Canada hit a major audio streaming milestone this week with Canadians listening to more than 2 billion audio streams in a single week, according to global music industry analytics provider MRC Data.
“A little over two years ago Canada reached 1.5 billion weekly audio streams, and we are pleased to share that the country has quickly achieved another major milestone with 2 billion weekly audio streams,” said Rob Jonas, CEO P-MRC Data, in a release. “With the Canadian audio streaming market currently up over 12 percent year over year from 2020, we certainly expect to see more record weeks in the future.”
MRC Data’s includes music audio streams from licensed on-demand services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and TIDAL, excluding podcast episodes. It says Pop, Rock, Rap, Country, and Alternative Rock are the genres with the highest streaming volume increases over the past few years.
Patrick Rogers, CEO of Music Canada, the trade organization representing the major record labels in Canada, hails the milestone as a “huge accomplishment” for the Canadian music marketplace.
“The 2 billion data point from MRC Data isn’t just a number. It’s a benchmark that reflects how much Canadians love and value music,” said Rogers. “This new benchmark also demonstrates the incredible growth that the recorded industry has undergone over the past decade. These streams came from licensed, on-demand music services which means that the creators behind this music are being compensated.”
According to SOCAN’s 2020 financial results, royalties distributed to its 175,000 members were up more than 20% last year, due to an increase in digital revenue, to $348-million.
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