, honouring some of our members who wrote and published chart-topping songs.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH SONG, CLICKTAP ON EACH OF THE PHOTOS

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH SONG, CLICKTAP ON EACH OF THE PHOTOS

85% decrease in backlogs of music publisher song registrations 77% OF NEWLY-APPLYING PUBLISHERS WERE INTERESTED IN SOCAN FOR REPRODUCTION RIGHTS

Database entry time for song registrations decreased from seven to 2.5 days Database entry time for song registrations decreased from seven to 2.5 days

The Nominees

  • Nehmasis “Paper Thin”
  • Dijahsb “By Myself”
  • Dorothea Paas “Container”
  • Status/Non-Status “Find a Home”
  • Jon Vinyl “Stacy”
  • Emily Steinwall “Welcome to the Garden”
  • Savannah Ré “24hrs”
  • Laroie “Can’t Let Go”
  • Robyn Ottolini “Trust Issues”
  • Amaka Queenette “Want You More”

Canadian Screen Award Winners

Ten SOCAN #ComposersWhoScore win in 2022 CSAs

The Canadian Screen Awards were presented live and in-person once again in 2022, for the first time in three years.

Complete List of Member Nominees

SONG & SCORE WEEK

In 2022, SOCAN co-organized the first-ever Song & Score Week, in Toronto, dedicated to helping songwriters and screen composers achieve and share their musical and career goals. Song & Score Week provided educational programming to build skills; supported industry growth; delivered opportunities to connect; and presented awards to recognize music creators.

Indigenous Song Camp
SEBASTIAN GASKIN
On the Clock with Murdoch
Robert Carli
Canadian Screen Music Awards (CASMAs)
Janal Bechtold, LaNai Gabriel
How To Optimize Your Vocal Recordings
Dr. Amandine Pras
Scores, Songs, & Screens: Pulling Back the Curtain
Sarah Slean
NXTGen Mixer Presented by Music Publishers Canada (MPC)
MARGARET McGUFFIN, CEO of MPC
David Foster Master Class
David Foster
Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

Reviving Live-Show

& Festival Activities

After performing mostly online for two years, SOCAN members returned to playing mostly live and in-person once again in 2022. SOCAN was right there alongside them, collecting public performance fees and distributing them as royalties – in many cases, providing a significant revenue stream.

SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS
RUBY WATERS & JP SAXE
DONOVAN WOODS
JESSIE REYEZ
NOTIFI
CHOSES SAUVAGES
RALPH

2022 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Twenty-twenty two was another impressive year for SOCAN’s performance.

SOCAN’s total revenue in 2022 was $483.8-million, a new record and a 16% increase over the previous year. Strong growth in digital collections coupled with the “return-to-normal” activity positively impacting General Licensing and Concert revenues were the key contributors to this solid performance.

$469.3M

Performing Rights Revenue

$14.6M

Reproduction Rights Revenue

$362.6M

Royalties distributed to Creators and Publishers

Helped get Parliament to extend posthumous copyright protection from 50 to 70 years Started paying royalties on TV commercials

Adopted a new global standard for cue sheet submission Adopted a new global standard for cue sheet submission

Enhancements and Updates

to the SOCAN Online Member Portal

In 2022, SOCAN made the following changes in order to improve the end-user experiences of our members as they interact with us online in the SOCAN Member Portal:

Enriched e-mail validation for people applying to be SOCAN members
Enhanced the reset function for login credentials
Created a “drill-down” function for greater detail in members’ royalty statements
Provided an analytics tool for members to better explore their royalties
Added status descriptions for concerts to better identify
And beyond the SOCAN Member Portal, we:
Enhanced the SOCAN membership application for music publishers
Enriched the performing rights and reproduction rights applications
Created a list of music publishers in our internal Epicor database, which makes it easier to track their royalties

CANADIAN SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME

Gala Induction Ceremony

Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, David Foster, Alanis Morissette, and Daniel Lavoie were inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF), in a Gala Show on Sept. 24, 2022, at Massey Hall in Toronto.

Hall of Fame

Inductions in 2022

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH SONG, ROLLOVERTAP EACH OF THE PHOTOS

SOCAN Foundation

Fostering Canadian music creation in 2022

In 2022, SOCAN Foundation focused on delivering high-calibre initiatives for SOCAN members while moving back to in-person events.

Entandem Licensing

Entandem, SOCAN’s joint venture in general and concert licensing with RE:SOUND, continued working hard in 2022 to return at full strength, as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

GORDON LIGHTFOOT (1938-2023),
PERFORMING AT THE MARIPOSA
FOLK FESTIVAL IN 2022
#ForTheLoveOfLIVE

In partnership with SOCAN and the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA), Entandem launched AID: #ForTheLoveOfLIVE, a relief initiative in support of Canadian independently-owned and -operated live music venues in Canada.

View Full List of Recipients
GLORIOUS SONS
begonia
ALEXISONFIRE
LOUD

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism

In 2022, SOCAN made an even stronger commitment to cultivate a workplace where every voice matters, by working together to ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism are positively affecting our organizational culture.

Our Work in 2022

Between April and July of 2022, more than 250 employees completed Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Training.

In September, the SOCAN Foundation held its first-ever Indigenous Song Camp at the downtown Tkaronto/Toronto creative hub Kilometre House, during the inaugural edition of Song & Score Week.

We started to conduct a thorough evaluation of all aspects of our recruitment and hiring processes. Fostering a diverse workforce enriches the experience of our employees, and helps us better serve our members and stakeholders.

To mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Woodland Cultural Centre visited SOCAN, allowing us to learn more about Canada’s Indigenous policy, and discuss personal acts of reconciliation, barriers to it, and what it is and isn’t.

We created the inaugural Vince Fontaine Indigenous Song Award, named in honour of the late First Nations singer-songwriter, SOCAN member, and co-founder of the JUNO Award-winning duo Eagle & Hawk. This year’s award was earned by hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids and rapper Drezus.

In December of 2022, to help prepare us for the January 2023 Equity Census, our DEI-AR partner CPAMO (Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario) hosted several education sessions on understanding equity in the workplace.

This just some of our progress in 2022; we’ll always be working on ways to improve inclusion and anti-racism practices. As we improve internally, so we can better serve you, our community of members and stakeholders.

To stay updated on our diversity work, visit our Inclusion & Anti-Racism page

Additions to Our Team

in 2022

Cameron Kennedy

In 2022, Cameron Kennedy joined SOCAN as Director, Creative, a new role that focuses on driving our member strategy by strengthening our repertoire, developing and implementing new initiatives, and leading our Creative team in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Los Angeles. Cameron develops new relationships and nurtures existing ones, both with our members and other key players in the music ecosystem. He's a talented industry professional with more than 10 years of experience in the music and entertainment world, most recently as a partner of one twenty eight, a Toronto-based talent booking, cause marketing, and CSR agency, developing and implementing strategies with notable organizations such as the JUNO Awards, TikTok, and Kids Help Phone.

Lord Quest

Lord Quest (aka Jeffrey Nuamah) joined SOCAN in 2022 as Creative Executive, Black Music, a new role created to focus on the development of emerging and established Black music songwriters, composers, and music publishers. He meets with these creators to support their needs from business and creative perspectives, along with key music industry influencers within, but not limited to, Canada's rap and R&B Music community. Quest's support includes music business education, and connecting our members with other parts of the ecosystem. He's been a producer, songwriter, has tremendous knowledge about Canada's Black music culture, and has previously provided creative direction to developing artists. Quest has been nominated for JUNO, Grammy, and B.E.T Awards, and holds a BA of Commerce and Marketing. He previously served at Warner Music Canada, as an A&R Associate, and before that, as a record producer at Redbull Publishing.

Alex Golden

Alex Golden joined the SOCAN Membership team in 2022 as Manager, Creative Operations & Programming. Alex oversees the implementation of programs and partnerships for SOCAN, while focusing on development, education, and community-building activities. Her responsibilities include managing the Creative Programming & Partnerships team on initiatives to enhance our member services and benefits, sponsorships, and events. In addition, she oversees the planning and execution of the SOCAN Awards, Connections events, and SOCAN No. 1 Song Awards, as well as song camps and seminars. She arrived with more than 10 years of experience working in live events, awards, and project management. Before joining SOCAN, she served as the Customer Success Manager for CrowdBlink, a Toronto-based event-ticketing tech company. Alex has also served as Senior Manager at The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), overseeing the strategy for ticketing initiatives such as JUNO Week events, including the JUNO Awards broadcast; submissions, and the nominating and voting processes for the JUNOs; and the organization’s member benefits program.

Tessy Paquin

Tessy Paquin joined SOCAN in 2022 as the Creative Programming & Partnerships Co-ordinator in our Montréal office. She oversees the realization of programs and joint ventures for SOCAN in Québec, and for/with Francophones in the rest of Canada, working on initiatives to enrich and improve our member services and benefits, sponsorships, and events. After studying science for much of her life, Tessy realized that music was more than a hobby. Working in the event world throughout her studies, she quickly realized that her skills were transferable. She started Agence Golden Tiger, an agency whose mission is to support artists through the different steps of their artistic and professional achievements, and is the co-founder and co-director of Drag Brunch MTL. She also continues to work with artists in electronic music production. Tessy has previously served as Coordinator of Activations and Programming for the marketing company LNDMRK, and as the Head of Music Programming for Les Premiers Vendredis, a monthly, outdoor food and culture event series that runs in Montréal from June through October.

HR Insights

Our team at a glance

The year 2022 was a busy one. We formed the HR Committee, which includes members of the SOCAN Board of Directors and management. The Executive Team drafted and approved the Remote Work Program, and reviewed related rules and procedures. SOCAN HR hired an external company to complete an independent HR policy review, prompting necessary revisions. We began conducting interviews with Work Modern to create a High Performing Work Culture. And SOCAN staff were treated to an exclusive live performance by 2022 SOCAN Songwriting Prize winner Emily Steinwall at the SOCAN Toronto office.

12

Manager Success Workshops

attended by people leaders

67

Live Virtual Sessions

in the "My Wellness" program

82

Employees

attend activities in the "My Wellness" program

76

New Hires

including four people leaders and 72 individual contributors

23

Employees Use Education Assistance

taking courses or training under the program

In 2022, SOCAN re-connected with its Francophone members through both new and renewed initiatives, including the Kenekt Studio Song Camp; our annual meeting with Francophone music publishers; the Prix de la chanson SOCAN; our video series, "The Pros" and "Top Secrets"; and our sponsorship of, or attendance at, many re-launched, live-in-person events.

Hubert Lenoir
Pierre Kwenders
MARILYNE LÉONARD
Lou-Adriane Cassidy
KLÔ PELGAG
Gala Dynastie 2022
Left to right: Gayance, Yama Laurent, Dominique Fils-Aimée
Connaisseur Ticaso
Gala Autochtone Teweikan 2022
Left to right: Scott-Pien Picard, Laura Niquay
Wesli