Cracking Down on Music Crime: SOCAN Pays a Visit to Ptbo

SHANNON LEBLANC | MARCH 10, 2014

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) have sent in External License agent, Philippe Girouard, to Peterborough to crack down on music crime and to catch music lawbreakers in the act.

Local businesses are being put under the pressure of ensuring that they abide by standard music laws and to ensure that their SOCAN licenses have been renewed.

The Canadian Copyright Act recognizes three main rights: 1. The right to produce or copy the musical work, 2. The right to reproduce the musical work, including mechanical rights and synchronization rights, and 3. Performing rights, which are the rights to perform a work in public and the right to communicate to the public by telecommunication.

Artists and songwriters join SOCAN to help preserve their musical integrity and to prevent copyright infringements.

SOCAN charges a rate of $0.1146 per square foot, with the minimum fee being $94.51. Each license is valid for one year. By then, each business is expected to renew their music license and produce payment before the Jan. 31 deadline.

The fee for Tariff 15A, which covers “the playing of background music in retail stores, restaurants and other similar establishments,” is based on the square footage that’s accessible to the public, not on the overall square footage of the establishment itself.

The fee for Tariff 20, which covers “karaoke bars and similar establishments,” is based on the number of days on which an establishment operates.

Tariff 3A, which covers live music, states that “the fee payable by the establishment is three percent of the compensation for the entertainment paid in the year covered by the license subject to a minimum annual fee of $83.65.”

According to Script 264 of the Canadian Bar Association’s Music Law Copyright and Trademarks, it states:

“To publicly play or perform music that’s been created or recorded by another songwriter or musician, you, your label or the venue are legally obligated to pay a fee or royalty … You also have to pay royalties if you record cover songs, whether you manufacture CDs or simply sell the song over the Internet.”

But how would you know if an artist is registered in the database? Well, SOCAN utilizes a public repertoire search function on their website “containing information about musical works in SOCAN’s repertoire which includes foreign works that SOCAN is authorized to license.”

However, you would need to know the title of the song or work in order to determine whether or not it is registered with SOCAN, which is an inconvenience in itself, especially if a business has a playlist containing several hundred songs.

If a business were to schedule a live performance, the artist would need to send them a line-up of every song.

In relation to the confusion surrounding fees and tariffs, a SOCAN spokesperson clarified that if a business plays music in the form of radio, it is exempt from fees.

However, if a business plays music via Internet radio, such as Pandora, SiriusXM Internet Radio, or Live365, a fee would apply, amounting in the minimum amount of $94.51 as stated above.

If a business plays the music of a local musician whose music hasn’t been registered with SOCAN, they are exempt from fees. However, if the store plays a song that is registered in SOCAN’s database, then a license is required for that business.

Even recreational facilities operated by the municipality of Peterborough, including Trent, are subjected to paying fees, as stated in Tariff 21. So, if Trent were to put on an event where music, prerecorded or live, were to be used, such as #introfest or the 2014 Fashion Show, they would need to register for a SOCAN license.

It isn’t clear if Trent has registered for a license as the TCSA could not be reached for comment.

A license is not required for stores or workplaces playing music through a satellite provider.

SOCAN is vague about how money is used, stating that the distribution of license fees consists of 86 percent royalties and 14 percent going towards operating costs.

As of now, there are no reports of any businesses being found guilty of music misconduct and playing without a license, but as Judy Byrne from George Street’s Hi Ho Silver stated, “I was waiting for it,” along with other Peterborough businesses, who, when questioned, were not aware of the licensing agent’s visit.

In a short interview, Communications and Marketing Specialist for SOCAN, Leigh Kenderdine, outlined the aspects of SOCAN’s mission statement and the impacts their regulations have on local businesses.

When looking into the distribution of licensing fees, I noticed that 14 percent goes towards operating costs. Would it be possible to get a general breakdown of the operating costs?

SOCAN performs an extremely complicated task for member songwriters, composers, and music publishers. This work requires extensive information technology and specific expertise, and the benefit to members is that SOCAN identifies tracks, collects, and administers royalties far more thoroughly and conclusively.

