Faouzia‘s music is taking off in a big way, and the Moroccan-Canadian artist is about to receive a major honour in recognition of that momentum: the Breakthrough Award Presented by FACTOR at Billboard Canada Women In Music 2026.
The singer, born Faouzia Ouihya, debuted on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 two months ago with “Unethical,” a single that dropped over a year ago and has gone viral in a big way.
“Unethical” became the singer’s first song to receive over a million Spotify daily streams in September, which Faouzia said she was “forever grateful” for. The song has reached 150 million global streams and become her second most-streamed single. It continues to climb the charts, with a new peak in each of its eight weeks on the chart. It is also climbing the Billboard Global 200 with streaming momentum in countries including the U.K., South Africa, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and more.
The song is reportedly inspired by an ultimatum Faouzia received from an ex who asked her to prioritize their relationship over her singing career. Her virtuosic vocal delivery and emotion have turned it into a viral TikTok clip, with “Unethical” live performance clips circling across social media. Some fans have even tried their hand at singing the song. The official “Unethical” sound plays in over 44,000 Instagram Reels and over 533,000 TikTok posts.
The orchestral pop ballad was one of the first tastes of her debut album, Film Noir, released in 2025, followed by a deluxe edition in June. Following its release, it received much acclaim, with Faouzia now sitting at over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The project was followed by a highly anticipated deluxe version, Film Noir (fin), in June, with three additional tracks.
What makes the achievement even more impressive is that she’s done it as an independent artist. Two years ago, Faouzia announced that she was “now an independent artist for the first time in 6+ years” after parting ways with her former label, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Canada, where she released her first two EPs, Stripped and Citizens.
It’s been a slow and steady ascent for Faouzia that is now paying off. Faouzia has worked with some of the biggest acts across multiple genres, including David Guetta, Galantis, John Legend and Martin Solveig. She is even credited as a co-writer on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Beg Forgiveness,” released in 2024.
Faouzia will accept the Breakthrough Award Presented by FACTOR at this year’s third edition of Billboard Canada Women In Music, hosted by Leandra Earl and Kylie Miller of The Beaches. She’ll be honoured alongside the first-ever Global Woman of the Year, Cardi B, Global Hitmaker Bebe Rexha, Rising Star Chxrry, Global Visionary Summer Walker, Trailblazer Tia Wood, Innovator Blond:ish, Executive of the Year, Live Nation Canada’s Melissa Bubb-Clarke and Impact Award recipient, MusiCounts/The Juno Awards’ Kristy Fletcher.
Billboard Canada Women In Music 2026 will be held on Nov. 24 at Rebel in Toronto. Tickets are available here.
Read more here. — Billboard Canada
Angine de Poitrine Surprises History Toronto Crowd with a Third Member
Angine de Poitrine have returned to Canada, and they didn’t come alone.
The viral Quebec math rock pair and Billboard Canada cover stars returned to Toronto last night (Nov. 5) to play a sold-out show at History and surprised the crowd with new music, and even a new member. Joining Khn and Klek de Poitrine onstage was a new polka-dotted alien with a cube-shaped head, a long nose similar to Khn’s and two horns in the shape of the signature yellow triangle featured on the group’s usual attire. He held up his triangle as the crowd cheered before one much-anticipated “ding” of the triangle.
Angine de Poitrine debuted an upbeat new track with a percussion break, during which their latest member delivered a high-energy (and somewhat tongue-in-cheek) triangle solo before clanging along with the original two members. It’s the second taste of new music the group have given fans in less than two months, after debuting the summery “Zugzegk” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in September, a track whose title refers to the band’s wild “success” over the past year.
Their History show kicks off their latest North American run and marks their return to Toronto for the first time since their packed debut in the city in July, which included a trio of Mod Club shows and an opening stint for Jack White at RBC Amphitheatre and an appearance at FIFA Fan Fest. They also performed at the Polaris Music Prize gala. The band will play its two next dates on home turf, with a show at Quebec City’s Impérial Bell tonight (Nov. 6) and a return to Montreal’s Club Soda on Nov. 16 — the same venue where they launched their Billboard-charting breakthrough LP, Vol. II.
Their homecoming coincides with some major recent accolades, including a Polaris double win in September and four wins at the Premier Gala ADISQ this week (Nov. 4). After racking up a staggering 11 nominations, they are still vying for several of the top honours at the main ADISQ Gala (celebrating Quebec music), which takes place in Montreal on Sunday (Nov. 8).
Read more here. — Stefano Rebuli
SOCAN Joins GEMA’s Live Music Royalty Network, One Arena
SOCAN has joined GEMA’s live royalty network, One Arena.
The Canadian music rights society has become the first non-European rights collection company to join the initiative, which is meant to provide transparency surrounding live music and concert royalties. One Arena’s mission is to track concerts worldwide and provide information about licensing and royalty payments, giving a clearer picture of how performance royalties are calculated and distributed to musicians.
With SOCAN on board, One Arena will now add major Canadian concerts to its repertoire, while SOCAN will be able to access performance royalty information pertaining to other One Arena members and their international concerts. The network now counts eight members, with seven European organizations: SUISA (Switzerland & Liechtenstein), AKM (Austria), Buma-Stemra (Netherlands), KODA (Denmark), TONO (Norway), OSA (Czech Republic) and GEMA (Germany).
“One Arena’s strength lies in the expertise and commitment of all the collecting societies involved,” said Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, CEO of GEMA. “Together, we’re building greater transparency and making it easier for songwriters and artists to understand how royalties are generated by their international live performances. We’re delighted to welcome SOCAN into our network; this will enable us to draw on SOCAN’s expertise in the Canadian market and support even more rightsholders in the future through One Arena.”
The move comes amid a year of expansion and action for SOCAN, particularly defined by its acquisition of the CMRRA (Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency) and its blockbuster copyright infringement lawsuit against Suno, in which the collection society sued the AI music generation application for over $10 million in September. A few months prior, the German court ruled in favour of GEMA after the German society filed its own copyright lawsuit against Suno for infringing on tracks in its database such as Boney M.’s “Rasputin” and Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5.”
“For songwriters, a concert doesn’t end with the final note. When it comes to international performances in particular, the path to collecting and distributing royalties is often long and has information gaps,” said Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN. “One Arena helps us to track our members’ performances abroad more efficiently, with a level of transparency that is welcomed in the live performance sector. We’re delighted to be part of this network that is putting the needs and royalties of members first.”
Last year, performance royalties played a central role in the legal dispute between SOCAN and the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) in which the festival was sued for allegedly not having a license from SOCAN and failing to pay royalties to the society for three years. The claim was resolved by both parties at the beginning of this year.
Read more here. — Stefano Rebuli
