Research: Canadians Place High Value on Canadian Music

SOCAN finds Canadians musically connected coast-to-coast-to-coast

TORONTO, Nov. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - A vast majority of Canadians - 85 per cent - say that music plays an important part in their lives, and a full 90 per cent agree that it is the musician who should receive most of the proceeds from an original song, according to a new national survey conducted by Léger Marketing on behalf of SOCAN - the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

And when it comes to whom Canadians would most like to share dinner or a drink with, a famous Canadian musician was chosen ahead of actor, athlete or writer, with politicians also bringing up the rear.

"Original music brings joy to Canadians. It's essential to our national pride and culture," says SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. "Canada is privileged to have such a rich diversity of musical originality that perhaps we take it for granted. We need to continue to protect and uphold the rights of the Canadian songwriters who bring pride and joy to our lives and bolster our economy every single day, and SOCAN is proud to connect people with music."

SOCAN advocates for a thriving Canadian music scene by collecting and distributing royalties to Canadian music creators in all genres, from pop to classical, from jazz to folk, and everything in between.

Highlights from the SOCAN / Léger Marketing research:

• "How important is music in your life?" - 85% responded with either "Very important" (40%) or "Somewhat important" (45%), and 52% of younger Canadians (18-34 years old) said that music is "Very important" in their life.
• "Who should receive most of the proceeds from the sale of an original song?" - Musician 90%, Record labels: 5%, Music Retail Corporations: 2%, the Government: 1%.
• "I would like to have dinner or a beer with a famous Canadian . . ." - Musician 23%, Actor 21%, Athlete 18%, Writer 13%, Politician 13%.

Interestingly, when it comes to enjoying a meal or a drink with a famous Canadian, more women picked a Musician (26%) than did men (21%), although "Musician" was the top choice for men and women combined. According to the research, nearly every province is almost equal ranking the company of a famous Canadian musician first when cracking open a cold one.

When they go on vacation, a portable music player was the strong number-one choice of a full 29 per cent of respondents, chosen substantially more than Sports Equipment (9%), DVD Player (6%), or a Video Game Console (4%). Books led with 49 per cent, and with books and music increasingly delivered on the same device, the future for vacation music is even brighter.

"Many Canadians might assume that we appreciate our music, but even we were surprised at how strongly positive the responses were to these questions," says David Scholz, Léger Marketing executive vice-president. "The research was conducted following the 2012 Olympics, so Canadians choosing musicians ahead of athletes as the people they'd most want to spend time with is a testament to how much we love our musical artists and songwriters."

About the SOCAN Music Appreciation Survey
The SOCAN Music Appreciation Survey, which examines the place of music in Canadians' lives, was conducted by Léger Marketing August 20-23, 2012. For this survey, a national sample of 1,500 adults aged 18 and over was interviewed online. A survey with a representative sample of this size is considered accurate within 2.53 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Canada been surveyed.

A summary of the SOCAN / Léger Marketing Music Appreciation Survey is available upon request.

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

For further information:

Media Contact:

Michael Critchley
Marketing & Communications, SOCAN
416-445.8700, ext. 3784
[e-mail]       

Janine Raftopoulos
Marketing & Communications, SOCAN
416.445-8700, ext. 3702
[e-mail]