The preliminary results for the 2013 annual report showed that:

• A record year for total revenue, $276-million brought in for members, an increase of approximately nine percent over 2012.

• International revenue of $51-million, the first time that SOCAN members have surpassed the $50-million mark for royalties originating from outside of Canada – an increase of eight percent over 2012.

• A record $240-million was distributed in 2013 to members, a year-over-year increase of nine percent (excluding years with extraordinary arrears payments to members).

• Internet streaming revenues of $3.2-million were distributed to members – another first.

As SOCAN’s media liaison, I would like your take on how you believe SOCAN music regulations are affecting small local businesses who may not necessarily be able to afford the licensing fees, in addition to how you believe that SOCAN is protecting the music industry as a whole.

When a business uses music, it is adding value to its business through the use of work of music creators and publishers. The person(s) who composed, wrote, and published the song are entitled to be compensated for the time, effort, and money they put into the creation of that work.

According to the Copyright Act, any public performance of copyright-protected musical works requires a licence. When a song is played in public, music creators (not just the performers) are entitled to be compensated – it supports their livelihood. Without SOCAN, businesses that use music in public would have to get permission from every composer, songwriter, lyricist, and publisher for every musical works they intend to use, and they would have to pay each of them directly. This permission is not granted when you buy a recording, whether it is through a CD, MP3 file, etc., which only allows you to privately use the purchased music. SOCAN simplifies this complex process for businesses through licences.

How significant is that cost for a small business? 

The cost to obtain a SOCAN license is relatively inexpensive. For example, the average small business is 800 to 1600 square feet.  A SOCAN licence for background music in businesses of those two sizes would be $94.51 per year (minimum fee) and $183.36 peryear, or $0.31 per day and $0.59 per day assuming the business is open 6 days per week, respectively. To put things in perspective, if the small business is a coffee shop, that cost is approximately the same cost of a single wholesale carton of 12oz paper coffee cups and tops, which is approximately $100. If the small business is a retailer and they use 13” by 10” white or brown paper bags with their logo, the cost of their SOCAN license at $0.59 per day is approximately equivalent to the cost of one paper bag per day at $0.56 each.  If that paper bag is coloured, that cost increases to $0.98 for a single bag in bulk, which is 75 percent more expensive than the daily cost of a SOCAN license.

Based on a Leger study that was performed by SOCAN in 2013, 72 percent of business owners feel that playing music is important to their customers’ overall experience. If you couple that with the fact that 55 percent of business owners think that customers would complain if music wasn’t used, and 44 percent also believe that not playing music would drive their customers to the competition – music is an important part of creating an atmosphere to attract customers.

Ultimately, SOCAN’s strict regulations and hefty sanctions play a big role in developing an equitable, stable, and compensating system of music in Canada.

However, the impact it has among the Peterborough business community, especially considering the city’s already unstable economy, is unknown at this moment.

Slaughter in Sochi: A Massacre of Animal Rights in the Olympics

SHANNON LEBLANC | FEBRUARY 25, 2014

“Line up at the start”… “Ready?”… “Bang!”

Hearing this, you would expect that to be the gunshot signifying the start of a race, or that of a heat. Wrong! In fact, that is the sound of what is occurring behind the scenes of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

This year’s Olympics have thus far yielded a plethora of criticisms for various issues. However, one issue in particular is at the heart of recent controversy. Reports of stray dog slaughtering in Sochi is among one of the newest issues surrounding these Olympic games, sparking controversy and anger amongst animal rights groups across the globe.

The act of killing stray dogs is not a new issue in itself; in fact, it has been occurring for years. However, citizens have recently seen a dramatic increase in deaths and severity, watching dogs collapse and convulse violently on the streets. According to animal rights advocate Tatyana Leshchenko, back in November, approximately 300 dogs were being shot and killed with poisoned darts per month. It is estimated that another 1,700 have been killed since then, bringing the death toll up to almost 2,000 dogs.

The dogs posed a public safety and health risk and were “biological trash,” according to Alexei Sorokin, director of Baysa Services (the company who is responsible for the capture and killing of Sochi’s stray dogs).

