An old stack of records sits in front of a shelf full of vinyl in a local record store.

How are Canadian music sales this week? You have to ask?

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 Alan Cross 0 Comments

The coronavirus crisis continues to decimate physical music sales across Canada. Let me count the ways:

Total album sales compared to last year at this time are down 37.9%.
CD sales are HALF of what they were from a year ago (-50.1%)
Digital album are hurting with a drop of -23.7%.
Digital tracks are down by 27.3%
And vinyl is running 31.6% behind 2019.
Meanwhile, audio streaming is up 16.6% from last year.

But if we look at things through a more recent lens, there’s a little good news.

Total album sales were up 22.9% from the previous week.
CD sales were up 47.4% in a week.
Vinyl was up 16.5% week-over-week.

Hang in there. This will pass. Eventually.

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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