Socan launches its 5th annual Echo Songwriting Prize tomorrow, Sept. 1. The competition is designed to highlight and celebrate the songwriting talents of independent and emerging songwriters in Canada and comes with a $5,000 cash prize.
An independent panel made up of 10 tastemakers, representing various regions of the country, nominates 30 songs and then decide on 5 finalists. Once done, the public is able to listen and vote on the Echo Songwriting Prize website through the month of September. This year, the 5 songs chosen as finalists are Albatross by the Besnard Lakes, Celestica by Crystal Castles, Destroyer by Young Galaxy, Hearts Trompet by Brasstronaut and Odessa by Caribou.
Past winners include Derek Christoff and Robert Baker (a.k.a Muneshine) with Nobody With A Notepad, The Weakerthans  with Night Windows,  Andrew Bernstein (a.k.a. Abdominal) and Rodney Pleasant with Pedal Pusher, and Propaghandi members Christopher Hannah, Todd Kowalski and Jordan Samolesky, with A Speculative Fiction.
“The Echo Songwriting Prize is designed to put the spotlight on some of this country’s up-and-coming songwriters, who might not otherwise receive recognition for their work at this point in their career,” says France Lafleur, VP Membership for Socan. “It’s also a unique opportunity for Socan to introduce itself to future members. Our members are of the utmost importance to us and we continually look to new initiatives to enhance the services we offer them.”
The Prix de la chanson Écho, celebrating the songwriting talents of some of the best independent, up-and-coming Francophone songwriters in Canada, is launching concurrently.