“A dog ran into the [Fisht] Stadium, we took it away. God forbid something like this happens at the actual opening ceremony. This will be a disgrace for the whole country,” Sorokin said after attending a rehearsal of the Olympic opening ceremony.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), “only sick and dying” dogs have been killed. Eyewitness accounts from Sochi residents suggest this might not be true.

Russia has spent more than $50 billion in preparation for this year’s Olympics, the highest recorded amount in history. Recently discovered documents reveal that the government agreed to pay Baysa Services approximately $2,800 for the “trapping and gathering of neglected animals” as of May 2013, with the cost of killing each dog approximating $30-35. The budget then increased to $54,000 due to the deadline of the opening Olympic ceremony on Feb. 7.

The director of companion animals and engagement for Humane Society International, Kelly O’Meara, mentioned that she and other colleagues offered to help Olympic organizers set up a vaccination and spay/neuter program last summer. However, upon hearing the news that Sochi officials gave the order to kill, she was “very surprised.”

In addition to this, the recreational use of orca whales and dolphins have been reported. A Russian company called White Sphere, or The Russian Orca Team, has allegedly captured two killer whales just off of the north coast of Japan to be displayed in Sochi’s Aquatoria.

In response to this, a petition was created that quickly gained the support of over 100,000 people. Although White Sphere conducted the act, various animal rights activists are holding the IOC directly accountable.

While Sochi is currently drowning in a pool of controversy, animal rights have always seemed to be a neglected issue at the Olympics, especially when it comes to exploitation and cruelty. Looking back on the past ten years alone, there has been a corpulent violation of animal rights occurring all over the world.

Athens had the same issue with stray dogs back in 2004, with the summer Games. But instead of taking the ethical approach, like they initially proposed (implementing a $5 million annual sterilization plan for stray dogs), they allegedly slaughtered over 15,000 dogs in hopes that it would clean up the city’s image.

“They mixed poison in with meatballs that they toss on the streets at night when nobody can see what they are doing,” reported leader of Welfare for Animals in Greece, Costis Zois, in an interview in 2004.

At the Summer Olympics in 2008, in Beijing, over 200,000 stray cats were killed as a result of overpopulation, once again in an attempt to maintain the city’s ‘utopian’ image. At the time, China believed the cats posed a serious health risk and went as far as to say that they may have contributed to the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Drawing attention more locally, there was the issue of the sled dog massacre at Howling Dog Tours Whistler shortly following the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Robert Fawcett, an employee of Howling Dog Tours Whistler, conducted the killing as a result of a downturn in the company’s bookings following the Games. He claimed that he took part in “execution-style killings” in which he wrestled dogs to the ground, stood on them, and shot them or slit their throats. It was described as “one of the world’s biggest ever animal cruelty cases,” and ultimately threw the effectiveness of Canada’s animal cruelty laws into question.

Two years ago, in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, London was faced with a dilemma in relation to their use of various domesticated and farm animals for entertainment. A coalition of six animal rights groups wrote to Olympic organizers in an attempt to persuade the director of the opening ceremony, Danny Boyle, to reverse his decision to use live animals in the show, entitled Isles of Wonder, which would have featured 12 horses, three cows, two goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, nine geese, 70 sheep, and three sheep dogs.

The coalition warned the committee they might be liable for prosecution under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, which “forbids intentionally causing undue fear and distress to animals.”

At the time, a spokesman for the London 2012 Olympic committee said, “The welfare of the animals in the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony is of the utmost importance. We are working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) which is providing animal welfare advice.”

So, what might this mean for animals involved in future Olympic venues, such as Rio 2016, Pyeong Chang 2018, and Tokyo 2020?

The future of animal rights looks quite bleak, unless the host country’s Olympic Committee realizes the consequences of their actions and how they reflect poorly on the country. Until action is taken against the Olympic Committee to prevent future violations of animal rights, mass killings will only continue to occur.

Zoe Keating Rocks the Drake Underground

SHANNON LEBLANC | JANUARY 27, 2014

The Drake Underground was shaken with the majestical tunes of cello when Zoë Keating visited Toronto on Dec. 14, 2013.

For those of you who don’t know, Keating is a Canadian cellist and composer, and a former member of the indie rock cello band Rasputina. She is based out of “The Woods” in Northern San Francisco, California.

