Disc Jockeys Unlimited - SOCAN Society

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SOCAN Fee
( Society of Composers, Authors And Music Publishers of Canada )

We hope this page answers many of your questions about the SOCAN fee. Wedding clients click here to return to the wedding help page.

Who are they?

SOCAN is short for the Society of Composers, Authors And Music Publishers of Canada. They where established in 1990 to collect fees from public performances of Canadian musical works.

Who pays this fee?

Your venue pays the fee and they pass the charge on to you. The fee can range from venue to venue as it's based upon a number of factors (Number of guests the room can hold...). Some venues include the fee in the hall rental so even if you don't see it on your bill you are most likely paying it.

Where does the money go?

Reading SOCANs financial statements off of their website it's hard to tell exactly what percentage of the money goes where but it appears that about 70-80% of the money goes to administration costs and about 20-30% goes to the people who compose or write Canadian music. Visit their website for more details and up to date financials.

What does paying this fee entitle me to?

The SOCAN fee that you pay your venue allows you to have music played at your event. Whenever you play music in front of an audience (your guests) the law considers it to be a public performance even though your event is most likely a private affair at which your guests are not paying an admission to attend. There is a separate fee that your DJs might have to pay to the AVLA (Audio Video Licensing Agency) depending on what format their music is in.

When don't I have to pay the fee?

1- If you have musicians at your event who are performing their own works exclusively then you do not have to pay the fee.
2- If you are not having any music at your event.
3- I believe (don't quote me on this) if you are playing music at your event in which the source is Satellite Radio as Satellite Radio pays a SOCAN fee already.

*If any of the information on this page is incorrect or out of date, please contact us so that we can update it. We accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information on this page or how you use it.