TORONTO - Patrick Watson can't be easily bought. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * TORONTO - Patrick Watson can't be easily bought. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? TORONTO – Patrick Watson can’t be easily bought.
While many have offered heaps of money to license the Montreal musician’s acclaimed work over the years, he says there are certain ethical lines he refused to cross. In the case of “To Build a Home,” his 2007 piano-string ballad with the Cinematic Orchestra, one corporation with a history of what he calls “reasonable ethical doubts” wanted to license his song for an internal marketing video. Watson said he flatly declined their request.
“We were offered half a million,” he said in a recent conversation from his Montreal home. “I’m not anti-corporation. I just think there’s a difference between corporations.
” Watson said he wrestled with similar moral quandaries numerous times early in his career, concluding that musicians sometimes have to pick their “evils” and settle on rights deals that allow them to sleep at night. “To Build a Home” has appeared on TV shows spanning “One Tree Hill” to “Schitt’s Creek” and an array of live sports montages. Watson will receive the inaugural Impact Award at the Canadian Sync Awards on Monday, in recognition of having his songs placed in more than 200 movies, TV shows and other media.
The Sync Award.
