Checking the health of Canada’s weekly music sales and streaming

July 21, 2020 Alan Cross 0 Comments

As the country slowly opens up, the recorded music industry is looking for any signs of a rebound. Here’s the latest on what’s selling and streaming in Canada courtesy of Nielsen Music Canada.

Year-over-year stats:

Total album sales: -38.1%
CDs, -53.4%
Digital albums, -21.2%
Digital tracks, -26.6%
Vinyl albums, -25.5%
On-demand audio streams: +16.8%

Going granular with week-to-week stats give us a better idea if a recovery is in progress.

Total album sales up 3.7% from the previous week
CDs, +1.9%
Digital albums, -0.4%
Digital tracks, +3.8%
Vinyl albums, +34.2%
On-demand digital streams, +0.3% (1.748 billion streams in the country last week)

So yeah, things are a little better. The industry will take whatever sunshine it can get.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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