27th SOCAN Montréal Awards Gala Celebrates Music Creators and Publishers

Grimes, Cœur de Pirate, Stéphane Venne, Ariane Moffatt, Alain Chartrand, Richard Séguin, Éric Lapointe and Les Colocs to be honoured with special awards

MONTRÉAL, Aug. 30, 2016 /CNW/ - The 27th annual SOCAN Montréal Awards Gala (Gala de la SOCAN) returns to Montréal's iconic music venue, Métropolis, on September 12th, to celebrate and shine a spotlight on Québec's songwriters, composers, and music publishers for their extraordinary contributions to music.

Among the artists and industry players honoured will be songwriter Stéphane Venne, the creator of the immortal "Le début d'un temps nouveau," who will receive SOCAN's prestigious CULTURAL IMPACT Award, celebrating the major cultural contribution of a musical work created by a SOCAN member.

The awards gala will feature live performances for an audience comprising a who's who of Québec music industry players and artists. Ariane Moffatt will be honoured with the SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR award, and the international success of two young and extraordinary singer-songwriters, Cœur de Pirate and Grimes, each of whom will be honoured with an INTERNATIONAL AWARD. The SOCAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will go to Richard Séguin, a veteran of the Québec music scene whose career spans more than 40 years, while 11 SOCAN CLASSIC awards, each representing at least 25,000 radio performances, will be presented to the songwriters who made them possible. Among them are several titles by rocker Éric Lapointe and the late-lamented Dédé Fortin and "Colocs." As well as those classics, the writers, composers and publishers of the 10 most played francophone songs on the radio in 2015 will be honoured.

"SOCAN is intensely proud of our members' creative vitality, from well-established music creators and publishers to emerging talent, to those rapidly ascending in their career," said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. "Whether their success is domestic or international or both, we are confident that the current era of profound musical creative success will continue. SOCAN has taken numerous important steps ahead over the past year, and we will gladly celebrate 'new beginnings' during this gala that will once again fill our eyes, ears and hearts with joy."

This annual gala, one of the Québec's music industry's most important events, is the celebration of all authors, composers and music publishers whose work is a source of emotion and weaves the very fabric of our cultural identity. Among the other special awards presented during the event – hosted by Stéphane Archambault and directed by Yann Perreau – the SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will honour Alain Chartrand, the founder of the Coup de coeur francophone festival, the 21st edition of which will be held next November. An award in a new category will also be presented this year, namely the PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR award, and many more awards will salute the excellence of audio-visual composers, creators who play a vital role in our television and film landscape.

Archambault, founding member, composer and singer with Mes Aïeux and this year's host of the SOCAN Gala, said, "It's undoubtedly the coolest gala of the industry. It's Christmas before Christmas for the music world. Even better: it's one huge family gathering. And this year, I'm the host. What an honour! What a joy!"

Each of the special awards recipients will receive "The SOCAN" – the industry's only major trophy that doubles as a musical instrument. This year, the trophy's five SABIAN-made crotales mounted on the SOCAN trophy will be tuned to play the first five notes of Venne's award-winning "Le début d'un temps nouveau."

The Montréal Gala de la SOCAN celebrates SOCAN's more than 25,000 Québec members and their success; over 80 prizes in 21 categories will be awarded during the event. The complete list of award winners will be released during the evening of Sept. 12, 2016.

About SOCAN
SOCAN is a member-based organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of more than four-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 135,000 Canadian members, and the Canadian music ecosystem overall. SOCAN licences more than 130,000 businesses in Canada, 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

For further information: Media Contacts: SOCAN: Éric Parazelli, 514 844-8377, ext. 4934, [e-mail]; SIX MEDIAS: Audrée Loiselle, 514 544-7013, [e-mail]