MONTREAL and TORONTO — With its acquisition of SODRAC now closed, SOCAN announced Tuesday it will be able to offer music rights holders an integrated approach to managing both the performing rights and reproduction rights of composers, songwriters and music publishers.
The combination of SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors & Music Publishers of Canada) and SODRAC (the Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers & Publishers in Canada) broadens the choices available, notably for music publishers and self-published writers, for the licensing of reproduction rights, SOCAN said in a news release.
Once the full integration of the two organizations is complete, for the first time in Canada, a single organization will be able to license, track and distribute all royalties for both music performing rights and mechanical rights, SOCAN said.
The many advantages of integrated music rights management listed by SOCAN in its news release include:
- One-stop musical works registrations.
- More timely and accurate distributions and reduced operating costs for all rights holder members.
- Unified licensing for businesses using music.
- An à la carte representation of reproduction rights for all.
- Increased efficiencies through leveraged licensing relationships.
- SODRAC’s expertise in the visual arts and crafts sector, which involves more than 40,000 creators and rights holders, will continue within SOCAN.
“SOCAN is thrilled to complete a made-in-Canada solution for music rights holders in this country and worldwide,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste in the news release. “This transaction fits perfectly with SOCAN’s goal of leading the global transformation of music rights, and SOCAN’s past and ongoing commitment to create alliances within the Canadian music ecosystem. With the full integration of SODRAC’s assets and expansion into mechanical rights, the combination of public performance and reproduction rights increases efficiencies, leverages licensing relationships, and reduces operating costs, resulting in even more music royalties going to those who have earned them.”
SODRAC’s management team and employees will become employees of SOCAN. SODRAC’s current general manager, Alain Lauzon, will continue his work as a special consultant to SOCAN’s CEO.
“The integration of SODRAC into SOCAN is the result of many years of discussions and negotiations,” said Lise Aubut, chair of SODRAC’s board of directors and co-founder of SODRAC in 1985. “Today, this concentration of energy and resources has become essential in a context where markets are globalized, copyright media is dematerialized, and the financial means necessary to defend rights in a digital world are prodigious. Music is borderless, and tracking musical works requires cutting-edge technology that provides services to a large number of music rights holders and users.”
