SOCAN Songwriting Prize

The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize,[1] is an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian emerging music, both anglophone and francophone.

Established in 2006, the competition was designed to recognize some of the most innovative, creative and artistic songs created in the year preceding the award by emerging songwriters in Canada.

Songs are selected by a competition panel composed of 10 music experts from the Canadian music scene, who each nominate two songs based on a set of criteria they believe are the best songs by emerging artists from the past year. The songs are narrowed down to a set of 10 finalists and announced publicly. Fans then vote for the winner over the course of two weeks in June.[2][3] Once the winners (one anglophone and one francophone) are determined after the voting period, they each are awarded a $10,000 cash prize from SOCAN and an assortment of prizes from the yearly sponsors.

Beginning in 2015, the shortlist of nominees was increased from five to ten.[4]

Award nominees and winners

Year	Anglophone	Francophone
2006	Christopher Hannah, Todd Kowalski, Jordan Samolesky — Propagandhi, "A Speculative Fiction"[5] Laura Barrett — Laura Barrett, "Deception Island Optimists Club" Owen Pallett — Final Fantasy, "This Lamb Sells Condos" Olivier Corbeil, Timothy Fletcher, David Hamelin, Liam O'Neil — The Stills, "Destroyer" Hadji Bakara, Dan Boeckner, Spencer Krug, Arlen Thompson — Wolf Parade, "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son"	Ève Cournoyer — Ève Cournoyer, "Tout arrive"[5] Thomas Hellman — Thomas Hellman, "Foutez-moi la paix" Louis-Jean Cormier, Michel Gagnon — Karkwa, "Le coup d'état" Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau — Malajube, "La Monogamie" Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau - Malajube, "Pâte Filo"
2007	Andrew Bernstein, Rodney Pleasant — Abdominal, "Pedal Pusher" Stephen Raegele, Nicole Lizee, Jeremiah Bullied, Jonathan Cummins, Olga Goreas, Kevin Laing, Jace Lasek — The Besnard Lakes, "Devastation" Jeremy Strachan, Gus Weinkauf — Feuermusik, "Doppelspiel" Keri Latimer — Nathan, "Scarecrow" Chad VanGaalen — Chad VanGaalen, "Graveyard"	Catherine Leduc — Tricot Machine, "L'Ours" Xavier Plante — Xavier Caféïne, "Montréal (cette ville)" Steve Dumas — Dumas, "Au gré des saisons" Frank Martel — Frank Martel et l'ouest céleste, "Les partitions de l'amour" Jérôme Rocipon, Gabriel Lacombe, Simon Weiskopf, Louis-Philippe Jeanbart — Numéro, "Chewing-gum fraise"
2008	Stephen Carroll, John K. Samson, Greg Smith, Jason Tait — The Weakerthans, "Night Windows" Veda Hille — Veda Hille, "Lucklucky" Sandro Perri — Sandro Perri, "Double Suicide" (Sandro Perri) Josh Dolgin, Doris Glaspie, Waleed Shabazz, Katie Moore — Socalled, "You Are Never Alone" Loel Campbell, Tim D'Eon, Paul Murphy, Jud Haynes — Wintersleep, "Weighty Ghost"	François Lafontaine, Louis-Jean Cormier — Karkwa, "Oublie pas" Youri Zaragoza, Nathan Howard, Jordan Larocque, François Lessard — Bonjour Brumaire, "Argèles" Alexis Dufresne, Pascal Gingras, Fred Filo, Pierre Bouchard, Guillaume Duclos — El Motor, "Alinéa" Éric Brousseau, Jean Cyr, Dominique Hamel, Jean Nicol — Gatineau, "The Christ is Right ? Mange ta ville" Samuel Tremblay, Sébastien Fréchette, Mathieu Farhoud-Dionne, Sébastien Ricard — Samian and Loco Locass, "La Paix des braves"
2009	Derek Christoff, Rob Bakker — D-Sisive, "Nobody With a Notepad" Sebastien Grainger — Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, "Love Can Be So Mean" Elizabeth Powell — Land of Talk, "Some Are Lakes" Joel Plaskett — Joel Plaskett, "Through and Through and Through" Taylor Kirk — Timber Timbre, "Lay Down in the Tall Grass"	Bernard Adamus — Bernard Adamus, "La question à 100 piasses" Marie-Pierre Fournier, François Lafontaine, Gaële Tavernier — Marie-Pierre Arthur, "Pourquoi" Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau — Malajube, "Porté disparu" Paul Cargnello — Paul Cargnello and the Frontline, "Bras coupé" Yann Perreau — Yann Perreau, "Beau comme on s'aime"
