Submissions for the 18th annual edition of the NXNE Music and Film Festival, taking place June 11-17, 2012 in Toronto, are now open. Submissions will be accepted online only at www.nxne.com until January 31, 2012.

The Canadian Independent Recording Artists’ Association (CIRAA) has announced that Montreal-based Bandzoogle, the rapidly growing band website platform, has signed on as a sponsor of the CIRAA Groundbreaker grant program.

Award and showcase submissions for 2012 East Coast Music Week being held in Moncton, NB April 11-15, are now open. The East Music Association (ECMA) is once again be continuing its partnership with Sonicbids this year. Submissions can be made through http://www.sonicbids.com/ecma/.  Deadline for all submissions is Tuesday, October 4th, 2011.

The Stuttering Foundation, a nonprofit organization helping people who stutter since 1947, has recognized the song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, a 1974 number one hit by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, as being the most unique of the many rock songs featuring stuttering vocals.

Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN, has announced that the next quarterly payment of royalties to SOCAN members, which will occur in August 2011, will reach a record high at $75 million, including $47 million based on established tariffs plus a special distribution of $28 million in arrears for radio performances between 2003 and 2010. The special distribution is due to additional revenues resulting from the resolution of litigation related to Tariff 1A (Commercial Radio).