Music Composers Play Major Role in Canada's Film and TV Industry

TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2015 /CNW/ - With the upcoming Academy Awards, the Canadian Screen Awards, and Quebec's Jutra Awards, the country celebrates its substantial contributions to the film and television industry, and Canadian music composers play a significant part.

Canadian music composers for screens, both big and small, generated approximately $100-million in domestic and international royalties for their music in TV and film in 2014 – about a third of all revenues that flow through SOCAN to the organization's nearly 125,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers and international partners.

"Canada's music composers and publishers are instrumental to the success of the Canadian film and television industry, which generated nearly $7.5-billion GDP in 2012/13 production,"¹ said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. "Composers who contribute to film and television creations alike are too often the unsung heroes in the Canadian music ecosystem, especially when their work makes an otherwise flat production sing. They deserve every penny in royalties that we can find for them."

In addition to the revenue that musical compositions generate, Canadian film and television composers comprise almost 10 per cent of SOCAN's more than 125,000 total members.

Among the recent major achievements for film and television music composition by SOCAN members:

• Academy Award^®-nominated Foxcatcher includes original score contributions from Oscar and Emmy-winning composer and SOCAN member Mychael Danna.
• "Everything is Awesome" – nominated for an Academy Award^® – co-written by SOCAN member Joshua Bartholomew and performed by SOCAN members Tegan & Sara in The Lego Movie.
• Featured in the movie 50 Shades of Grey, Skylar Grey's "I Know You" and The Weeknd's "Earned It" are songs co-written with SOCAN member Stephan Moccio. "Earned it" is also co-written with SOCAN members Belly and Jason "Da Heala" Quenneville.
• Celebrated Québécois composer FM Le Sieur recently finished the score to the highly anticipated four-hour miniseries The Fixer, slated for worldwide release in 2015.

More than 21 SOCAN member composers are nominated for Canadian Screen Awards, including six from Quebec. Notable Canadian and cross-border television productions that currently feature music from Canadian composers include Gary Koftinoff in the CTV/NBC series Saving Hope, and the primetime dramas Murdoch Mysteries and Remedy, each of which feature compositions by Robert Carli. Montreal-based composer Anthony Rozankovic will begin scoring the fourteenth season of the TV documentary series Mayday, currently shown in 144 countries in 26 languages.

"We as Canadian screen composers have had to keep a wide variety of skill sets very high in order to make a respectable living here," said Marvin Dolgay, President of Screen Composers Guild of Canada. "These skills have put us in very high demand as digital distribution and content formats are being redefined."

About SOCAN
SOCAN is a member-based and governed 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 125,000 Canadian members, and the Canadian music industry overall. SOCAN licenses more than 125,000 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

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1} Nordicity Group: "Economic Report on the Screen-based Media Production Industry in Canada"

SOURCE SOCAN

For further information: Media Contacts: SOCAN: Amal Yassir, 416-442-3836, [e-mail]; Environics Communications: Michelle Titus, 416-969-1667, [e-mail]