Records Crushed Again by SOCAN

Total revenue jumps 8%; streaming rockets up more than 460%

TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - SOCAN, the largest organization in the Canadian music industry, today announced another record year in 2016, with its music creator and publisher members generating a third-of-a-billion dollars in total revenue – an impressive eight per cent year-over-year increase.

According to preliminary financial results,¹ SOCAN's nearly 150,000 member songwriters, composers and music publishers continued to outperform at virtually every level in 2016.

• Record total revenue of a third-of-a-billion-dollars – approximately $330-million in overall revenue in 2016 for an impressive 8 per cent year-over-year increase.
• Record distributions to members – exceeding $285-million for the first time ever.
• Domestic revenue of nearly $265-million – up approximately 8 per cent, and also a new high for SOCAN
• Huge increase in music streaming revenues – Internet audio streaming revenues jumped to approximately $13-million, an impressive increase of more than 460 per cent over 2015 streaming revenue.
• Foreign royalties of approximately $66-million – an increase of 30 per cent from only three years ago.
• Substantial growth for "AV composers" – a jump of at least 47 per cent to more than $20-million collected for streamed works in film and television.

"SOCAN's work to lead the global transformation of music rights continues, benefitting music creators and publishers even more in terms of royalties identified, collected, and distributed in Canada and worldwide," said CEO Eric Baptiste. "Our efforts to improve our technology, partnerships and alliances, to be more accurate, more comprehensive, and faster are paying off for our members with new revenue and distribution records across-the-board in 2016."

The impressive results continue six-years-and-counting positive trends. Strategic acquisitions of Audiam and MediaNet last year are bringing benefits to SOCAN in terms of new services, even better data-matching and leading-edge technology. In addition, in 2016 SOCAN members confirmed their unprecedented success on the world stage with a significant number of Canadians having career years.

"We are extremely proud of our members' success at every level, and to witness music creators like The Weeknd, Drake, Alessia Cara, Johnny Reid, Alex Cuba, Arcade Fire, Shawn Mendes, Nineteen85, Simon Wilcox, Lesley Barber, the Strumbellas, Cœur de pirate, Kaytranada, Louis-Jean Cormier, Tanya Tagaq, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Brett Kissel, Alex Nevsky, Keith Power and so many others rise to such lofty heights makes us appreciate even more the honour it is to represent them worldwide," Baptiste added. "SOCAN is only able to do this with the world's best and brightest employees and partners who work every day for our members to receive what they have worked so hard to earn with their extraordinary talent and passion for music creation."

SOCAN has quickly established itself as the world's most innovative music rights organization, broadening the company's scope with the acquisition and development of data, intellectual property and technological advances. SOCAN will continue to work constantly to advance services and capabilities to provide members with even more exclusive advantages, as SOCAN continues to lead the global expansion of music rights.

About SOCAN
SOCAN connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. Nearly 150,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers are its direct members, and more than 130,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and a commitment to lead the global transformation of music rights, with wholly-owned companies Audiam and MediaNet, SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music has value and music creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.ca

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¹ Estimates; final figures will be determined following the March 2017 meeting of the SOCAN Board of Directors.

SOURCE SOCAN

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Media contact: Andrew Berthoff, 416-442-3836, [email protected]