The SOCAN Awards is an annual event, held in both Toronto and Montréal, which celebrates the songwriting, composing and music publishing achievements of our Anglophone and Francophone members alike. Since 1990 – the inaugural year of the SOCAN Awards – the Canadian music industry has gathered each year to pay tribute to the most-performed songs from the previous year by SOCAN members; honour exceptional film and television music; and present individual SOCAN members with special achievement awards for their impressive career accomplishments.
Over the years, more than 4,000 awards have been presented in various categories to songwriters, composers and music publishers whose music has garnered a great deal of success, both in Canada and abroad.
Awarded to our special achievement winners, “The SOCAN” is the first and only major music industry trophy that is also an actual musical instrument. It was created in partnership with instrument maker SABIAN of New Brunswick, and renowned trophy designer Society Awards. This elegant, artistic trophy integrates five crotales – handmade, tuned, circular bronze percussion instruments, each producing a different note when struck. Three gold-plated steel bars hold the crotales firmly in place, and an elegantly curved gold “S” supports each bar. The SOCAN can even lie horizontally when played, and each year the tones reflect the work of a prominent SOCAN member being honoured that year.
