Posted On: Jul. 25, 2017

SOCAN Song House at BreakOut West 2017

SOCAN members will receive a 10 percent discount on conference packages when they register for the 15th annual BreakOut West conference and festival, scheduled for Sept. 13-17, 2017, in Edmonton with the conference component held at the Sutton Place Hotel.

Simply go the BreakOut West registration page and select “SOCAN” from the “Music Industry Association Member” drop-down menu for the automatic discount. Or use the discount code bow1510 while registering, if you prefer.

As part of the conference, SOCAN will present a two-day Song House camp, Sept. 13-14. Ralph Murphy – the renowned songwriter, producer, and author of Murphy’s Law of Songwriting­ – will lead the interactive workshop, in which 12 songwriter participants from Western Canada will be selected to participate, gaining valuable insight into the craft of writing a hit song. To submit for the SOCAN Song House, click here to complete the Google form. The submission deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017.

Songwriter participants must meet the following criteria:

  • The workshop will be best-suited to songwriters in pop and country genres
  • Must be a SOCAN member
  • Must be a Western Canadian Music Association member, or a member of one of the six Western Canadian Music Industry Associations (Alberta Music, SaskMusic, Manitoba Music, Music BC, Music Yukon, Music NWT
  • Must be attending BreakOut West, and available to participate Sept. 13-14, 2017
  • Willing to take their writing craft to the next level

SOCAN_SongHouse_BOW_2016_Main_CS.jpgSOCAN Song House at BreakOut West 2016. Standing, left to right: Instructor Ralph Murphy, Ben Klick, Dana Blayone, Elias Lenge, Quinton Blair, Mark Times, Nuela Charles. Kneeling, left to right: Eric Taylor, Scott MacKay, Malusi Mabaleka, SOCAN's Tim Hardy. (Photo: Barb Sedun)

SOCAN will also present the Songwriter of the Year Award at the 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards that are part of the conference week, on Sept. 14.

The nominees for this year’s SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award are:

  • Andy Shauf, for “The Magician”
  • Corb Lund, for “Washed-Up Rock Star Factory Blues”
  • Sam Tudor, for “Joseph in The Bathroom”
  • The Zolas (Zachary Gray, Tom Dobrzanski, Cody Hiles, and Dwight Abell), for “Swooner”
  • Alexa Dirks (a.k.a. Begonia) and Matt Schellenberg, for “Juniper”
Conference