Singer-songwriter Patrick Watson will receive the inaugural Impact Award at this year’s Canadian Sync Awards presented by Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada (GMSC) and Canadian Music Week (CMW) on June 3, 2024, at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.
The GMSC Impact Award is bestowed upon an individual to celebrate a lifetime of contributions and influence on music, culture, community, self-expression, and vision, as well as their profound prominence in the sync world. The Award recipient will be selected by the GMSC Sync Awards Committee annually.
“Thank you so much to GMSC and CMW – it’s a huge honour. I have been very lucky to have participated in the music business for over 25 years now. I really started at the very end of the CD era and to watch how my music reaches people from then until now is so wild. All the people I have met during this adventure are by far the best part. Since we’re talking about music supervisors, when I started, no label would go near me because I’m terrible at making radio hit songs. Then music supervisors started to place my music in TV shows and films which is what really kicked my career into play. I always feel very fortunate that my music was chosen for these screen moments. Thank you for all the support which allows me to make music full time, what an amazing privilege it is,” said Patrick Watson.
“We’ve been talking about creating an Award like this since our first Canadian Sync Awards in 2018. The GMSC is proud and honoured that Patrick is our first recipient. Patrick is a rare artist whose voice, musical soundscapes and stunning lyrical phrases have captured the world – and his unique sound has contributed immensely to the sync world (and made our jobs as music supervisors much easier!)” says Michael Perlmutter, GMSC President.
Montreal raised and based Patrick Watson composes, performs, and records his albums with long-time collaborator Mishka Stein. He has made several scores for film and television, including a trailer for The Walking Dead, Wim Wenders’ films Perfect Days and Everything Will Be Fine, accumulating more than 200 sync placements to date. With over a billion streams worldwide, and winners of Canada’s Polaris Music Prize, multiple nominations for the JUNO, Polaris and ADISQ Galas, Watson and his band have toured every continent, sometimes playing with full orchestras to bring their rich music to life. Some notable projects featuring Patrick Watson ‘syncs’ include: The Rest Of Us, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Grey’s Anatomy, Orange Is The New Black, Ray Donovan, The Good Doctor, The Blacklist, and a 2014 Yves Saint Laurent advert campaign.