As she celebrates SOCAN’s centennial, Jennifer Brown also saw the organization hit a different kind of major milestone. The music rights organization hit a record-high half-billion dollars in total royalty distributions to artists and rights-holders in 2024. SOCAN, which currently has nearly 200,000 songwriter, composer, and music publisher members, distributed $512.4 million in royalties and grew revenue to $559.4 million, a 7% increase over 2023. Under Brown’s leadership, SOCAN has worked to enhance licensing strategies and improve transparency with royalty distributions, as well as introduce educational resources and tools for members. The organization has also become a key advocate for rights-holders in Canada, raising awareness in its 2024 Annual Report about the importance of consuming Canadian-made music. Cameron Kennedy is spearheading the member-experience strategy at SOCAN, pushing the pin within the company in offering new programs, resources, and initiatives. In 2024, Kennedy launched SOCAN Academy, a new education program for SOCAN members, and led the revitalization of the SOCAN Awards. The organization has also partnered with the Polaris Music Prize on a new song award and Billboard Canada on a Screen Composers of the Year Award.

This past year saw the live music industry take some hits, with festival ticket sales declining and production costs rising. FACTOR CEO Meg Symsyk is doing what she does best — tackling the problem head-on, launching FACTOR’s Promoter Program and investing directly into Canada’s live sector, supporting concerts presented by Canadian promoters and featuring Canadian artists. At the same time, Symsyk is fighting some major battles, as FACTOR’s expected revenues from the CRTC’s “streaming tax” regulation to support Canadian Content face a legal appeal by the biggest companies in the business — Spotify, Apple and Amazon, among others — and the company takes on Scotiabank in a high-profile cybertheft case. Amidst all that, she runs an organization that provides pivotal funding to Canadian artists and organizations every year — including early support for stars like Charlotte Cardin and The Weeknd — and continues to work with one of her favourite clients from her previous artist management career, a little Canadian band called Rush.

Louise Chenail, CEO of Musicaction and Radiostar, is a vital contributor to Canada’s Francophone music sector. The foundation ensures the distribution of close to $25 million annually to music makers in Canada's French-language and Indigenous music sector, and worked alongside FACTOR to modernize the Canada Music Fund. Chenail and Musicaction have launched transformative initiatives in the past year to support emerging professionals and underrepresented communities. These include the second edition of the Crescendo Project for women and gender-diverse talent, the Enharmonie Project for entrepreneurs from cultural communities, and two new funding programs focused on Indigenous businesses and Francophone minority communities. In 2024, she also introduced a pilot program supporting venues, promoters and broadcasters. Under her guidance, Musicaction has become a cornerstone of sustainable industry development, working in close partnership with key organizations like ADISQ and Canadian Heritage.

Margaret McGuffin is the CEO of Music Publishers Canada, where she’s steering the organization through a transformative period. In the past year, she led MPC’s 75th‑anniversary celebrations, spotlighting the fact that 81% of Canadian independent publishers’ revenue now comes from foreign sources and that MPC members represent 90% of music on streaming, radio and screen. She’s built out an advocacy team that successfully lobbied for updated copyright policies and sits on the boards of Canada’s Theatre Museum and MusiCounts’ Advisory Committee. Margaret spearheaded MPC’s AI working group — engaging daily with policymakers to make sure human creators are respected as technology develops — and expanded the NXTGen leadership program while growing the Women in the Studio Accelerator to over 40 graduates.