Canada’s Music Export Power: Top Three Globally, But Growth Stalls

Canada is the third biggest exporter of music to the world.

That’s according to the inaugural “export power” ranking in Luminate’s 2024 year-end report. The music data tracking company, which also tabulates Billboard’s charts, defines export power as “a country’s ability to export recorded music globally.”

Canada is behind only the U.S. and the U.K., which hold the top two spots on the export power ranking. Canada’s top importers of music are the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, while Canada is also the number one importer of music from the U.S., emphasizing the entwined nature of Canadian and American markets.

The rest of the top ten is rounded out by South Korea, Germany, France, Puerto Rico, Australia, Sweden and Brazil.

While that might seem like good news for Canadian music, the report also includes some indicators that Canada is not in a growth period for exporting music.

When it comes to the share of global premium (audio and video) streams, Canada saw the third largest decline last year, with its share down from 3.73% to 3.34%, also behind the U.S. and U.K. Mexico, Brazil and India had the biggest stream share growth.

That points to a trend where music from the global south — and in languages other than English — is seeing a major explosion in popularity.

The report also highlights that English and non-English-language countries are showing different trends when it comes to local vs. foreign content.

“English-speaking markets are losing local share to non-English language imports,” the report states, “while many non-English speaking markets show local content gaining share.”

That provides further evidence that non-English language music is on the rise across the board. In the U.S., Mexico and Chile (and, surprisingly, Ireland) had the biggest stream share gains, while Canada, the U.S. and Nigeria saw the biggest stream share declines. Canada also saw some of the highest stream share declines in the U.K., Australia, Japan and Brazil.

Canadian songwriters, however, are going strong, thanks in part to a few of pop’s biggest stars.

Canada ranks third for songwriter representation among 2024’s top 1000 most-streamed songs, again behind the U.S. and the U.K.

The Weeknd is a big reason for that position, ranking third amongst the most prolific and the most-streamed songwriters in the top 1000 streamed songs.

Pop comes out as the fastest-growing genre in the U.S., followed by rock, Latin music and country. That growth is led by a big year for women pop singers like Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter — and Canada’s Tate McRae, who places at No. 9 on Luminate’s Pop Artist Rank for the U.S.

Find more on Canadian data and trends in Luminate’s Year-End Report here.

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Unison Fund Launches Relief Program For Canadian Music Workers Affected By Los Angeles Fires

Canadian music industry charity Unison Fund has launched a new support program for music workers affected by the Los Angeles fires.

The Natural Disaster Relief Program provides one-time payments of $2,500 to Canadian music workers facing losses from natural disasters, including the wildfires.

The program is the latest initiative offering support to music industry members who have suffered devastating losses in the fires, which have resulted in at least 27 deaths destroyed more than 12,000 structures. The Palisades Fire is 22% contained as of Thursday, January 16, and the Eaton Fire is 45% contained.

“With so many Canadian music professionals living and working in L.A., it was important to create a program that offers meaningful support during difficult times like these,” executive director Amanda Power tells Billboard Canada.

“The Unison Fund Natural Disaster Relief Program is our way of helping our music community, providing immediate support to help rebuild lives and livelihoods after a crisis.”

Founded in 2010, Unison provides counselling and emergency relief services to Canadian musicians and the music community. The charity previously provided emergency support during 2020 and 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, disbursing over $3.5 million in pandemic assistance.

Among the Canadians affected by the fires include Grammy-winning producer Greg Wells, who lost his home, and musicians Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida who were forced to evacuate. Tim Darcy of Canadian band Cola lost his house in the fire, with friends and community members fundraising to help Darcy and his partner Amy Fort, of FSR Radio. 

To qualify for the Disaster Relief Program, applicants must have worked in the music industry for five consecutive years, with a majority of their income coming from music.