SOCAN Songwriting Prize

The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize,^[1] is an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian independent music, both anglophone and francophone. Established in 2006, the competition was designed to identify what's next and what's best in current independent music. This prize honours some of the most innovative, creative and artistic songs created in the past year by emerging songwriters in Canada.

The competition panel is composed of 10 experts on the Canadian music scene, who nominate the songs they believe are the most creative and artistic from the past year. The finalists are then announced, and the public votes for the winner over the course of a month.^[2] The winners (one anglophone and one francophone) are each awarded a $5,000 cash prize.

Beginning in 2015, the shortlist of nominees was increased from five to ten.^[3]

Award nominees and winners

Year	Anglophone	Francophone
2006	Propagandhi, "A Speculative Fiction" (Christopher Hannah, Todd Kowalski, Jordan Samolesky) Laura Barrett, "Deception Island Optimists Club" (Laura Barrett) Final Fantasy, "This Lamb Sells Condos" (Owen Pallett) The Stills, "Destroyer" (Olivier Corbeil, Timothy Fletcher, David Hamelin, Liam O'Neil) Wolf Parade, "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" (Hadji Bakara, Dan Boeckner, Spencer Krug, Arlen Thompson)	Ève Cournoyer, "Tout arrive" (Ève Cournoyer) Thomas Hellman, "Foutez-moi la paix" (Thomas Hellman) Karkwa, "Le coup d'état" (Louis-Jean Cormier, Michel Gagnon) Malajube, "La Monogamie" (Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau) Malajube, "Pâte Filo" (Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau)
2007	Abdominal, "Pedal Pusher" (Andrew Bernstein, Rodney Pleasant) The Besnard Lakes, "Devastation" (Stephen Raegele, Nicole Lizee, Jeremiah Bullied, Jonathan Cummins, Olga Goreas, Kevin Laing, Jace Lasek) Feuermusik, "Doppelspiel" (Jeremy Strachan, Gus Weinkauf) Nathan, "Scarecrow" (Keri Latimer) Chad VanGaalen, "Graveyard" (Chad VanGaalen)	Tricot Machine, "L'Ours" (Catherine Leduc) Xavier Caféïne, "Montréal (cette ville)" (Xavier Plante) Dumas, "Au gré des saisons" (Steve Dumas) Frank Martel et l'ouest céleste, "Les partitions de l'amour" (Frank Martel) Numéro, "Chewing-gum fraise" (Jérôme Rocipon, Gabriel Lacombe, Simon Weiskopf, Louis-Philippe Jeanbart)
2008	The Weakerthans, "Night Windows" (Stephen Carroll, John K. Samson, Greg Smith, Jason Tait) Veda Hille, "Lucklucky" (Veda Hille) Sandro Perri, "Double Suicide" (Sandro Perri) Socalled, "You Are Never Alone" (Josh Dolgin, Doris Glaspie, Waleed Shabazz, Katie Moore) Wintersleep, "Weighty Ghost" (Loel Campbell, Tim D'Eon, Paul Murphy, Jud Haynes)	Karkwa, "Oublie pas" (François Lafontaine, Louis-Jean Cormier) Bonjour Brumaire, "Argèles" (Youri Zaragoza, Nathan Howard, Jordan Larocque, François Lessard) El Motor, "Alinéa" (Alexis Dufresne, Pascal Gingras, Fred Filo, Pierre Bouchard, Guillaume Duclos) Gatineau, "The Christ is Right ? Mange ta ville" (Éric Brousseau, Jean Cyr, Dominique Hamel, Jean Nicol) Samian and Loco Locass, "La Paix des braves" (Samian, Biz, Chafiik, Batlam)
