JOIN SOCAN

To become a SOCAN member, music creators must meet the following criteria:

• Be a music composer, songwriter, producer or lyricist.
• Have created a musical work or part of a musical work that has been:
  • Published by a music publisher; or
  • Recorded; or
  • Performed (or will be) in a public forum (i.e. radio, television, film, live performance, satellite radio, ringtone or internet) subject to licensing by SOCAN

To apply, you’ll need:

• A valid email address

Performing rights copyright divides a song’s royalties (50/50) between the music creator and the music publisher. If you’re a music creator that hasn’t signed an agreement with a publisher, you are still owed your publishing royalties. At this stage of your career, you are self-published and 100% of your performing rights royalties are paid directly to you.

Reproduction rights copyright allocates 100% of the song’s royalties to the music publisher in accordance with the publisher client agreements. If you don’t have an agreement with a music publisher, you are considered self-published and are both the writer and publisher. In this case, the self-published writer will receive the reproduction right royalties.

To learn more about music publishing, visit our Academy Resource Page.

Become a SOCAN music publisher member for Performing Rights

To apply, music publishers must have signed contracts showing:

• You own at least five copyright-protected musical works written or co-written by a writer member of SOCAN or by a Canadian; or
• You are entitled by contract to receive the publisher’s share of the performance credits of at least five copyright protected musical works that were written or co-written by a writer member of SOCAN or by a Canadian.

Before registering as a SOCAN music publisher member for performing rights, publishers must register a Canadian business name. We recommend that you contact us at 1-866-307-6226 or at members@socan.com to verify that your chosen business name is available for use and there is no other SOCAN publisher member already using that name.

To complete your application, you will need the information below.

• Business registration documentation
  • Business number
  • Country of residence for tax purposes
  • Company structure (for example, sole proprietorship or incorporated business)
• Copies of relevant publishing agreements
• A valid email address and phone number
• Banking Information

Become a SOCAN music publisher member for Reproduction Rights

To apply, music publishers must:

• Owns or controls, in whole or in part, the reproduction rights in one or more musical works
• Either already represented for performing rights or joining SOCAN for performance and reproduction concurrently.

If you don’t have a publisher, you are considered self-published and can still have SOCAN administer your Reproduction Rights alongside your Performing Rights.