Initially an unknown prodigy to the world, she began playing the cello at the age of eight. After high school, she attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she earned a degree in liberal arts.

Before the launch of her solo music career, she spent her 20’s working at a software startup while moonlighting as a cellist in rock bands.

However, during this time, she encountered some difficulties related to stage fright, which ended up paralyzing her with fear and almost rendered her unable to play the cello.

Later on she discovered the cause of her fear and decided to begin improvising with her music.

Onstage, you would never be able to tell if she made a mistake with a song, and offstage, you would be amazed to know she can create an improvised composition with no second thoughts.

“It was like perfection was the thing that was destroying me — being totally focused on making it perfect … And I found that when I would improvise, I didn’t care about the technique. I would just put my mind outside of where I was, and just be in the music,” Keating said in an interview with Martina Castro of NPR Music.

She eventually found her musical voice by morphing the classic grace of the cello with the high tech digital muse of the computer, developing her signature style of live-layered music.

With the incorporation of a foot-controlled sound pad, she is able to record sections of cello to create a multitude of euphonic layers.

In addition, she uses her cello as a guitar of sorts, elegantly strumming and tapping her bow vertically along the bridge of the strings.

It is truly an amazing experience for any music connoisseur. Her sound can be described as avant-garde and classical with a punk influence, very resemblant of her personality.

The presence of classical and punk, along with her musical genius and composure, result in musical masterpieces that are truly intricate, haunting, and compelling.

Keating has composed various independent albums, such as One Cello x16: Natoma, Optimist and Into the Trees. So far, she has individually sold over 60 thousand copies of her albums.

Her self-governing approach to the music industry has brought her a lot of public attention and press. She speaks regularly about artist empowerment.

Keating is also the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the San Francisco Artsfest Emerging Artist award in 2005, the Contemporary Classical Album award in 2011 from The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards, and the 2011 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader award.

Keating has also played with a wide range of artists, including Amanda Palmer, Tears for Fears, and Thomas Dolby. She’s collaborated with WNYC’s Radiolab as well.

In addition, she frequently lends her music to various hit television shows, dance productions. and films including Warrior (2011), The Devil’s Chair (2007), Elementary, and Breaking Bad.

SF Weekly describes her music as “[s]woon-inducing. Like taking a triple-shot of Absinthe before stepping outside of the bar just in time to see the sun exploding.”

With that, I cannot agree more, although I would further describe it as a symphonic euphoria with intense waves of rich emotion.

To find out more about Keating, and to sample some of her music, visit:http://www.zoekeating.com

TEDx Trent Inspires Creativity, Collaboration and Engagement Beyond the Classroom

SHANNON LEBLANC | JANUARY 27, 2014

Have you taken a trip down to Oshawa recently? Have you been gazing at the walls around campus? If so, then you’re probably aware of the recent event that transpired at the Trent Oshawa campus called TEDx Trent.

For those of you who have never heard of TEDTalks, it is an event where people from around the world gather to deliver thought-provoking speeches and listen to debate-inducing discussions.

Keeping with this spirit, TEDx Trent featured a line-up of inspirational speakers, all of whom shared their personal experiences and their opinions on how we can all be “Creative, Collaborative and Engaging.”

The event kicked off with event organizer and Trent B.Sc. Psychology student Chris Fernlund delivering the opening remarks. With support from Trent and the help of his colleagues, TEDxTrent was born. Engaging the audience with his humorous and charismatic personality, Fernlund managed to keep the show well paced and entertaining, even after numerous technical difficulties.

President Steven Franklin made the welcome official with his traditional Trent introductions.

Marc Garneau was the first speaker to present (a perfect start to the day, to say the least). Who wouldn’t want to hear an astronaut talk all about his adventures in space?

While he may not have been the most intriguing speaker of the day, Garneau managed to get his central message across: “We need to address the global challenges on Earth, using space as a means of looking back and adding to our perspective of [our planet].” He drew attention to issues such as the global water shortage and global deforestation to open our eyes up to the damage we as humans are doing to this planet.

“Planet Earth is finite. In order to maintain our growing needs, we need to understand exactly what is happening and develop the technology we need in order to survive.”