2010	Edo Van Breeman, Bryan Davies, Brennan Saul, John Walsh — Brasstronaut, "Hearts Trompet" Olga Goreas, Kevin Laing, Jace Lasek, Richard White — The Besnard Lakes, "Albatross" Dan Snaith — Caribou, "Odessa" Ethan Kath, Alice Glass — Crystal Castles, "Celestica" Catherine McCandless, Stephen Ramsay — Young Galaxy, "Destroyer"	Maxime Beauregard, Guillaume Beauregard, Patrick Landry, Marie-Eve Roy — Vulgaires Machins, "Parasites" Fred Fortin — Fred Fortin, "Le cinéma des vieux garçons" Alexandre Champigny, Yannick Duguay — Le Husky, "La maison hantée" Damien Robitaille — Damien Robitaille, "L’ermite dans la ville" Geneviève Toupin — Geneviève Toupin, "Quelque part"
2011	Katie Moore — Katie Moore, "Wake Up Like This" Edwin Butler, William Butler, Régine Chassagne, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, Richard Parry — Arcade Fire, "We Used to Wait" Katie Stelmanis — Austra, "The Beat and the Pulse" Dan Boeckner, Alexei Perry — Handsome Furs, "When I Get Back" Ben Nelson, Paul Saulnier — PS I Love You, "2012"	Olivier Langevin — Galaxie, "Piste 1" Jimmy Hunt — Jimmy Hunt, "Ça va de soi" Philippe Bergeron — Philippe B, "Petite leçon des ténèbres" Jérôme Minière — Jérôme Minière, "Le Vrai le faux" Géraldine Bureau, Jean-Philippe Fréchette — Géraldine, "Et les brochettes du buffet"
2012	Kathleen Edwards, John Roderick — Kathleen Edwards, "A Soft Place to Land"[6] Brian King, David Prowse — Japandroids, "The House That Heaven Built" Gordon Grdina, Kent Loewen, Dan Mangan, John Walsh — Dan Mangan, "Post-War Blues" John K. Samson — John K. Samson, "When I Write My Master's Thesis" Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson, Andrew Scott — Sloan, "Unkind"	Emmanuel Dubois — Koriass, "St-Eustache" Mathieu Charbonneau, Stéphane Lafleur, Nicolas Moussette, Joël Vaudreuil — Avec pas d'casque, "Intuition #1" Joël Vaudreuil — Lisa LeBlanc, "Lignes d'hydro" Marie-Pierre Fournier, François Lafontaine, Gaële Tavernier — Marie-Pierre Arthur, "Si tu savais" Philippe Bergeron, Salomé Leclerc — Salomé Leclerc, "Dans la prairie"
2013	Mo Kenney — Mo Kenney, "Sucker"[7] Megan James, Corey Roddick — Purity Ring, "Fineshrine" Maylee Todd — Maylee Todd, "Baby's Got It" Tamara Lindeman, Steve Lambke — The Weather Station feat. Baby Eagle, "Mule in the Flowers" Luke Doucet, Melissa McClelland — Whitehorse, "Devil's Got a Gun"	Keith Kouna — Keith Kouna, "Batiscan"[7] Mathieu Charbonneau, Stéphane Lafleur, Nicolas Moussette, Joel Vaudreuil — Avec pas d'casque, "Walkie-talkie" Fred Fortin — Gros Mené, "Vénus" Dany Placard — Dany Placard, "Parc'qui m'fallait" Stéphanie Boulay — Les sœurs Boulay, "Mappemonde"
2014	Alejandra Ribera — Alejandra Ribera, "I Want"[8] Louise Burns — Louise Burns, "Emeralds Shatter" Peter Dreimanis, Leah Goldstein, Eamon McGrath, Daniel Miles, Josh Warburton — July Talk, "Having You Around" Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumack, Zachary Mykula, Steven Sladkowski — Pup, "Reservoir" Colyn Cameron — Wake Owl, "Gold"	Patrice Michaud — Patrice Michaud, "Mécaniques générales"[8] Philémon Cimon — Philémon Cimon, "Soleil blanc" Louis-Philippe Gingras — Louis-Philippe Gingras, "Andromède" Jimmy Hunt, Emmanuel Éthier, Christophe Lamarche Ledoux — Jimmy Hunt, "Nos corps" Klô Pelgag — Klô Pelgag, "La fièvre des fleurs"
2015	Andrew McTaggart, Danielle McTaggart — Dear Rouge, "I Heard I Had"[9] James Anderson, Ladan Hussain — Cold Specks, "Old Knives" Rami Afuni, Kiesza — Kiesza, "Hideaway" Samantha Savage Smith — Samantha Savage Smith, "It's a Burn" Alec O'Hanley, Molly Rankin — Alvvays, "Archie, Marry Me" Joel Chambers, Nevon Sinclair, Renee Wisdom — Shi Wisdom, "Young Gunner" Laura Bates, Tyler Belluz, Aaron Brooks, Lisa Conway, Karen Ng, Chris Sandes, Ira Zingraff — Del Bel, "In My Solitude" Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Justin Broad, Paul Herman — Lowell, "The Bells" Lisa Leblanc — Lisa Leblanc, "You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I Do Too)" Daniel Jacques, Allie Ho-Sang — 2nd Son feat. Allie, "Private Island"	Antoine Corriveau — Antoine Corriveau, "Le Nouveau vocabulaire"[9] Alexandre Bilodeau, Jacques Alphonse Doucet, José Louis Modabi — Pierre Kwenders, "Mardi Gras" Fanny Grosjean, Étienne Dupuis Cloutier — Fanny Bloom, "Piscine" Julien Sagot, Antoine Binette Mercier — Julien Sagot, "Ficelle" Julie Aubé, Katrine Noel — Les Hay Babies, "Néguac and Back" Louis-Nicolas Imbeau, Emmanuel Blouin Lajoie — Eman & Vlooper, "Publi sac" Benoît Pinette — Tire le coyote, "Jolie Anne" Alexandre Leclerc-Bernier — Bernhari, "Kryuchkova" Salomé Leclerc, Philippe Brault — Salomé Leclerc, "Arlon" Guillaume Beauregard — Guillaume Beauregard, "De pluie et de cendres"
