Album consumption in Canada increases 21% in 2018 with homegrown artists doing well both at home and abroad according to market analysts, Nielsen. The Canadian music industry experienced significant overall growth in 2018, with total album equivalent audio consumption up 21% over 2017, driven by a 47% increase in on-demand audio song streams compared with last year.
The album with the highest total consumption is Drake’s Scorpion, with 424,000 on-demand audio consumption units, including over 481 million audio on-demand streams. The Canadian superstar also has the No. 1 most-consumed song (digital song sales with streaming equivalent on-demand audio) with God’s Plan. The single is the top streamed song of 2018 with over 138 million audio and video combined streams. Ed Sheeran’s Perfect was the leader in song sales, with just over 207,000 in digital downloads. The biggest selling album of the year is the A Star Is Born soundtrack with album sales of over 92,000 units.
2018 Canadian Highlights
Streaming volume continued to rise with the total number of on-demand audio song streams surpassing 59 billion in 2018, a sizable 47% increase over the same time period in 2017.
Overall on-demand music streaming volume, including video, has increased 45% since the same period last year.
Total album equivalent audio consumption (albums + track equivalent albums (TEA) + on-demand audio streaming equivalent albums {SEA}) is up 21% over last year.
Despite sharp declines in digital purchasing, Digital consumption (digital albums + track equivalent albums + total streaming equivalent albums) is up a healthy 22% over last year.
Vinyl continued to soar, up 25% over the same period last year, surpassing one million units.
“The music industry in Canada is thriving following yet another year of tremendous growth and engagement,” said Paul Shaver, VP of Nielsen Entertainment Canada. “Canadians are listening and engaging with more music than ever before and we’re seeing an increased diversity of taste among listeners.”
In addition to Drake, a number of Canadian artists had a strong 2018, both at home and abroad. Shawn Mendes, Loud Luxury, The Weeknd and Michael Buble all had significant successes with female artists continuing to make a big splash in 2018 thanks to No. 1 hits and popular singles/albums from Cardi B, Camila Cabello and Ariana Grande.
Movie soundtracks had considerable success with Black Panther: The Album spending 3 weeks at the top of the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, A Star is Born spending 7 weeks at No. 1 with The Greatest Showman soundtrack and hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody doing well.
To read the full report go here.
