Diane Juster, Muzion, Kaytranada and Cristobal Tapia de Veer are among those honoured with Special Achievement Awards.
Charlotte Cardin and Jason Brando awarded for their stellar artistic collaboration
MONTRÉAL, April 16, 2025 /CNW/ - The 2025 edition of Gala SOCAN promises to be unforgettable, as SOCAN celebrates its 100th anniversary in style this year. On May 4, Montréal's La TOHU will be the host of this prestigious event celebrating music creators and publishers from Québec and the rest of Canada's Francophone community. More than 100 trophies in 29 categories will be awarded to the artists and professionals who have made the music landscape what it is over the past two years.
The event will be hosted by the talented Rebecca Makonnen of Radio-Canada, while the brilliant Chloé Lacasse will be in charge of the musical direction of the gala promising wonderful surprise performances and musical tributes.
2025 Gala SOCAN Special Achievement Awards for Exceptional Talents
The Cultural Impact Award will go to Muzion for their seminal anthem La Vi Ti-Neg, a song that had a profound impact on Québec's music scene and will become the first hip-hop song to be awarded for Cultural Impact in the Gala's 34-year history.
The illustrious Diane Juster will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award celebrating her exceptional career and her essential contribution to Francophone music and the rights of music creators.
For songwriting excellence, Charlotte Cardin will receive the Songwriter of the Year — Performer award while her partner in rhyme, Jason Brando will receive the Songwriter of the Year — Non-Performer award. Hit-making duo Banx & Ranx, known for their one-of-a-kind sonic signature, will receive the inaugural Songwriter of the Year — Producer award.
This year's International Achievement Award will be presented to Kaytranada, a songwriter and artist whose influence has grown beyond Canada and is now global. This recognition is especially meaningful, as it marks ten years since he received his first career award, a SOCAN Electronic Music Award in 2015.
Film and TV music will also be celebrated, including Cristobal Tapia de Veer who will receive the Screen Composer of the Year award among other awards, for his acclaimed work on major international productions such as The White Lotus.
Still in the Special Achievement Award category, the important work of SOCAN's music publisher members will be celebrated by awarding the Publisher of the Year title.
Each of the Special Achievement Award winners will receive "The SOCAN," the first and only major music industry trophy that is also a musical instrument. This year, the trophy's five crotales will be tuned to play the first five notes of Muzion's "La Vi Ti-Neg"'s melody.
Honouring the Boundless Spirit of Musical Creativity
On May 4th, several awards will be presented to the many outstanding screen composers whose exceptional creativity has left a lasting impression on television and in movie theatres, both at home and abroad.
SOCAN's Francophone, Anglophone and International Pop Music Awards will be presented to the most popular songs of the past two years, and the winners of Special Award categories will be announced, including:
- Breakout Award
- Breakout Screen Composer Award
- Country Music Award
- Electronic Music Award
- Hip-Hop Music Award
- Indigenous Music Award (new)
- R&B Music Award (new)
- Global Music Award (new)
- Jan V. Matejcek Award — New Classical Music
- Hagood Hardy — Jazz Music
SOCAN will honour an organization that consistently defends fair music licensing and the rights of music creators and publishers to receive fair compensation for the use of their music. This year's SOCAN Licensed to Play (Partenaire en Musique) award will go to TRAM7, an organization that makes sure that music from Québec finds a place in a wide array of AV productions.
Gala SOCAN will award the inaugural Herbert Ruff Award for AV post-synchronization recognizing music publishers and creators who actively contribute to the development of screen composing as well as the development of their own works on traditional and digital platforms. The first winner of this new award will be Les Éditions Backstage Passes.
To top it all off, the 2025 Gala SOCAN will see Richard Séguin inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, a well-deserved recognition celebrating his immense contribution to "la chanson québécoise." With his 13 solo albums and seven collaborative albums, Richard Séguin is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of Québec's most important singer-songwriters. He is a passionate advocate for social and political causes that reflect his values of human dignity and the quest for justice. He will be inducted by Patrice Michaud, while Séguin's long-time guitarist and bandmate Simon Godin, as well as Luce Dufault, Vincent Vallière, Ivan Boivin-Flamand, Jeanne Côté and Jorane will all be performing during the event.
A Not-to-Be-Missed Event
"This year's Gala promises to be unforgettable, as we celebrate both today's music creators and the legacy forged over a century by SOCAN and its predecessor organizations," said SOCAN's CEO Jennifer Brown. "We're excited to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary talent that shapes our culture, and to offer our award winners and guests an evening filled with community spirit and unforgettable performances."
Gala SOCAN 2025 is set to be the must-see event of the spring for Québec's music industry. Members of the media are invited to cover this prestigious event, discover the list of honourees and enjoy exclusive surprise performances.
The full list of the 2025 Gala SOCAN winners will be released on the evening of May 4, 2025, via press release and on the dedicated Gala SOCAN website at galasocan.com.
The SOCAN Gala in Montréal is the French equivalent of the SOCAN Awards, being presented later this fall in Toronto, for songwriters, composers and music publishers working primarily in English.
About SOCAN
For 100 years, SOCAN has been Canada's largest member-owned music rights organization, resolutely upholding the fundamental truth that music has value. SOCAN collects license fees for the public performance and reproduction of music, matches them to rights holders, and distributes them as royalties to music creators and publishers in Canada and around the world. With a century of expertise and innovation, SOCAN continues to advocate fair compensation for the work of its nearly 200,000 songwriter, composer, and music publisher members. Learn more at socan.com.
SOURCE SOCAN
Media Contacts: Roy & Turner Communications (for SOCAN): Natalie Dion, 514-266-3466, [email protected]; SOCAN: Eric Parazelli, [email protected]
Share this article