SOCAN Songwriting Prize

The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize, was an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian emerging music, both anglophone and francophone, from 2006 to 2023.

Established in 2006, the competition was designed to recognize some of the most innovative, creative and artistic songs created in the year preceding the award by emerging songwriters in Canada.

Songs were selected by a competition panel composed of 10 music experts from the Canadian music scene, who each nominated two songs based on a set of criteria they believed to be the best songs by emerging artists from the past year. The songs were narrowed down to a set of 10 finalists and announced publicly. Fans then voted for the winner over the course of two weeks in June. Once the winners (one anglophone and one francophone) were determined after the voting period, they each were awarded a $10,000 cash prize from SOCAN and an assortment of prizes from the yearly sponsors.

Beginning in 2015, the shortlist of nominees was increased from five to ten.

In 2023 the contest was delayed to November, and featured shortlists of eight nominees rather than ten.

No award was presented in 2024. In 2025, SOCAN and the Polaris Music Prize announced the creation of a new SOCAN Polaris Song Prize, to be presented for the first time at the 2025 Polaris Music Prize ceremony.Howard Druckman
"Polaris Music Prize announces 2025 Long List"
'' Words & Music'', June 11, 2025.

Award nominees and winners

English

French

References

External links

SOCAN Songwriting Prize

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Music competitions in Canada
Canadian music awards
2006 establishments in Canada
Songwriting awards
Awards established in 2006
Awards disestablished in 2024