Once again, SOCAN maintained its high performance standards, distributing more than $164-million to music creators and other rights holders in 2006, helping SOCAN place ninth among the world’s performing-rights organizations (PROs). The past year will also be remembered for the spectacular technological changes that were initiated to effect a radical transformation of the way we do business and manage the catalogues that you, our members, have entrusted to us.

First, under the capable direction of France Lafleur, the Licensing department finalized the development and implementation of new business practices for more exact, more efficient and more effective royalty collections. These enhancements will make SOCAN’s general licensing pool richer and more profitable for each of you.

Second, we were able to finalize the methodology for our digital audio identification (DAI) technology project, applicable to radio performances. I still remember with some nostalgia my entry into the SOCAN arena at the 1995 annual general meeting in Montreal, where some members were challenging the accuracy of performing-rights royalties calculated by way of radio surveys. The world was younger then, and technology had yet to reach the level of opportunities it offers today.

Looking forward, SOCAN’s radio-performance revenues will be distributed from three different pools. The first one, the DAI pool, will be the result of a full census of the musical works performed on radio thanks to the 24/7 monitoring of some 160 stations (as a starting point) in most of the country’s major markets and will reflect approximately 65 percent of our domestic radio-performance revenues. The second pool will include revenues from smaller centres, where radio stations will continue to be monitored on a statistically sound survey basis. The third pool will continue to include census performance data from CBC and Radio-Canada.

These complex technological thrusts represent a major financial investment for SOCAN, and I know that some members are eager to see the full census methodology applied to all radio stations across the country. While the geographical and population considerations in Canada make this cost-prohibitive, technology is improving and we will continue to monitor the situation.

These initiatives, plus many others, have placed SOCAN in the vanguard of the world’s PROs. In the meantime, we continue to welcome your suggestions and comments. I wish everyone a great summer!