Ten SOCAN Songwriting Prize Finalists Announced

Toronto – SOCAN today announced the finalists for its annual SOCAN Songwriting Prize, a competition that recognizes outstanding songs written by emerging English and French Canadian songwriters over the past year, as selected by a panel of esteemed music industry experts.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the award, permanent changes have been introduced: the number of finalists for each of the English and French prizes has been expanded from five to 10, and the cash prize has doubled to $10,000, making it the largest cash prize in the Canadian music industry for a single song.

The 10 English SOCAN Songwriting Prize finalists:

• “Archie, Marry Me” – written by Alec O’Hanley and Molly Rankin; performed byAlvvays
• “Old Knives” – written by James Anderson and Cold Specks; performed byCold Specks; published by Kobalt and Cold Specks Music Ltd.
• “I Heard I Had” – written by Andrew McTaggart, Danielle McTaggart; performed by Dear Rouge; published by dear Rouge
• “In My Solitude” – written by Laura Bates,Tyler Belluz, Aaron Brooks, Lisa Conway, Karen Ng, Chris Sandes, Ira Zingraff; performed by Del Bel
• “Hideaway” – written by Rami Afuni and Kiesza; performed by Kiesza; published by Universal Music Publishing Group, Afuni Music (BMI), Music Of Liberal Arts Publishing (BMI), Songs Of Universal (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music Canada Ltd., Elephant Eye Publishing, and Stellar Songs Ltd.
• “You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I Do Too)” – written and performed byLisa Leblanc; published by Third Side Music Inc.
• “The Bells” – written by Lowell, Justin Broad and Paul Herman; performed byLowell; published by BMG Rights, BMG Rights Management Ltd. (PRS), Peermusic, Submarine Music Ltd., Fintage, and Voxwatch Ltd. (PRS)
• “It’s A Burn” – written and performed by Samantha Savage Smith
• “Young Gunner” – written by Joel Chambers, Nevon Sinclair and Renee Wisdom; performed by Shi Wisdom
• “Private Island” – written by Daniel Jacques and Allie Ho-Sang; performed by2nd Son featuring Allie

From June 17 to July 1 2015, Canadian music fans can vote for their favourite song by either visiting www.socansongwritingprize.ca or through Twitter, by using the hashtag #mySSPvote and identifying the artist’s name in the tweet. Fans can vote once a day.

This year’s finalists were determined by an independent panel of 15 music-industry experts who were each asked to nominate two songs, from any genre, that they felt were the most artistic and creative songs written by emerging music creators over the past year. All of the songs were compiled, reviewed and shortlisted by these panelists to determine the 10 finalists. SOCAN has no role in the selection of nominees or winners.

Once public voting closes on July 1 and the votes are tabulated, the winner will be announced the week of July 6, 2015.

Along with $10,000 cash, the winning songwriter(s) will receive a Martin D-16GT acoustic guitar, a Yamaha PSR-S950 keyboard, a $500 Gift Card from Long & McQuade, a certificate for up to 20 hours of studio time with Timothy Abraham  and certificate for up to six hours of vocal coaching with Amanda Mabro.

“This competition is about celebrating the art of songwriting and recognizing the abundance of emerging talent in Canada”, said Mike McCarty, chief membership & business development officer at SOCAN. “We hope being nominated helps these up-and-coming songwriters expand their fan base while providing more opportunities for them to grow as creators. Given the calibre of their creations this year, we anticipate they will continue to wow us for years to come.”

The 10 finalists for the 2015 Prix de la chanson SOCAN, the Francophone counterpart to the SOCAN Songwriting Prize:

• “De pluie et de cendre” – written and performed by Guillaume Beauregard; published by Les Éditions de La Tribu
• “Kryuchkova” – written by Alexandre Bernier Leclerc; performed by Bernhari; published by Avenue Éditorial
• “Le nouveau vocabulaire” – written and performed by Antoine Corriveau; published by Coyote Records
• “Publi Sac” – written by Louis-Nicolas Imbeau and Emmanuel Blouin Lajoie; performed by Eman X Vlooper; published by Disques 7e Ciel
• “Piscine” – written by Fanny Grosjean and Étienne Dupuis Cloutier; performed by Fanny Bloom; published by Les Éditions Dare to Care
• “Mardi Gras” – written by Alexandre Bilodeau, Jacques Alphonse Doucet and Pierre Kwenders; performed by Pierre Kwenders
• “Arlon” – written by Salomé Leclerc and Philippe Brault; performed by Salomé Leclerc; published by Avenue Éditorial
• “Neguac and back” – written by Julie Aubé and Katrine Noel; performed by Les Hay Babies; published by Hay Babies Music, Éditions Ladilafe
• “Ficelle” – written by Julien Sagot and Antoine Binette Mercier; performed byJulien Sagot; published by Simone Records
• “Jolie Anne” – written by Benoit Pinette; performed by Tire le Coyote; published by Les Éditions de La Tribu

For all of the latest updates, follow the SOCAN Songwriting Prize on Twitter at@SOCANmusic and via the #SOCANprize hashtag, as well as on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/SOCANmusic

About SOCAN

SOCAN is a 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 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.

Media Contacts:
SOCAN: Michael Critchley, 416.445.8700 ext. 3784, critchleym@socan.ca
Environics Communications (for SOCAN): McKenna Wild, 416.969.2774,mwild@environicspr.com; Lorna Freeman, lfreeman@environicspr.com, 416.969.2711