Left to right: SOCAN’s Michael McCarty, Yaletown’s Janice Staub, SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste, SOCAN’s Racquel Villagante, Hyvetown’s Patrick Zulinov, SOCAN’s Rodney Murphy.
About 220 of our members and other music business stakeholders gathered at a SOCAN Family & Friends Bash in Vancouver, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2018, to meet with our staff, connect with each other, and enjoy some sparkling wine, an open bar, hors-d’œuvres, pizza, and salad. Held at Waterview, under the Granville Bridge, the reception drew a wide variety of members from across all ages and musical genres, as well as industry tastemakers and key influencers.
Four SOCAN No. 1 Song Awards were presented at the beginning of the night. Two were earned by four-time JUNO Award winners Three Days Grace, who’ve now enjoyed 14 No. 1 songs at the top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart – officially breaking Van Halen’s two-decade record topping it.
“The Mountain,” which scaled the peak of the chart on March 31, 2018, was co-written by Gavin Brown, and band members Neil Sanderson, Barry Stock, Brad Walst, and Matthew Walst. The song is co-published by Hyvetown Music Publishing, CCS Rights Management, and Wixen Music Canada. The band’s song “Infra-Red” also reached the top of the chart, on Sept. 15, 2018, and is co-written by Brown, Sanderson, Stock, and the Walst brothers, as well as Dan Kanter and Isaiah Steinberg. It’s also published by Hyvetown, CCS, and Wixen.
Accepting both awards were Patrick Zulinov and Janice Staub from Hyvetown. (Staub is also a member of SOCAN’s current Board of Directors.)
Left to right: SOCAN’s Racquel Villagante, Ryan Guldemond, Jill Barber, SOCAN’s Coralie Hummel and Erica Grayson
Jill Barber and Ryan Guldemond were pleased to accept their SOCAN No. 1 Song Award for co-writing “Girl’s Gotta Do,” which topped the CBC Music Top 20 on May 31, 2018. The song is published by Universal Music Publishing Group Canada. Also on hand to cheer on the presentation was a contingent from Watchdog Management – which oversees Guldemond’s musical career – that included Sarah Fenton, Rick Richardson, Kassia Edwards, Gillian Tringham, and Anastasia DeRosa.
“Thank you to SOCAN for the No. 1 song award tonight, and to CBC Music for spinning ‘Girl’s Gotta Do’ into the number one position,” said Barber. “It sure feels good to be acknowledged by our peers, and celebrate the ability to give a song limbs to climb.”
Laura Mitic was similarly honoured with a No. 1 Award for her song “Roots,” which reached the zenith of
the CBC Music Top 20 on April 19, 2018, in a recording by Mitic with her band, Carmanah – whose members also attended the gathering, to celebrate the occasion.
SOCAN members Etienne Siew, Alex Maher, Teo Van Raalte, and Stephanie Ratcliff all expressed their appreciation for the chance to
Left to right: Carmanah’s Pat Ferguson, SOCAN’s Racquel Villagante, Laura Mitic, SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste, SOCAN’s Coralie Hummel, Carmanah’s Marek Olsen
network, and share their perspectives, at the event. Attendees also included The Faceplants’ Dan Botch, as well as Cassie Dasilva (who flew in from Los Angeles), both alumni of SOCAN’s West Coast-based Kenekt Song Camps.
Attending on behalf of SOCAN were CEO Eric Baptiste and President of the Board of Directors Marc Ouellette, as well as Michael McCarty, Rodney Murphy, Erica Grayson, Racquel Villagante, Gary Laranja, Coralie Hummel, Pat Mueller, Paul Tansey, Craig Horton, Lea Faradian, and Sara Pavilionis.