While his presentation was a bit lacklustre, the points he managed to convey struck the audience and shed light on the environmental impact we’ve caused and are causing.

“Research shows that video games changes cognition … In other words, they are changing your mind.”

A rather peculiar proposition to state, but not when it comes from a professor who specializes in the field of video game research, Dr. Sara Humphreys.

Humphreys graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Ph.D. in Language and Literature, which she then put to use in her research involving video games and rhetoric.

Humphreys developed a formula outlining her research, which goes as follows: Game mechanics / process + stories = change in reality. While this may sound like jargon, she simplified it by saying, “Video games persuade and even teach us to think, fantasize, and behave,” and continued, “While we should be excited about the potential of powerful game mechanics, we also need to be critically aware of how we use this new form of cultural literacy.”

She also drew attention to a design lab called Game Changer in Chicago, an initiative which helps youth collaborate with faculty and university students in order to create digital games which explore health and social issues.

“It is absolutely crucial to become aware of the power of game story and use it to inspire real social change.”

Perhaps one of the most influential and inspiring talks of the day was not a live talk, but rather a video talk, which featured Josh Stanley back in 2013 at TEDx Boulder in Colorado. The topic? The Effectiveness of Medical Marijuana in Treating Pediatric Epilepsy.

Stanley focuses on the propaganda, fear, and greed surrounding medical marijuana. In January 2012, he and five of his brothers along with Dr. Sanjay Gupta developed a strain of cannabis that was free of all psychotropic effects of regular cannabis. They genetically modified cannabis, removing the psychoactive compound, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and instead enhanced the chemical cannabidiol (CBD).

Stanley later discovered the benefits of this plant, which he named “Charlotte’s Web” after discovering the Figgy family in February 2012 and prescribing it to Charlotte Figgy. He revolved the talk around Figgy, a five-year-old girl who suffered from a rare form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome, which caused her to suffer from over four hundred seizures per day.

Stanley exposed the fact that the U.S. seemed to have known this was the case back in 1949, implying that there was a known link between cannabis and epilepsy. This sparked the main point of his talk, stating that we need to address the hurdles surrounding medicinal usage of cannabis in order to affect social change.

Overall, his presentation was heart wrenching and captured the true essence of TED.

Next up was senior art director of BBDO Toronto, Derek Blais. With nine years of experience in the advertisement business under his belt, Blais focused on social branded advertising, with clients such as McDonald’s, PepsiCo, and Virgin.

When it comes to ads, he revealed he is more focused on the “message rather than the medium” they present. This has gained him numerous awards and recognition among the advertising world.

In his humorous and relaxed talk, Blais focused on the concept of Internal and External Creativity, and on where ideas come from. He believes that creativity can solve business problems, and that ideas stem from our own “waiting place.” Instead of using complex terminology and perplexing diagrams, Blais reverted back to the days of Sesame Street, stating that, like in the case of the Two-Headed Monster, two heads are better than one. Both parties involved in business must have a close, open-ended relationship when collaborating, and they must essentially put their heads together if they want to succeed.

Blais ended by saying that the creative process should not be hindered by an initial voice of criticism.

Concluding the first half of TEDx was the young and talented musician, Taylor O’Meara. O’Meara began his musical journey at the age of 13 as the lead singer of Canada’s youngest rock band, Hidden Echo. In 2007, he released his first solo EP at the age of 15. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in 2013, he came out with his new self-titled EP, which he wrote, recorded, and produced completely on his own.

O’Meara’s style can be described as “acoustic with a rock influence.” The performance itself was extremely balanced, acoustically and lyrically, which is very difficult to do when performing, especially to a roomful of prestigious speakers and embers of the community.

He also delighted the audience with a sampling of a few unreleased singles, which he “just wrote last week.” Although I had my doubts, O’Meara’s music delighted my eardrums and ended the first half of TEDx on a high note.

After the break, Prof. Lon Appleby from Durham College presented the audience with an informative and intriguing presentation surrounding the concept of “The Global Classroom,” an experimental classroom design he developed at Durham College, that integrates the concept of interactive learning on a global scale.

