Music Industry

Getting near the end: The second-last report on Canadian music sales and streaming stats for 2020.

Holidays or not, Nielsen/MRC Canada issued its weekly report on Canadian music sales and stats yesterday (December 28). This is the second-last chart report for the year. The final chart week of the year ends at 11:59 pm December 31. Convenient!

Let’s start by looking at the dismal year-over-year numbers. Things were already trending down. Then the pandemic hit.

  • Total album sales, -33.7%
  • CD sales, -48.2%
  • Digital albums, -18.7%
  • Digital tracks, -26.0%
  • Vinyl LPs, -12.1%
  • On-demand audio, +15.9%

So are things recovering? Here’s how things compare this weekly report to the last one.

  • Total album sales, -8.0%
  • CD sales, -5.0%
  • Digital albums, -3.6%
  • Digital tracks, +6.3%
  • Vinyl LPs, -20.8%
  • On-demand audio, +3.1%

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.

Alan Cross has 38031 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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