Over half of Canadian music spending on live

Over half of all spending on music in Canada last year was on live events as concerts, music festivals and live DJs – along with paid streaming services – displace physical media and digital downloads in Canadians’ spending habits.

While “music listening in Canada remains as popular as it ever has been, driven by new music services and great new music by homegrown superstar artists (Drake, Bieber [and] The Weeknd to name a few)”, says market research firm Nielsen in its third Music 360 Canada report, released on Thursday, “what continues to change is how fans are accessing and engaging with music. While physical album sales continue to decline, Canadians are attending more, and spending more of their money, on live events.”

The report reveals that spending on concerts, festivals and DJs collectively make up 48% of the Canadian market (at 31%, 11% and 6%, respectively), with festivals and DJ events particularly popular among millennials and teenagers. A full breakdown can be seen in the graph below:

To buy the full report, email [email protected].

Collection society SOCAN released its 2016 financial results last week, revealing that concert revenues increased 4.9% to C$39.6 million in “another remarkable year” for Canadian music.

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