The Artists and Repertoire team plays a crucial role at SOCAN. Sara Dendane has been added to the team as its Executive in our Montréal office, to continue the team’s efforts to recruit, retain, and re-patriate our songwriter, composer, and music publisher members. Sara fills the position left vacant by Widney Bonfils.
Dendane will develop and maintain creative and business relationships with established and emerging music creators and key players in the French and English music community in Québec and Canada. She will also play an important role in the recruitment and retention of all SOCAN members by participating in music business training, while actively working to create opportunities to connect our members with each other, and with the rest of the industry and publishers.
“I’m deeply motivated to bring talent to light, and find the means that match their ambition,” said Dendane as she began her new responsibilities. “So I’m thrilled to join the SOCAN team and be able to support creators and professionals, whether it’s helping them de-mystify the basics, or connecting them with the right people and opportunities to help them make magic.
“Today’s talent will be tomorrow’s history, and I’m delighted to continue the work of Guillaume Moffet and Widney Bonfils. I look forward to helping create a culturally innovative future, in a spirit of empowerment that cultivates diversity and inclusion. A future that resembles us, but above all, that brings us together.”
Prior to working for SOCAN, Dendane was a Manager and A&R Executive for the independent label Indica Records, supporting the careers of talented musicians and bands like Half Moon Run, Hein Cooper, Metric, and VALAIRE. As Marketing and Sponsorship Director for concert promoter [co]motion, she led the marketing and branding for LVL UP, a hip-hop and digital arts festival that attracted 22,000 spectators in its first year in Laval.
In addition to having her finger on the pulse of Québec’s emerging music scene, Dendane has an intimate knowledge of the Francophone market, and a vast network of contacts in the music community. She’s also co-founder of the Montréal chapter of Women in Music, a non-profit organization that aims to advance the equality and diversity of women in the musical arts, and is co-chair of the Francophone Music Advisory Committee for CARAS and the JUNO Awards.
Dendane’s flair for discovering new music and her commitment to the development of emerging talent, as well as her proven ability to build relationships and connections with various stakeholders in the music ecosystem, are just some of the qualities that earned her the position of A&R Executive in Montréal.
You can reach Sara at sara.dendane@socan.com.