2016	Matthew McLeod — Fast Romantics, "Julia"[2] Benjamin Addy, Renee Wisdom — Spek Won feat. Shi Wisdom, "Black Body" Jahmarie Adams, Michael Lantz — Jazz Cartier, "Dead or Alive" Kathleen Monks, Benjamin Reinhartz, James Rowlinson, Elizabeth Ball — Dilly Dally, "Desire" Tobias Jesso Jr. — Tobias Jesso, Jr., "How Could You Babe" Terra Lightfoot — Terra Lightfoot, "No Hurry" Ashton Simmonds, Matthew Burnett, Jordan Evans, Alexander Sowinski, Matthew Tavares, Leland Whitty, Chester Hansen, Keaven Yazdani — Daniel Caesar feat. BADBADNOTGOOD, "Paradise" Sean Graham, Thomas “Tawgs” Salter — Modern Space, "Pen to Paper" Simon Ward, Jeremy Drury, Jonathan Hembrey, Darryl G.J. James, Brian Leigh Pickett, David Ritter, Joanne Setterington, Isabel Cunningham Ritchie — The Strumbellas, "Spirits" Andy Shauf — Andy Shauf, "Wendell Walker"	Laurence Nerbonne — Laurence Nerbonne, "Rêves d’été"[10] Félix Dyotte — Félix Dyotte, "Avalanches" Claude Bégin — Claude Bégin, "Avant de disparaître" Philippe Brach — Philippe Brach, "Crystel" Safia Nolin — Safia Nolin, "Igloo" Mélanie Boulay, Jean-Sébastien Houle — Les sœurs Boulay, "Les coûteaux à beurre" Charlotte Cardin — Charlotte Cardin, "Les échardes" Rosie Valland — Rosie Valland, "Olympe" Alexe Gaudreault, John Nathaniel — Alexe Gaudreault, "Placebo" Chantal Archambault, Michel Olivier Gasse — Saratoga, "Saratoga"
2017	Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zachary Mykula, Steve Sladkowski — PUP, "DVP" Ashton Simmonds, Jordan Evans, Matthew Burnett, Tommy Paxton-Beesley, Ian Culley, Alexander Ernewein — Daniel Caesar, "Won't Live Here" Charlotte Cardin — Charlotte Cardin, "Big Boy" Thomas D'Arcy, Ian Docherty, Peter Dreimanis, Leah Goldstein, Danny Miles, Josh Warburton — July Talk, "Push + Pull" Kevin Celestin, Brandon Anderson — Kaytranada feat. Anderson.Paak, "Glowed Up" Jessie Reyez, , Bjoran Johan, Tobias Frelin, Blake Carter — Jessie Reyez, "Figures" Tommy Paxton-Beesley, Thadeus Gardwood, Johnathan Mavrogiannis, Dan Voicu — River Tiber, "Acid Test" Jeremy Drury, Jonathan Hembrey, Darryl James, Brian Pickett, David Ritter, Isabel Ritchie, Joanne Setterington — The Strumbellas, "We Don't Know" Jasmyn Burke, Morgan Waters — Weaves, "Shithole" Charlotte Day Wilson — Charlotte Day Wilson, "Work"	Klô Pelgag, Karl Gagnon — Klô Pelgag, "Les ferrofluides-fleurs" Alexandre Leclerc-Bernier — Bernhari, "Je pense à toi" Amélie Beyries, Maxime Le Flaguais — Beyries feat. Louis-Jean Cormier, "J'aurai 100 ans" Charlotte Cardin — Charlotte Cardin, "Faufile" Vincent Banville, Gregory Beaudoin, Jonathan Quirion, Jean-François Ruel, Pierre Savu-Massé, Charles-André Vincelette — Dead Obies, "Explosif" John Nathaniel, Mariane Cossette Bacon, Alexe Gaudreault — Alexe Gaudreault, "Éclat" Xavier Dufour Thériault, Jean-Philippe Godbout, Marc-André Landry, Julien Mineau, Ryan Battistuzzi, Jean-Cimon Tellier-Dubé — Gazoline, "L'amour véritable est aux rebelles" Lydia Képinski — Lydia Képinski, "Apprendre à mentir" Pierre-Luc Bégin, Éliane Préfontaine, Julia Daigle, Vincent Lévesque — Paupière, "Rex" Rosie Valland, Jessie MacCormack — Rosie Valland, "Nord-Est"