The idea is to highlight the interaction between students from different cultures and to engage them to solve global issues together. He stressed the fact that he wanted to develop a classroom model which “better reflects the process of student learning,” with “exchange and create” being the philosophy behind the class.

“Students are global thinkers. We must develop a system to better provide them access to education which will provide them with skills to develop solutions to solve social, political, and global challenges.”

The program itself consists of a number of classes, all of which deal with addressing and solving worldwide problems such as The Great Dependency issue (which implies that everything global has local ramifications and vice versa) and Homo Colossus (implying that our excessive human consumption has caused a major impact on nature).

With the collaboration of three institutions across the world, Appleby has produced students who develop important work, such as that of Bailey Corneal, who produced Rice and Water, a short documentary that won the Trent University Film Festival for outlining the poverty crisis occurring in third-world countries.

Solar cars and black bears was the theme of the next talk. Marcelo da Luz delighted everyone with a humourous account of the process of developing the first solar car.

Enduring treacherous ice roads, interactions with black bears, and breaking world records are only some of the things da Luz accomplished. However, his most notable achievement was for the development of his solar-powered car.

He pulled his solar car over 660km across Ontario, before being pulled over, mistaken as a UFO. Da Luz holds the world distance record for a car powered solely by the sun, and it is the first solar car to operate below freezing temperature.

With themes of innovation, creativity and collaboration coming to the forefront, this talk effectively kept with the theme.

The last TEDtalk video was presented by Sunitha Krishnan, and was a truly shocking and inspiring story of the sex slavery industry in India.

Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing women and children from sex slavery. In this heart-wrenching talk, she told the stories of three young children, Pranitha, Shaheen, and Anjali, who were all subjected to the horrors of sex trafficking. Krishnan also recounted the time when she was gang-raped by eight men at the age of 15, angered at the mere fact that she was ostracized for being a victim. She stated, “We, as a society, have PhDs in victimizing a victim,” and that we need to take a more humane approach to helping these young victims rebuild their lives.

“The sense that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated, and that there’s this huge silence about it around me, angers me.”

Krishnan was the match that sparked the battle against sexual slavery. By working with the government and various corporations, she has made it her mission to develop an anti-trafficking policy.

Perhaps the most touching talk of the day, Krishnan delivered a powerful message: we must open our eyes to acknowledge the horrors that transpire daily, and work cohesively to inspire change.

Former Arthur editor and Trent alumni jes sachse took the stage next with another powerful talk.

Using her affluent rhetoric and mischievous charm, sachse addressed some of the key issues of accessibility in today’s society, and how we must decolonize disability. She delivered a puissant, playful talk about queer disabled decolonizing communities in the 21st century with humour and art.

Throughout her talk, she kept the audience engaged with compelling emblematical accounts of personal stories and challenges she had faced in the past. In addition, she touched on subjects such as the “Crip Curation of the Internet,” her own parody of American Apparel’s ad campaign “American Able,” and the role of disability in networking platforms.

“We must strive for Universal Access. Not just physical, but also in our all our mentalities, to be a societal norm.”

“Philosopher of technology” Marcel O’Gorman presented the last talk, which was about Critical Digital Engagement.

From “Geomosiac Data” to “Teat Tweets,” O’Gorman covered a wide variety of topics including the tenets of critical media, the psychology of optimal experience, and the mystery of artist Tom Thomson’s death. Although this may sound overly complex, he managed to break it down to a level of understanding using satirical and contemporary social media references.

“We need to prioritize ‘thinking’ over ‘selling’ when coming up with ideas,” O’Gorman stated, emphasizing that, in order to be critical with our thinking, we need to pushed, like buttons. As a result, he pushed his own buttons by conducting a series of experiments including the creation of a ratio for the matching of skill level with challenge, otherwise known as “Flow,” and building a computer-enhanced replica of Canadian artist Tom Thomson’s canoe, in hopes of debunking the mystery behind his death back in 1917.

“You never know where collaboration will lead. Sometimes you just need to go with the flow.”

To conclude the event, Peterborough’s Unity took to the stage with their traditional Aboriginal acapella style music. Their euphonic tunes and perfectly synchronized voices filled the room with silent fascination.