2012 SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize Nominees Announced

Voting now open to decide the year's most creative and artistic independent Canadian song

TORONTO, Sept. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) today announced the five finalists for the seventh annual English SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize, and the nominees once again reflect the breadth and depth of Canada's rich songwriting talent.

The annual songwriting competition honours the most creative and artistic songs - English and French - released by Canadian independent artists over the past year. The winning song, as voted by the public between September 10 and October 10, wins the $5,000 grand prize, and one lucky voter will win a new Apple iPad.

The 2012 English SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize nominees:

• "House that Heaven Built" - written by Brian King and David Prowse; performed by Japandroids.
• "Post-war Blues" - written by Gordon Grdina, Kenton Loewen, Dan Mangan and John Walsh; performed by Dan Mangan.
• "Soft Place to Land" - written by Kathleen Edwards and John Roderick; published by Beats Working Mus/Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada II and Potty Mouth Production / Peer International Ltd (Canada); performed by Kathleen Edwards.
• "Unkind" - written by Jay Ferguson, Christopher Murphy, John Pentland and Andrew Scott; published by Two Minutes For Mus Pubg Ltd; performed by Sloan.
• "When I Write My Master's Thesis" - written and performed by John K. Samson.

"Every year I can't wait to see who the finalists will be for the SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize, and once again, the ECHO panelists have selected five outstanding songs by five amazing independent Canadian artists," said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. "I'm looking forward to seeing who ends up the winner, as it's certain to be a close race right to the end."

The five nominated songs were compiled by a panel of music enthusiasts, who were asked to select songs that they felt were the most artistic and creatively written independent compositions of the past year. All genres of music were considered. This year's English ECHO Songwriting Prize panelists are:

• Bryan Acker (herohill.com)
• Denise Benson (journalist/broadcaster/DJ/event producer)
• Mike Devlin (reporter, Victoria Times Colonist)
• Crispin Giles (NXNE)
• Grant Lawrence (CBC Radio 3)
• Joshua Ostroff (Spinner Canada)
• Tom Power (musician, broadcaster and writer)
• Greg Torrington (Galaxie)
• Brad Wheeler (reporter, The Globe and Mail)
• Jen Zoratti (Uptown Magazine)

The winning song is determined by public online voting at www.prixecho.ca from September 10 to October 10. Fans can vote once a day. The winner will be announced by October 19.

Previously announced nominees for the 2012 French SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize:

• "Dans la prairie" written by, Philippe Bergeron, Salomé Leclerc; performed by Salomé Leclerc.
• "Intuition #1" written by, Mathieu Charbonneau, Stéphane Lafleur, Nicolas Moussette and Joel Vaudreuil; performed by Avec pas d'casque.
• "Lignes d'Hydro" written and performed by Lisa LeBlanc.
• "Si tu savais" written by Marie-Pierre Fournier, François Lafontaine and Gaele Tavernier; performed by Marie-Pierre Arthur.
• "St-Eustache" written by Emmanuel Dubois; performed by Koriass

For all of the latest updates, follow SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize on Twitter @echoprize and @SOCANmusic, or on Facebook at ECHO Songwriting Prize.

About SOCAN
SOCAN is a not-for-profit, member-based organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of more than three-million Canadian and international music creators and publishers. SOCAN is proud to play a leading role in supporting the long-term success of its more than 110,000 Canadian members, as well as the Canadian music industry. SOCAN collects licence fees from more than 48,000 businesses from coast to coast and distributes royalties to its members and music rights organizations around the world. SOCAN also distributes royalties to its members for the use of their music internationally in collaboration with its peer societies. www.socan.ca

SOURCE: SOCAN

Media Contact:

Michael Critchley
Marketing & Communications, SOCAN
416.445.8700 x3784
[email protected]