2009	D-Sisive, "Nobody With a Notepad" (Derek Christoff, Rob Bakker) Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, "Love Can Be So Mean" (Sebastien Grainger) Land of Talk, "Some Are Lakes" (Elizabeth Powell) Joel Plaskett, "Through and Through and Through" (Joel Plaskett) Timber Timbre, "Lay Down in the Tall Grass" (Taylor Kirk)	Bernard Adamus, "La question à 100 piasses" (Bernard Adamus) Marie-Pierre Arthur, "Pourquoi" (Marie-Pierre Fournier, François Lafontaine, Gaële Tavernier) Malajube, "Porté disparu" (Thomas Augustin, Mathieu Cournoyer, Francis Mineau, Julien Mineau) Paul Cargnello and the Frontline, "Bras coupé" (Paul Cargnello) Yann Perreau, "Beau comme on s'aime" (Yann Perreau)
2010	Brasstronaut, "Hearts Trompet" (Edo Van Breeman, Bryan Davies, Brennan Saul, John Walsh) The Besnard Lakes, "Albatross" (Olga Goreas, Kevin Laing, Jace Lasek, Richard White) Caribou, "Odessa" (Daniel Snaith) Crystal Castles, "Celestica" (Ethan Kath, Alice Glass) Young Galaxy, "Destroyer" (Catherine McCandless, Stephen Ramsay)	Vulgaires Machins, "Parasites" (Maxime Beauregard, Guillaume Beauregard, Patrick Landry, Marie-Eve Roy) Fred Fortin, "Le cinéma des vieux garçons" (Fred Fortin) Le Husky, "La maison hantée" (Alexandre Champigny, Yannick Duguay) Damien Robitaille, "L’ermite dans la ville" (Damien Robitaille) Geneviève Toupin, "Quelque part" (Geneviève Toupin)
2011	Katie Moore, "Wake Up Like This" (Katie Moore) Arcade Fire, "We Used to Wait" (Edwin Butler, William Butler, Régine Chassagne, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, Richard Parry) Austra, "The Beat and the Pulse" (Katie Stelmanis) Handsome Furs, "When I Get Back" (Dan Boeckner, Alexei Perry) PS I Love You, "2012" (Ben Nelson, Paul Saulnier)	Galaxie, "Piste 1" (Olivier Langevin) Jimmy Hunt, "Ça va de soi" (Jimmy Hunt) Philippe B, "Petite leçon des ténèbres" (Philippe Bergeron) Jérôme Minière, "Le Vrai le faux" (Jérôme Minière) Géraldine, "Et les brochettes du buffet" (Géraldine Bureau, Jean-Philippe Fréchette)
2012	Kathleen Edwards, "A Soft Place to Land" (Kathleen Edwards, John Roderick)[4] Japandroids, "The House That Heaven Built" (Brian King, David Prowse) Dan Mangan, "Post-War Blues" (Gordon Grdina, Kent Loewen, Dan Mangan, John Walsh) John K. Samson, "When I Write My Master's Thesis" (John K. Samson) Sloan, "Unkind" (Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson, Andrew Scott)	Koriass, "St-Eustache" (Emmanuel Dubois) Avec pas d'casque, "Intuition #1" (Mathieu Charbonneau, Stéphane Lafleur, Nicolas Moussette, Joël Vaudreuil) Lisa LeBlanc, "Lignes d'hydro" (Joël Vaudreuil) Marie-Pierre Arthur, "Si tu savais" (Marie-Pierre Fournier, François Lafontaine, Gaële Tavernier) Salomé Leclerc, "Dans la prairie" (Philippe Bergeron, Salomé Leclerc)
