Gilles Valiquette. Photo: Marie-Michèle Bouchard
On June 20, 2024, APEM (the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale) presented the prestigious Christopher J. Reed Award to Rosaire Archambault, a pillar of the Québec music industry, whose career we profiled recently.
Named for the great music publisher who passed away in 2012, the Christopher J. Reed Award is presented annually to an individual who’s committed to their professional community, shows great respect for creators and copyright, and has made an outstanding contribution to the practice and recognition of the music publishing profession. The award ceremony, organized by the APEM, with the support of SOCAN, took place in Montréal, as part of the Rendez-vous Pros des Francos.
To mark the event, friends and colleagues of Rosaire Archambault gathered to pay tribute, and congratulate him on his remarkable achievements – including almost 25 years as a publisher representative on SOCAN’s Board of Directors (from 1997 to 2021).
Select the image to play the SOCAN YouTube video of the tribute to Rosaire Archambault
His good friend, singer-songwriter and former SOCAN Board member Gilles Valiquette, performed two songs, “Toujours les mêmes” and “La vie en rose.” Valiquette emphasized in his presentation that Archambault was always there when it came to ensuring that Québec’s voice was heard in a major national organization like SOCAN.
He was followed by SPACQ (Société professionnelle des auteurs, compositeurs du Québec) co-founder Diane Juster, former 2013 Christopher J. Reed Award winner Daniel Lafrance, SOCAN President and Chair of the Board Marc Ouellette (who presented him with a frame containing a Words & Music magazine cover dedicated to him), and APEM Executive Director Jérôme Payette.
Archambault joins a prestigious list of past award honourees, including: Daniel Lafrance (2013), Jehan V. Valiquet (2014), David Murphy (2015), Carol Ryan (2016), Me Claude Brunet (2017), Me Serge Provençal (2019), Patrick Curley (2020), Nicole Beausoleil (2021), Lucie Bourgouin (2022) et France Lafleur (2023).
APEM panel at the Rendez-Vous Pros des Francos
Photo: Marie-Michèle Bouchard
As part of the Rendez-Vous Pros des Francos, APEM also presented a panel entitled L’édition et l’international : les opportunités à saisir (International Publishing: Opportunities to Seize). Moderated by Steve Marcoux, this discussion – which included Diane Pinet of Éditions Bloc Notes Music, Xavier Germain Poitras of Éditions Bonsound, Alexis Sevenier of Ora Publishing and Amélie Tintin of Next Play Muisc Group – enabled participants to provide relevant and enriching information. They discussed different territories, business practices, financial risks and opportunities – arising from songwriting collaborations resulting in co-publishing, international songwriting camps, synchronization placements, and sub-publishing contracts.