The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has stepped ahead to stand behind fair and legal music licensing to make the 2024 JUNO Awards and JUNO Week become the first major awards event to be Licensed To Play with SOCAN.
The largest organization in the Canadian music ecosystem has presented the 2024 JUNO Awards and JUNO Week with a special Licensed To Play designation for working to ensure that all of its performance venues are legally licensed with SOCAN to perform live and recorded music.
After confirming that more than 15 JUNO live music venues are licensed with SOCAN, JUNO Week was presented with a special Licensed To Play designation, a version of the emblem that more than 40,000 Canadian music-using businesses have so far received to show off their support of fair compensation for music creators.
"We are a proud supporter of the Licensed To Play initiative with SOCAN," said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. "CARAS believes that it is essential that we play a part in ensuring that all of Canada's music creators are fairly compensated through licensing."
"Being Licensed To Play with SOCAN is a badge of honour and pride, and the 2024 JUNOS honour songwriters, composers and music publishers by stepping ahead to make a bold statement that they stand behind music creators' right and need to be compensated fairly for their work," said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste.
The 45th annual JUNO Awards is the largest music event in North America that honours Canadian artists. JUNO Week 2024 will showcase nearly 120 music acts at more than 15 live music venues across Calgary from March 28 to April 3. JUNO Week culminates with the live broadcast of the JUNO Awards on CTV on April 3rd.
While organizations that use music to make their business better should abide by the law, constantly monitoring every one of Canada's music-using businesses is not feasible. SOCAN works with businesses and their trade associations to encourage them to stay up-to-date with their fair music licenses. Collectively, these licenses are a major part of a songwriter, composer or music publisher's livelihood through royalties, and a vital aspect of Canada's music ecosystem.
In May of last year, Canadian Music Week became the first major music festival and conference in North America to ensure that all of its live music venues are licensed so that music creators and publishers can be fairly compensated. Since then, others have followed CMW's lead.