2013	Mo Kenney, "Sucker" (Mo Kenney)[5] Purity Ring, "Fineshrine" (Megan James, Corey Roddick) Maylee Todd, "Baby's Got It" (Maylee Todd) The Weather Station feat. Baby Eagle, "Mule in the Flowers" (Tamara Lindeman, Steve Lambke) Whitehorse, "Devil's Got a Gun" (Luke Doucet, Melissa McClelland)	Keith Kouna, "Batiscan" (Keith Kouna)[5] Avec pas d'casque, "Walkie-talkie" (Mathieu Charbonneau, Stéphane Lafleur, Nicolas Moussette, Joel Vaudreuil) Gros Mené, "Vénus" (Fred Fortin) Dany Placard, "Parc'qui m'fallait" (Dany Placard) Les sœurs Boulay, "Mappemonde" (Stéphanie Boulay)
2014	Alejandra Ribera, "I Want" (Alejandra Ribera)[6] Louise Burns, "Emeralds Shatter" (Louise Burns) July Talk, "Having You Around" (Peter Dreimanis, Leah Goldstein, Eamon McGrath, Daniel Miles, Josh Warburton) Pup, "Reservoir" (Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumack, Zachary Mykula, Steven Sladkowski) Wake Owl, "Gold" (Colyn Cameron)	Patrice Michaud, "Mécaniques générales" (Patrice Michaud)[6] Philémon Cimon, "Soleil blanc" (Philémon Cimon) Louis-Philippe Gingras, "Andromède" (Louis-Philippe Gingras) Jimmy Hunt, "Nos corps" (Jimmy Hunt, Emmanuel Éthier, Christophe Lamarche Ledoux) Klô Pelgag, "La fièvre des fleurs" (Klô Pelgag)
2015	Dear Rouge, "I Heard I Had" (Andrew McTaggart, Danielle McTaggart)[7] Cold Specks, "Old Knives" (James Anderson, Cold Specks) Kiesza, "Hideaway" (Rami Afuni, Kiesza) Samantha Savage Smith, "It's a Burn" (Samantha Savage Smith) Alvvays, "Archie, Marry Me" (Alec O'Hanley, Molly Rankin) Shi Wisdom, "Young Gunner" (Joel Chambers, Nevon Sinclair, Renee Wisdom) Del Bel, "In My Solitude" (Laura Bates, Tyler Belluz, Aaron Brooks, Lisa Conway, Karen Ng, Chris Sandes, Ira Zingraff) Lowell, "The Bells" (Lowell, Justin Broad, Paul Herman) Lisa Leblanc, "You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I Do Too)" (Lisa Leblanc) 2nd Son feat. Allie, "Private Island" (Daniel Jacques, Allie Ho-Sang)	Antoine Corriveau, "Le Nouveau vocabulaire" (Antoine Corriveau)[7] Pierre Kwenders, "Mardi Gras" (Alexandre Bilodeau, Jacques Alphonse Doucet, Pierre Kwenders) Fanny Bloom, "Piscine" (Fanny Grosjean, Étienne Dupuis Cloutier) Julien Sagot, "Ficelle" (Julien Sagot, Antoine Binette Mercier) Les Hay Babies, "Néguac and Back" (Julie Aubé, Katrine Noel) Eman & Vlooper, "Publi sac" (Louis-Nicolas Imbeau, Emmanuel Blouin Lajoie) Tire le Coyote, "Jolie Anne" (Benoît Pinette) Bernhari, "Kryuchkova" (Alexandre Bernier Leclerc) Salomé Leclerc, "Arlon" (Salomé Leclerc, Philippe Brault) Guillaume Beauregard, "De pluie et de cendres" (Guillaume Beauregard)

References

1. "Japandroids, Sloan, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Mangan and John K. Samson Nominated for SOCAN ECHO Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, September 10, 2012.
2. And The Winner of the Canadian Songwriting Prize Is.... Seattle Weekly, October 19, 2012.
3. "Cold Specks, Alvvays, Kiesza Nominated for SOCAN Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, June 17, 2015.
4. Kathleen Edwards wins $5K songwriting prize. CBC News, October 19, 2012.
5. "Mo Kenney claims SOCAN songwriting prize". CBC News, July 10, 2013.
6. "Alejandra Ribera wins SOCAN Songwriting Prize". CBC News, July 9, 2014.
7. "Dear Rouge Wins 2015 SOCAN Songwriting Prize". Exclaim!, July 9, 2015.

External links

• SOCAN Songwriting Prize