Music streaming hit new milestones during the first half of the year in Canada, and there’s no reason to expect that record-breaking momentum to slow down.
Total on-demand audio stream volume reached a six-month record of more than 26 billion, up 53%, and total on-demand video stream volume increased 32% year-over-year.
Canada’s own Drake had the highest streaming volume of all artists. His singles “God’s Plan” and “Nice For What” spent a combined 14 of the first 26 weeks of the year at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
Canadian artists scoring No. 1 albums on the Billboard Canadian Top 200 in 2018 included The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Tory Lanez, Jim Cuddy, Éric Lapointe and Coeur de Pirate.
Digital and physical album sales were down year-over-year, but vinyl LP sales were up 67%, boosted by the growing popularity of Record Store Day. Now in its 11th year, Record Store Day exclusive releases helped vinyl sales for the week of the celebration (April 20-26) total over 27,000 units. The total accounted for a 96% increase in vinyl sales over Record Store Day in 2017.
