SOCAN, Canada’s licensing and collection society, posted an 8% increase in revenue for 2016. The group’s overall revenue was C$330 million ($250 million) and its distributions for the year totaled C$285 million ($215 million). It was a record-breaking year for both figures. In 2015, SOCAN had revenue of C$307.8 million and distributions of C$276.2 million.
The organization’s finances were slightly less efficient in 2016 than in 2015. However, that could be credited to SOCAN’s two noteworthy acquisitions last year. It bought out Medianet and Audiam.
“SOCAN’s work to lead the global transformation of music rights continues, benefitting music creators and publishers even more in terms of royalties identified, collected, and distributed in Canada and worldwide,” CEO Eric Baptiste said. “Our efforts to improve our technology, partnerships and alliances, to be more accurate, more comprehensive, and faster are paying off for our members with new revenue and distribution records across-the-board in 2016.”