Great Canadian Music Creators and Publishers Honoured at 26th SOCAN Awards Toronto, June 23, 2015 – A who’s who of the Canadian music industry gathered last night in Toronto to honour Canada's most talented “Born to Be” songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers at the 26th SOCAN Awards. Sponsored by Gowlings, KPMG, RBC and HMV, and hosted by CMT Canada’s Paul McGuire, the SOCAN Awards recognize the lifetime and more recent achievements of Canada’s music creators, honoured in a host of categories, including Pop/Rock, Dance, Urban, Country, Jazz, Folk/Roots, Classical, and Film & Television. Recipients of SOCAN’s major achievement awards this year were the legendary Randy Bachman (Lifetime Achievement), Dallas Green (National Achievement), MAGIC! (International Achievement), music industry pioneer Bernie Finkelstein (Special Achievement), and “Born to be Wild” songwriter Mars Bonfire, who accepted SOCAN’s first-ever Cultural Impact Award. All accepted their honours in person, as did R&B chart-toppers The Weeknd and Belly, rising country stars Brett Kissel and Tim Hicks, and film and TV composers Keith Power and Andrew Lockington, among many others. Performers included soulful young sensation Francesco Yates, who sang “Better to be Loved”; heavy metal rockers Anvil, who honoured Mars Bonfire with a thundering rendition of “Born to be Wild”; Kristian Alexandrov, Olena Kilchyk, Calvin Beale and Doan Pham, who played a medley of film and TV themes; “doom soul” singer-songwriter Cold Specks, who re-defined Warren Pash’s SOCAN Classic Award-winning song “Private Eyes”; and Randy Bachman, backed by Toronto rockers Big Sugar, who closed the show with a thrilling medley of “American Woman” and “Takin’ Care of Business” – accompanied by the audience of more than 600 guests playing cowbells. "Canadian-made music is essential to Canada’s culture, pride and economy,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “SOCAN’s members are creating music that reaches millions of people at home, and touches hearts and minds worldwide. And our music publisher members are crucial to bringing those songs to the marketplace to expand the reach of great Canadian music around the country, the continent and the world." SOCAN will also recognize outstanding Francophone music creators and publishers at an awards gala in October 2015 at Métropolis in the heart of Montreal. About SOCAN SOCAN is a member-based organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of more than four-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 130,000 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 -30- Media Contacts Touchwood Public Relations (for SOCAN): Jennifer Rashwan, (416) 593-0777 ext. 205, [email protected] SOCAN: Michael Critchley, (416) 445-8700, ext. 3784, [email protected] 26th Anniversary SOCAN Awards – Toronto – Winners List LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT “Crazy for You” 2015 SOCAN CLASSIC AWARD Performed by Hedley MUSIC AWARDS Randy Bachman Jacob Hoggard “Burning in Love” Brian Howes “New Girl Now” INTERNATIONAL Jason Van Poederooyen “Wave Babies” ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 8 Pack of Lucky “What Does it Take?” EMI Blackwood Music Canada MAGIC! Performed by Honeymoon Suite Ltd. Derry Grehan NATIONAL Universal Music Publishing Don Valley Music Ltd. ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Canada peer International (Canada) Dallas Green “Heaven in Our Headlights” “Feel It Again” SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT Performed by Hedley Performed by Honeymoon Suite Jacob Hoggard Ray Coburn AWARD Brian Howes Bernie Finkelstein Don Valley Music Ltd. Nolan Winfield (ASCAP) peer International (Canada) CUTURAL IMPACT EMI Blackwood Music Canada Ltd. AWARD “Private Eyes” Universal Music Publishing Performed by Hall & Oates Mars Bonfire Canada Universal Music Publishing Warren Pash Janna Allen (BMI) Canada “We Are Stars” Sara Allen (BMI) DANCE MUSIC AWARDS Performed by Virginia to Vegas Daryl Hall (BMI) feat. Alyssa Reid "Goodbye" Almo Music of Canada Jamie Appleby Performed by Glenn Derik Baker (Virginia to Vegas) Morrison/Islove “Monday Morning” Nathan Ferraro Jeremy Francis (Islove) “Wild Eyes” Kevin Figs Glenn Morrison Performed by The Stampeders Teddy Pena Matthew Lange (BMI) Rich Dodson Alyssa Reid Sony/ATV Music Publishing Open Wagon Music Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. Canada Southern Music Publishing Canada Company Canada Ltd. “Hideaway” Third Side Music Inc. Wax On Wax Off Publishing Performed by Kiesza INTERNATIONAL SONG Kiesza Rami Samir Afuni (BMI) “Chills” AWARD Elephant Eye Publishing Performed by Down With “Dark Horse” EMI Blackwood Music Canada Webster Performed by Katy Perry Ltd. Tyler Armes Henry “Cirkut” Russell Boi 1da Lukasz Gottwald (ASCAP) POP/ROCK MUSIC Emerson Brooks Jordan Houston (BMI) AWARDS Zale Epstein Katheryn Hudson (ASCAP) Sarah Hudson (ASCAP) “Rude” Patrick Gillett Martin Sandberg (STIM) Performed by MAGIC! Cam Hunter BMG Rights Management Nasri Atweh Brett Ryan Kruger Canada Adam Messinger Andrew Martino Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. Mark Pellizzer Alyssa Veniece Chin Canada Ben Spivak Smashterpiece Alex Tanas Sony/ATV Music Publishing BMG Rights Management Canada Canada Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd. Kobalt Music Group Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Universal Music Publishing Canada COUNTRY MUSIC DOMESTIC TV MUSIC MOST PERFORMED AWARDS AWARD - FICTION FOREIGN SONG AWARD “3-2-1” Murdoch Mysteries “Happy” Performed by Brett Kissel Robert Carli Performed by Pharrell Williams Brett Kissel Shaftesbury Pharrell Williams Marvin Green (BMI) Sony/ATV Music Publishing Tim Nichols (BMI) Canada FOLK / ROOTS MUSIC Bouncy Bear Music AWARD O'Reilly International Inc. DOMESTIC TV MUSIC The Strumbellas AWARD – NON-FICTION “Got a Feeling” Dragons’ Den 2015 SOCAN LICENSED Performed by Tim Hicks Andrew Cash Jeff Coplan Josh Finlayson TO PLAY AWARD Tim Hicks Elmarush Songs The Calgary Stampede Noll Billings (BMI) ole DOMESTIC TV MUSIC 2015 SOCAN BREAKOUT Roots 3 Music Inc. AWARD AWARD – ANIMATED Johnny Test DVVBS “Friends of Mine” Shawn Mendes Performed by Jason Blaine Ian LeFeuvre Ari Posner Jason Blaine HAGOOD HARDY Philip O'Donnell (BMI) Chris Tait Cjar Music Publishing AWARD URBAN MUSIC AWARDS ole Kirk MacDonald “Higher” Performed by Classified ACHIEVEMENT IN MADE- JAN V. MATEJCEK NEW Classified (a.k.a. Luke Boyd) FOR-TV FILM MUSIC CLASSICAL MUSIC William Lobban Bean (BMI) The Riverbank AWARD Gary Jackson (BMI) James Mark Stewart Vivian Fung Renard Miner (BMI) Bobby Simmons (BMI) ACHIEVEMENT IN Carl Smith (BMI) FEATURE FILM MUSIC “Wanderlust” The Expatriate Performed by The Weeknd Jeff Danna Belly (a.k.a. Ahmad Balshe) CEG Rights Canada Da Heala (a.k.a.) Jason Quenneville INTERNATIONAL The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel FEATURE FILM MUSIC Tesfaye) AWARD Sylhouette Musmin (BUMA) Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Danny Schofield (ASCAP) Andrew Lockington Joseph Bostani (ASCAP) Albert Tamaela (BUMA) INTERNATIONAL TV CP Music Group Inc. SONGS Music Publishing SERIES MUSIC AWARD Universal Music Publishing Hawai Five-O Canada Keith Power Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd. .