A dozen Quebec artists, including Ariane Moffatt, Louis-Jean Cormier and Coeur de pirate, claim to have been disadvantaged by the way the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) redistributed income from rotations to the radio before last year. They believe they have lost 45% of the royalties to which they were entitled, and promise to launch a class action shortly to recover their due.
SOCAN is the organization responsible for redistributing royalties from songs played on radio across the country to Canadian artists. However, the method of compensation adopted by the organization in 2019 and 2020 would have been unfair for French-speaking artists: the royalties collected for these artists did not correspond to the contribution of Quebec radio stations to SOCAN.
At least that’s what we can read in an open letter published Tuesday by several big names in Quebec music. Corneille, Vincent Vallières and Klô Pelgag are among the signatories, like several veterans of local music, such as Gilles Vigneault, Richard Séguin and Marjo.
They welcome the fact that SOCAN has changed its mode of distribution since 2021, thus settling the question of the “double standard” between French-speaking and English-speaking artists. They are, however, claiming compensation for the 18 months of 2019 and 2020, where the old royalty allocation method was in effect.
“In 2021, SOCAN, recognizing the inequity of its calculation methods, corrected the situation of under-representation of Quebec. Despite everything, it refuses to financially compensate creators and publishers in Quebec for the years prior to 2021, ”we deplore in this open letter.
Class action
David Murphy, whose company has specialized in music rights claims for 25 years, indicates that a class action should be launched by the beginning of October to force SOCAN to compensate Quebec creators. The latter claim to have been deprived of 45% of their income in 2019 and 2020, which would represent roughly $2 million.
“The 45% is not a figure that we invented. It comes directly from SOCAN data. I do not understand why we refuse to compensate those who have been penalized,” declared in an interview with the To have to the one who says he received a clear refusal from SOCAN last March.
Since the open letter was published, Mr. Murphy says he has been contacted by several Quebec rights holders who are not among the signatories. “I received several calls from customers. Everyone is very concerned about the situation,” he notes.
The establishment of a class action had initially been reported earlier Tuesday morning by Radio-Canada. SOCAN and said he hoped for a quick settlement. The APEM openly militates in favor of financial compensation for those who hold the rights to French-language songs that air on the radio.
Compensation excluded
SOCAN rules out any retroactive compensation for artists who were penalized by the old royalty distribution system.
“It would be inappropriate and unjustified to make a retroactive adjustment for two reasons. First, no market is uniform in how it is affected by a change in allocation rules. Second, retroactive adjustments would mean taking money back from certain Quebec-based members who benefited from the old rule,” says an email sent to the To have to.
The organization, which is careful to point out that a third of its board of directors is made up of Francophones, does not contradict the figure of 45% losses put forward by the artists who signed the open letter.
“We have a different interpretation, but we are determined to continue discussions with our French-speaking partners in order to find the best possible arrangement,” said SOCAN, which promises to meet again with the stakeholders in September to find a compromise.