June 16, 2011
Over 100 SOCAN members gathered in Montreal’s Hyatt Regency Hotel on June 14, 2011, to attend the organization’s Annual General Meeting, which was kicked off in style by the Swing Tonique Jazz Band with a performance of Raymond Lévesque’s iconic anthem, “Quand les hommes vivront d’amour” (“When Love Prevails”). For the first time this year, the AGM was streamed live via www.socan.ca.
After introducing the organization’s board and executive team members, almost all of whom were in attendance, SOCAN president Earl Rosen thanked all SOCAN employees for their valued work over the past year, and sadly referred to the premature passing a few weeks before of SOCAN board member Ed Glinert.
Following the approval of the minutes of the last AGM, CEO Eric Baptiste recalled the initiatives carried out in 2010 to increase member satisfaction, such as the SOCAN House in Los Angeles, the simplification of online forms and e-commerce applications on the members' secure section of the SOCAN website, new information webcasts, and more. “We are proud to report that we’ve seen a 15% revenue increase in 2010,” Mr. Baptiste said. “That was due to a number of factors including the economic recovery, user settlements, increased accounts and new revenue streams.” He also offered a vision of what SOCAN must achieve to build on its success in today’s rapidly changing music industry.
The CEO then introduced SOCAN board treasurer Stan Meissner, who presented a Powerpoint slide show, with commentary, on the organization’s 2010 financial statements.
Music publishers Guillaume Lombart (Ad Litteram), David Murphy (David Murphy Et Cie.) and Jehan Valiquet (Groupe Éditorial Musinfo inc.). (Photo: Michel Gagné)
Many additional topics were covered as first vice-chair Gilles Valiquette reported on the activities of the board’s committees throughout the year, and the SOCAN Foundation vice-president, Jean-François Denis, described that organization’s 2010 achievements. The AGM ended with a question period that dealt mostly with SOCAN’s ability to collect performing royalties for online music uses. Pierre Létourneau asked when SOCAN members could expect to receive royalty payments for YouTube performances. Baptiste explained that SOCAN had recently filed a proposed interim tariff before the Copyright Board for this type of user-generated content.
The AGM was followed by a cocktail reception on a terrace overlooking the site of the FrancoFolies de Montréal music festival, which was dominated by a giant poster of the legendary singer-songwriter Claude Léveillée, who had died a few days previously after a long illness.
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