2018	Josée Caron, Lucy Niles — Partner, "Play the Field" Alec O'Hanley, Molly Rankin — Alvvays, "Dreams Tonite" Leandra Earl, Eliza Enman-McDaniel, Jordan Miller, Kylie Miller, Garrett Lee — The Beaches, "Money" Eoin Killeen, Timothy Law, Patrisha Sanna Campbell — Birthday Boy and Trish, "Magic" Charlotte Cardin — Charlotte Cardin, "Main Girl" Neil Bednis, Christopher Laurignano, Fraser McClean, Melanie St. Pierre — Casper Skulls, "Lingua Franca" Benjamin McCarthy, Meghan Meisters, Ryan Somerville — iskwē, "Healers" James Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood, Donovan Woods — James Barker Band, "Chills" Jessie Reyez — Jessie Reyes, "Cotton Candy" Jasmyn Burke, Morgan Waters — Weaves, "Walkaway"	Simon Cliche Trudeau, Jeff Martinez, Marc Vincent — Loud, "56k" Maude Audet — Maude Audet, "Gallaway Road" Amélie Beyries — Beyries, "Au-delà des mots" Philippe Bouchard, Gabriel Desjardins — Philippe Brach, "La fin du monde" Philémon Cimon — Lou-Adriane Cassidy, "Ça va ça va" Félix Dyotte — Félix Dyotte and Evelyne Brochu, "Je cours" Simon Beaudoin, Christian David, Antoine Dumoulin Drolet, Sebastien Jean Houle, David Lagace, Christian Renaud — La Famille Ouellette, "Tout ce vacarme" Andréanne A, Malette, Manuel Gasse — Andréanne A. Malette, "Fou" Emerik St-Cyr Labbé, Etienne Dupré, Eliott Bundock Durocher, David Marchand, Mandela Dalgeish Coupal — Mon Doux Saigneur, "Primitif" Émile Proulx-Cloutier — Émile Proulx-Cloutier, "Petite valise"
2019	Chester Krupa Carbone, Kevin Hissink, Jordan Benjamin — grandson, "Blood//Water"[11] Chloé Soldevila, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, Gabriel Lambert, Zachary Irving — Anemone, "She's the One" Sarah Hagen, Maxwell Pankiw, Isaiah Steinberg — Bad Child, "Payback" Clairmont Humphrey II — Clairmont the Second, "Tortoise" Elizabeth Ball, Kathleen Monks, Benjamin Reinhartz, James Anthony Rowlinson — Dilly Dally, "Bad Biology" Scott Helman, Thomas Salter, Gordie Sampson, Simon Wilcox — Scott Helman, "Hang Ups" Dominique Dias, John Samuels — Just John x Dom Dias, "Soundboi" Kevin Celestin, Shanice Mohamed, Anthony Pierre — Kaytranada feat. Shay Lia, "Chances" Seth Nyquist, Adrian Cook — MorMor, "Whatever Comes to Mind" Sam Lucia, Geoff Millar — So Loki, "Elephant Man"	Teddy Laguerre, Shawn Volcy, Marc Casseus, Vladimi Methelus — Tizzo feat. Shreez and Soft, "On fouette"[11] Simon Bolduc — Bolduc tout croche, "Manche ouverte" Tommy Bélisle, Philippe Gauthier Boudreau, Thierry Malépart, Marc-Antoine Barbier, Félix Bélisle — Choses Sauvages, "La valse des trottoirs" Léo Fougère, Clément Langlois-Légaré, Tom St-Laurent — FouKi, "Zaybae" Lydia Képinski — Lydia Képinski, "Premier juin" Hubert Chiasson — Hubert Lemoir, "Fille de personne II" Vincent Roberge, Félix Petit, Simon Saint Hillier — Les Louanges, "Tercel" Brandon Mignacca, John Nathaniel, Mariane Cossette-Bacon — Brandon Mig, "Best I'll Never Have (version française)" Obia Magloire Pierre-Louis, Amhed Saghir — Obia le chef, "Pas né" Sarahmée Ouellet, Thomas Lapointe, Diego Montenegro, Ingrid Phd Prifti — Sarahmée, "T'as pas cru"
2020	William Prince — William Prince, "The Spark"[12] Clairmont Humphrey II — Clairmont the Second, "Grip"[13] Meghan Meisters, Mary Beth Ancheta, Alex Mak — iskwē, "Breaking Down"[13] Kira Huszar, Adam Pondang, Akeel Henry — Loony, "Some Kinda Love"[13] Haviah Mighty, Preston Chin, Tim Hill — Havian Mighty, "Thirteen"[13] Scott Zhang — Monsune, "Mountain"[13] Lauren Isenberg, David Charles Fischer, Jeff Hazin, Matt Kahane — renforshort, "Mind Games"[13] Rita Claire Mike-Murphy, Zahrah Ibrahim, Andrew Morrison — Riit, "#uvangattauq"[13] JP Saxe, Ryan Marrone - JP Saxe, "Same Room"[13] Khalid Yassein, Robyn Dell'Unto — Wild Rivers, "Thinking ‘Bout Love"[13]	Félix Dyotte — Evelyne Brochu, "Maintenant ou jamais"[12] Christian-Adam Gilbert, Mathieu Lafontaine — Bleu Jeans Bleu, "Coton ouaté"[13] Alexandre Beauregard, Daphné Brissette, Guillaume Chiasson, Mélissa Fortin, Étienne Côté — Bon Enfant, "Aujourd’hui"[13] Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Stéphanie Boulay — Lou-Adriane Cassidy, "La fin du monde à tous les jours"[13] Julien Bakvis, Jonathan Robert, Julian Perreault, Dominic Berthiaume — Corridor, "Topographe"[13] Léo Fougère, Tom St-Laurent — FouKi, "ZayZay"[13] Justin Boisclair, Thibault de Castelbajac, Benjamin Duplantie-Grenier, Thomas Thivierge-Gauthier, Maxime de Castelbajac, Clément Langlois-Légaré — LaF, "Cadran solaire"[13] Laurence-Anne C. Gagné — Laurence-Anne, "Instant Zéro"[13] Vincent Roberge, Félix Petit — Les Louanges, "Attends-moi pas"[13] Mat Vezio — Mat Vezio, "Chaleur 10"[13]

