Music Publishers Canada (MPC) presented its 2024 Publishing Company Legacy Award to peermusic Canada, during the organization’s annual general meeting, on June 4, 2024. MPC also presented the 2024 Industry Builder Award to Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn, and similarly honoured outgoing MPC Board Co-Chair Vivian Barclay.
Paul Shaver, President of the CMRRA (Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency) – which sponsored the Legacy Award – presented it to Mary Megan Peer. Greg Johnston, songwriter, composer, and member of the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) Board of Directors, spoke about his experiences after being signed to peermusic earlier in his career. Ralph Peer II appeared in a video message, in which he spoke about Canada, MPC, and the history of peermusic in Canada. Since 2021, the Legacy Awards have been taken the form of a custom canoe paddle designed by Tom Wilson Tehohàhake – this one painted with lyrics of The Tragically Hip, a peermusic client.
“Peermusic has always been about the long game,” says the organization’s Managing Director, Neville Quinlan. “The company has had a presence in Canada since 1942, and played an active role in the development of Canadian popular music and Canadian music industry institutions. (There’s also a tradition of having a voice on all Boards related to music publishing, that continues to this day, with Cheryl Link sitting on both the current SOCAN Board and SOCAN Foundation Board of Directors). Our writers are everything to us, and we’re serious about our responsibility to protect and promote their songs for a long time to come.”
Peermusic is now one of the largest independent music publishers in the world, with 39 offices in 32 countries worldwide, and the company continues to take an active role in the Canadian music publishing sector.
MPC also honoured Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn with its 2024 Industry Builder Award, for their part in changing the role of music in film and television in Canada (starting with the Degrassi franchise), and for supporting the Canadian music publishing industry. Longtime friend and collaborator Michael Perlmutter, president of Canadian Guild of Music Supervisors (CGMS), spoke about his work as a music supervisor with Schuyler and Stohn, and the importance of their work.
Vivian Barclay, MPC’s outgoing Co-Chair of the MPC Board of Directors, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by her Co-Chair Jennifer Mitchell, who spoke about Barclay’s contribution to the music publishing industry and dedication to the MPC Board, including her help launching the Women in the Studio National Accelerator in 2018.
SOCAN congratulates all at peermusic, Linda Schuyler, Stephen Stohn, and Vivian Barclay on these great and well-deserved honours!