II -- Consumers and Industry

Consumer

Young Canadians aged 15 to 20 are driving the music industry, leading the way on music purchasing and listening over the Internet while keeping up with traditional music purchasing (CDs), according to a 2005 Decima survey commissioned by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Canadians aged 35 to 54, the survey also found, purchased the same average number of Canadian albums as their younger cohorts, despite professing a greater enthusiasm for Canadian artists.


Top of Page

Listening habits

Decima found that radio continues to dominate Canadians' music listening, though it is losing ground to the Internet among younger Canadians. Overall, Canadians listened to music on the radio in 2005 an average of 8.2 hours per week, about 44% of the average 18.8 hours of total music listening per week. Canadians aged 35 to 54 listen to music on the radio the most, at 9.7 hours per week, contrasted with 5.8 hours per week among 15 to 20-year-olds.

Still, teens far exceeded other age groups for total music listening, at 26.8 hours per week, but spread their listening out between radio (5.8 hours), CD/mp3 listening (12.8 hours), television (3.5 hours) and the Internet (4.8 hours). The Internet was barely a factor in the music listening habits of Canadians over the age of 35.19 (Overall music listening drops off sharply for the oldest group, ages 55 and older.)

Average Number of Hours Spent Listening to Music Per Week
  Overall 15-20 21-34 35-54 55+
Radio 8.2 5.8 8.3 9.7 6.9
CDs, MP3s Cassettes 6.9 12.8 8.7 6.7 3.7
Television 2.2 3.5 2.1 1.9 2.3
Internet 1.4 4.8 2.5 0.7 0.3
Total 18.8 26.8 21.5 19.1 13.1
Base: All respondents (n=2,002)
Source: Canadian Film and Music Opinion Study, Decima Research, 2005.
Note: Figures may not add up precisely due to rounding.

Ninety-five percent of Canadians listen to music by Canadian artists. For 15% of the general population, Canadian music accounts for more than half of their music listening.20 On average, Quebec residents listen to Canadian music more than other Canadians, with 27% of Quebec respondents indicating that Canadian music accounts for more than half of the time spent listening to music, compared to 10% in the rest of Canada.

Time Spent Listening to Canadian Music Compared to Total Listening
  None
 Less
than
10%
 10-
25%
 26-
50%

 51-
75%
 76-
100%
Overall 5% 20% 32% 29% 10% 5%
Quebec 6% 14% 25% 28% 7% 10%
Rest of Canada 4% 23% 35% 29% 7% 3%
Base: Respondents that listen to music (n=1,978)
Source: Canadian Film and Music Opinion Study, Decima Research, 2005.

Top of Page

Purchasing habits

Among music listeners (at least one hour per week in any medium), 87% purchased at least one CD in the past year, either for themselves or for someone else.21 About three quarters of these CD buyers purchased at least one Canadian CD last year, with just over one half purchasing between one and five CDs.

Total CDs Purchased
  Total CDs Canadian CDs
None 13% 26%
1 to 5 32% 52%
6 to 10 25% 12%
11 to 20 18% 5%
21 to 30 6% 1%
More than 30 6% 1%


Total Music DVDs Purchased
  Overall
None 58%
1 to 2 16%
3 to 5 14%
6 to 10 7%
11 or more 5 %
Base: Respondents that listen to music (n=1,978)
Source: Canadian Film and Music Opinion Study, Decima Research, 2005.

Music purchasing was almost equal among age groups, with music listeners aged 15 through 54 all purchasing an average of 10 to 11 CDs in the previous year, dropping to 7 CDs for those over 55. In 2005, despite positive trends in the purchasing of digital tracks over the Internet, paid downloads were overshadowed by free music sharing, the survey found. Among respondents with Internet access, 30% said they downloaded free music tracks, compared with 11% who bought tracks online.22 Teenagers are the top downloaders, with 68% of those aged 15 to 20 saying they downloaded tracks for free in 2004-2005, and 23% making at least one online purchase.23

Downloading Music From the Internet
  % Who Have Purchased Music % Who Have Downloaded
Free Music
Overall 11% 30%
15-20 23% 68%
21-34 15% 43%
35-54 8% 22%
55+ 4% 7%
Base: Respondents that access the internet. (n=1,602)
Source: Canadian Film and Music Opinion Study, Decima Research, 2005.

