Canadian artists thrive as Spotify hits record $10 Billion payout to music industry

What you need to know

• Spotify has released its annual "Loud and Clear" report — a comprehensive look at how artists have performed on the platform.
• Spotify said it paid out over $10 billion to the music industry globally in 2024, marking the largest single-year payout by any retailer in music history.
• The report suggests that in the last year alone, Canadian artists earned nearly  CAD $460 million in royalties on Spotify.
• Spotify reports that Canadian music revenue has grown by 129% over the past five years, reaching CAD $909 million in 2024 alone.

Spotify recently published its annual "Loud and Clear" report, in which it discusses the economics of music streaming every year. This year, Spotify said it paid out over $10 billion to the music industry globally in 2024, marking the largest single-year payout by any retailer in music history.

The report also adds that nearly 1,500 artists generated over $1 million in royalties from Spotify alone in 2024. And 80% of these artists didn't have their song reach the Spotify Global Daily Top 50 chart. Meaning, without having a mainstream hit, they were still able to generate revenue.

The surprising part, however, is that Canadian artists seem to be thriving globally, and in 2024, Canadian music artists earned CAD $460 million in royalties on Spotify, which is almost double the earnings they made since 2019. Spotify says this was possible because Canadian-grown global stars like The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Céline Dion, and more have built a strong foundation for budding artists.

"That’s not just streams; that’s sustainable careers being built in studios, basements, and tour vans from Vancouver to Halifax," the streaming giant added.

Speaking of where these royalties were earned, Spotify says that 94% of the money earned by Canadian artists through Spotify came from outside Canada.

This means Canada has become one of the world's top music exporters, and that Canadian music is not only being streamed locally but also in "cities like Jakarta, Osaka, Melbourne, London, São Paulo, Berlin, Mexico City, and Seoul."

Since Canada is a bilingual country, its French music also saw a 15% growth in global Spotify royalties just in the past year.

For instance, "Québécois artist Patrick Watson’s 'Je te laisserai des mots' was the most popular francophone track on Spotify globally in 2024, and the first French-language track to pass 1 billion streams," the report stated.

Furthermore, Spotify says that Canadian women have also been at the front and center of music creation, and since 2020, their global streams on Spotify have also doubled. And as of 2024, "40% of Canadian artists earning over CAD $1 million on Spotify were women or in groups with both male and female members."

“This is what Canada sounds like—diverse, digital, and not just thriving domestically, but leading on the world stage. The data is clear in underscoring the vital role that export plays in sustaining the overall health of Canada’s music industry,” said Xenia Manning, director of Global Music Policy, Spotify.