Listen to music online in Quebec: only 4 songs from Quebec in the top 100

Over the past year, only four songs performed by Quebec artists managed to take a place in the list of the 100 most listened to songs on Quebec’s online listening services, a new report from the observatory shows.Culture & Communication.

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These data, published on November 4, the first statistics on online listening in Quebec spanning an entire year, confirm what worries many Quebec artists, including Richard Seguin and Pierre Lapointe: the music from here struggles to stand out in the digital world.

Of this quartet of songs, only two broke the top 50. that’s it copilotby FouKi and Jay Scott, the latest winners of the Félix Award for Song of the Year, which came at number 17^e location and America is crying Cowboy Fringants, at 49^e Field.

The other two titles included are English-language songs: Does not make senseCharlotte Cardin (66) and lullabyby Alicia Moffett (78).

According to this list based on data collected from ten music listening platforms (Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play Music, Groove, Napster, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube), the most Listening to the Quebec song, between October 15, 2021 and October 13, 2022 was heat wavesfrom the British group Glass Animals (see Table 1).

8% of Quebec listeners

It will be even more interesting when you notice the people who listen more to the performers during the same period. Four Quebecers appear in the top 50 (Les Cowboys Fringants, Charlotte Cardin, Enima and FouKi) and rapper Souldia is not far from 52nd (see Table 2).

However, overall, the percentage of plays associated with performers from here is 8%, with a peak of 11% during the holiday season and 10% during the week of National Day.

“It is unfortunate, l had announced register Richard Seguin, a few weeks agoWe’re talking about the low rate of listening to our music on the web. I’m afraid it will become marginal music. »

For his part, Pierre Lapointe has been sounding the alarm for several years. Even recently, in an interview with Radio Canada on the sidelines of the ADISQ concert, he said that he was “very pessimistic”.

“If nothing changes, Francophone culture will die, and we will have no creators anymore,” he said into the show’s microphone. Culture will always be there.

List of the most streamed songs in Quebec on streaming services, from October 15, 2021 to October 13, 2022)

1 – heat wavesglass animals

2 – cold heartElton John and Dua Lipa

3 – BebasFarruko

4 – shiveringEd Sheeran

5 – Where are you nowThe Missing Frequencies and Calum Scott

17 – copilot (with Jay Scott) and Foki

49- America is cryingDaxing Cowboys

66- Does not make sense Charlotte Cardan

78- lullabyAlicia Moffett

List of the most listened to artists on streaming services, from October 15, 2021 to October 13, 2022.

1 – Drake

2 – Ed Sheeran

3 – Taylor Swift

4 – The Weeknd

5 – Eminem

16 – Dashing Cowboys

17- Charlotte Cardin

19 – Anime

39- Foki

52- Soldia

*Source: Quebec Culture and Communication Observatory

Listening to Quebec music online: the influence of QUB Musique is still unknown

Among the streaming platforms that have been used to gauge Quebec’s musical preferences, one is missing: QUB Musique. So the impact of this service, in favor of local music, is still unknown.

The reason is simple. Quebecor’s web music service has not yet joined the MRC data accounting system, from which the Culture and Communications Observatory derives data that allows it to build its charts.

“It takes a lot of development for them to get the information out and we haven’t got into it yet. I’d like to have it next year,” explains QUB Musique’s principal director, Marc-André Laporte.

He is convinced that adding QUB Musique, where Quebec music is prominent, would increase the share of songs from here being consumed online, currently by 8%, according to the OCCQ.

He notes that “in 2021, 76% of our listening comes from Quebec performers.”

Correct pairing

According to Marc-Andre Laporte, if their music is listened to, it is important to display Quebec artists on a platform, but more than that to “coherently integrate them into playlists.

For example, he says it makes sense and is a bonus to pair a rapper’s song out loud with a Drake song.

“A lot of people discover through playlists. From the moment we mix Quebec artists with international stars, with consistency, people will discover them.