Online music listening in Quebec: only 4 Quebec songs in the top 100

In the past year, only four songs performed by Quebec artists made the list of the 100 most listened to songs on online listening services in Quebec, according to a new report by the Observatory of Culture and Communication.

• Read more: Singer Salome Leclerc believes the Gala de l’ADISQ still has its place

The data, released Nov. 4 — the first statistics on online listening in Quebec — confirms what many Quebec artists, including Richard Seguin and Pierre Lapointe, worry: music from here is struggling to stand out in the digital universe.

Of these four songs, only two reached the top 50 Co-pilotBy FouKi and Jay Scott, Felix wins Song of the Year at number 17.^e Location, and America is crying Cowboys fringes, which appear in 49^e Square.

The other two titles listed are songs in English: Meaningless Charlotte Cardin (66^e) and lullaby Alicia Moffett (78^e)

According to this list, based on data collected across ten music listening platforms (Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play Music, Groove, Napster, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube), the most listened to Quebec song between October 15, 2021 and October 13, 2022. was Heat wavesBritish group of mirror animals (see Table 1).

8% of Quebec listeners

It’s a little more fun when you notice who were the most listened to artists during the same period. Four Quebecers are in the top 50 (Les Cowboys Fringants, Charlotte Cordin, Enema and Fouguey). Rapper Soldia is not yet 52 years old^e ranking (see Table 2).

Overall, however, the proportion of plays involving artists from here averages 8%, peaking at 11% during the holiday season and 10% during the week of a national holiday. .

“It is unfortunate, announced Register Richard Seguin, a few weeks ago, speaks volumes about the low rate of listening to our music on the Internet. I’m afraid it will become marginalized music.”

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

If nothing changes, “Francophone culture will die and there will be no more creators,” he said into the program’s microphone. Culture will last forever.

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

1 – Heat wavesGlass animals

2 – A cold heartElton John and Dua Lipa

3 – PeppasFarooq

4 – tremblingEd Sheeran

5 – Where are you now?Lost Waves and Calum Scott

17 – Co-pilot (with J Scott), FouKi

49 – America is cryingThe Dashing Cowboys

66 – pointless, Charlotte Cardin

78 – lullabyAlicia Moffett

List of Most Streamed Artists on Streaming Services from October 15, 2021 to October 13, 2022

1 – Drake

2-Ed Sheeran

3 – Taylor Swift

4 – Weekend

5 – Eminem

16 – The Dashing Cowboys

17 – Charlotte Cardin

19 – Enema

39 – FouKi

52 – Soldia

* Source: Observatory of Culture and Communication of Quebec

Listening to Quebec music online: QUB Music’s impact is still unknown

Among the streaming platforms used to gauge Quebecers’ music preferences, one is missing: QUB Music. The impact of this service, which is decidedly in favor of local music, is therefore unknown.

The reason is simple. Quebecer’s Internet music service has not yet joined the MRC data accounting system, from which Quebec’s Observatory of Culture and Communication (OCCQ) draws data that allows it to create its charts.

We are told that QB’s computer system does not yet allow the conversion of its data to MRC data. “I’d like to have it next year,” says Marc-André Laporte, principal director of QUB Music.

He believes the addition of QUB Music, where Quebec music is prominent, will increase the share of songs consumed online, which currently stands at 8% according to OCCQ.

“By 2021, 76% of what we listen to will come from Quebec artists,” he points out.

A perfect pair

According to Marc-André Laporte, if we want to hear the music of Quebec artists, it is important to showcase them on a stage, but even more so to “integrate them into playlists”.

For example, he says it makes sense to pair a song by rapper Loud with a track by Drake.

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