Top of Page

Enthusiasm for Canadian artists

The survey also shows that Canadians' appreciation for Canadian artists remains high, with 93% of respondents saying that music by Canadian artists is better than or equal to music by foreign artists, a result found in previous polls.24

More specifically, the survey found that 35% of the general population considers the quality of music by Canadian artists to be better than the music of foreign artists, while 57% considers it to be equal. Those opinions vary by age group: Canadians between 35 and 54 were the most enthusiastic, with 41% saying Canadian music is better and 55% saying it is equal to that of foreign artists. By contrast, just 21% of 15 to 20-year-olds considered Canadian music to be superior, though only 12% of this age group considered Canadian music to be inferior to international music.25

Perceptions of Quality of Canadian Music
  Better Equal Not as good Better or Equal
Overall 35% 57% 7% 93%
15-20 21% 66% 12% 88%
21-34 31% 61% 8% 92%
35-54 41% 55% 3% 97%
55+ 35% 54% 10% 90%
Base: All respondents (n=2,002)
Source: Canadian Film and Music Opinion Study, Decima Research, 2005.
Note: Figures may not add up precisely due to rounding.

Top of Page

Industry

The number of Canadian music companies included in the Statistics Canada Sound Recording Survey decreased between 2000 and 2003. Overall profit margins and number of full-time employees in the industry also fell in the same period. Small employment gains at Canadian-controlled companies provided some of the good news in the 2003 survey.

According to Statistics Canada, the number of music companies in Canada fell from 331 in 2000 to 300 in 2003,26 almost entirely attributable to companies with annual revenues less than $50,000 (183 in 2000 compared with 140 in 2003). The number of companies reporting revenues greater than $50,000, however, increased from 148 in 2000 to 160 in 2003.

Number of Reporting Sound Recording Companies
  1998 2000 2003
Categories
Total 280 331 300
Control Canadian 263 315 287
Foreign 17 16 13
Revenue
Categories
<$50K 142 183 140
$50K-$100K 25 29 34
$100K-$1M 72 78 87
>$1M 41 41 39
Region Atlantic 13 15 16
Quebec 88 125 128
Ontario 113 120 105
Prairies 22 27 20
British Colombia 42 41 29
Territories 2 3 2
Source: Statistics Canada, Sound Recording Survey 2003

Between 2000 and 2003, the overall profit margin of the Canadian music industry decreased from 11.9% in 2000 to 2.6% in 2003. Despite a nearly 26% jump in revenues at Canadian-controlled companies, a larger increase in expenses resulted in a group profit margin of 0.5% in 2003, down from 7.1% in 2000. Foreign-controlled firms, meanwhile, saw their profit margin fall from 12.7% in 2000 to 3.2% in 200327.

Profit Margin of Reporting Sound Recording Companies
  1998 2000 2003
Categories
Total 14.3 11.9 2.6
Control Canadian 8.3 7.1 0.5
Foreign 15.2 12.7 3.2
Revenue
Categories
<$100K -21.3 -44.8 -13.2
$100K-$1M 6.9 8.0 4.7
>$1M 14.7 12.4 2.7
Source: Statistics Canada, Sound Recording Survey 2003

In the same period, full-time employment in the Canadian music industry decreased 12%, from 2,591 employees in 2000 to 2,281 in 2003. However, the drop in full-time employment was limited entirely to companies reporting revenues greater than $1 million, which saw full-time employment down from 2,399 in 2000 to 2,035 in 2003. Companies with revenues under $1 million, on the other hand, reported 246 full-time employees in 2003, up from 192 in 2000. Similarly, Canadian-controlled companies reported having more full-time staff in 2003, with 681 in 2003 compared to 578 in 2000. Foreigncontrolled firms saw the number of full-time staff decrease 20.5% from 2,013 in 2000 to 1,600 in 2003.

The number of freelancers working in the industry increased, from 555 in 2000 to 647 in 2003. Part-time employment marginally decreased in the same period, from 159 employees in 2000 to 150 in 2003.

Number of Full-time Employees at Reporting Sound Recording Companies
  1998 2000 2003
Categories
Total 2,711 2,591 2,281
Control Canadian 460 578 681
Foreign 2,251 2,013 1,600
Revenue
Categories
<$100K 47 62 64
$100K-$1M 125 130 182
>$1M 2,539 2,399 2,035
Region Quebec 592 639 607
Ontario 1,981 1,804 1,562
BC 112 115 79
ROC 26 33 33
Source: Statistics Canada, Sound Recording Survey 2003

[ Previous Page | Table of Contents | Next Page ]