References

1. "Japandroids, Sloan, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Mangan and John K. Samson Nominated for SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, September 10, 2012.
2. "Home". SOCAN Songwriting Prize. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
3. And The Winner of the Canadian Songwriting Prize Is.... Seattle Weekly, October 19, 2012.
4. "Cold Specks, Alvvays, Kiesza Nominated for SOCAN Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, June 17, 2015.
5. "Punk band wins award with anti-U.S. anthem". The Globe and Mail, October 30, 2006.
6. Kathleen Edwards wins $5K songwriting prize. CBC News, October 19, 2012.
7. "Mo Kenney claims SOCAN songwriting prize". CBC News, July 10, 2013.
8. "Alejandra Ribera wins SOCAN Songwriting Prize". CBC News, July 9, 2014.
9. "Dear Rouge Wins 2015 SOCAN Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, July 9, 2015.
10. "Accueil". Prix Chanson SOCAN. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
11. "Politically Charged 'Blood // Water' Wins SOCAN Songwriting Prize". FYI Music News, June 24, 2019.
12. Calum Slingerland, "William Prince Wins 2020 SOCAN Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, August 5, 2020.
13. Allie Gregory, "SOCAN Announces 2020 Songwriting Prize Finalists". Exclaim!, July 16, 2020.

External links

• SOCAN Songwriting Prize