Describe your background and industry experience, and explain how it will help you contribute to the SOCAN Board of Directors?
Jennifer Beavis has over 32 years’ experience in music publishing after graduating from Fanshawe College, Music Industry Arts in 1993. Her positions over the years included working with the multi-national publishers BMG, EMI and Nettwerk Productions. She was the Director of Copyright for the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) for four and a half years, Director of Publishing and Licensing Administration for Nettwerk and held the position of Executive Director of the Songwriters Association of Canada. Hand-picked by the executives of ole (now Anthem Entertainment) to build their copyright administration team from the ground up. Currently she is the Canadian Director of Canada Synch and Copyright Administration and has held that position from March 2013 to present.
In your opinion, what issues will be most important to SOCAN members over the next three years?
SOCAN’s members are going to demand their foreign royalties including those from the US to be distributed more quickly than up to a year in arrears for both performing and digital royalties. This is a must and SOCAN must focus on this continually. As a current board member, I am pleased to see SOCAN compete in the market and continues to be agile in focusing on the needs of the members.
Equally important is SOCAN’s commitment to maximizing royalties based on our rights unique to this country. As a member of both the Tariff, Licensing and Distribution, and Reproduction Rights committees, I observed that agility and proactive protection of content owners’ rights and feel that I have championed new initiatives and have publicly supported them. Finally, I would like to see the formation of a committee of publishing administrators who can address the issues they face with the synergy between the internal and public registrations to reduce duplication in the system.