SOCAN TV Royalties 2014–2024

Summary#

This Canada Gazette notice publishes SOCAN Tariff 17 (covering 2014–2024), the schedule of royalties that the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) will collect for music carried in pay, specialty and other television signals. It sets specific fees, reporting rules and timing for payments by TV distributors and by the TV services whose signals they carry. The notice was published on November 23, 2024.

What it does#

• Sets a flat annual royalty of $10 for each “small cable transmission system” (systems that serve at most 2,000 premises).
• Sets a monthly royalty of 0.14¢ per premise (or TVRO) for community channels and non‑programming services.
• Establishes a general royalty formula for programming services that mainly works as:
  • 1.9% of affiliation payments (fees paid by a distributor to carry a channel); plus
  • a calculated share of a programming undertaking’s gross income based on how many premises receive the signal.
• Provides a reduced rate of 0.8% in specific low‑music cases where a programming service shows music less than 20% of the time and keeps recordings.
• Offers an alternative “modified blanket licence” calculation with detailed breakdowns and charges (including small additional percentages to account for cleared programs, ambient/production music, and operating expenses).
• Requires monthly or quarterly reporting of audience and payment figures from both distributors and programming undertakings.
• Requires records to be kept for six years and allows SOCAN to audit those records. If an audit finds an understatement over 10%, the audited party may pay the audit costs.
• Charges interest on late payments at 1% above the Bank Rate (calculated daily).

Who's affected#

• Distribution undertakings (for example, cable companies, small cable systems, and terrestrial systems that act like cable systems).
• Programming undertakings (pay and specialty TV services, other TV channels that supply signals to distributors).
• Operators of unscrambled Low Power Television Stations, Very Low Power Television Stations, and owners of TVRO reception systems when those terms apply.
• Small local system operators will notice the flat $10 rule most directly. Community channel operators will notice the 0.14¢ per premise charge.
• Creators and music publishers represented by SOCAN are indirectly affected because the tariff determines how SOCAN collects payments for music used in TV signals.

Why it matters#

• This tariff defines how much TV services and distributors must pay to licence the music heard on television. That money funds songwriters, composers and music publishers represented by SOCAN.
• Small operators get a simple, low flat fee ($10), while larger distributors and channels face percentage‑based charges that scale with income and reach.
• The rules can affect the bookkeeping and reporting workload for broadcasters and distributors. They could also influence commercial decisions about using music (for example, using less licensed music can lower fees).
• Because the tariff applies to many years (2014–2024), it affects past billing and may be relevant to ongoing settlements, audits or payments between the parties named.