The song marked an important development in Diane Juster’s professional songwriting career. “This song,” she says today, “taught me about copyright royalties in Canada and really showed me what the role of an author was.”
Following the song’s unprecedented success, Diane Juster realized that while performers, producers and others amply benefited from a successful musical selection, writers were receiving scant compensation for their songs. In order to improve the working conditions of writers and composers, she created SPACQ (Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec) with Luc Plamondon and Lise Aubut in 1981, and was also a co-founder of SODRAC (Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada).
Je ne suis qu’une chanson recently bridged the generation gap when Magalie Vae, winner of France’s Star Academy, recorded a cover version which reached #5 on the music charts in France in 2006. Diane Juster is thrilled by this renewed enthusiasm and is happy that her songs has spanned generations. “I am glad to see young artists chose my songs,” she says, “and I have many more to offer.” Ginette Reno’s Je ne suis qu’une chanson remains the #5 bestselling Quebec album of all time, with 400,000 copies sold.
