Quebec Experiences Decrease in Local Content Consumption

Photo Credit: Observatoire de la Culture et des Communications of the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (Luminate Data)

Quebec is the latest market experiencing a steep decrease in local music content consumption, with album sales declining for the fourth year.

As reports of major declines in local content pop up in major areas like Australia, new data from Luminate reveals that Quebec is the latest market experiencing a steep decline in local content consumption.

Quebec artists account for 7.1% of all Canadian streams in 2025, which is actually relatively stable at “between 7% and 8% since 2022.” But physical formats and downloads by Quebec artists have declined for the fourth year. In one year, it fell from 24% to 18%.

Streaming platforms remain the preferred method for consuming music in Quebec, even though statistics show a decline in local content consumption. Music album sales continue to decline.

Quebec saw 31.9 billion streams on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, representing a 3% increase in 2025, compared to 12% in 2024 and 16% in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the proliferation of music streaming platforms has led to a “phenomenal decline” in CD sales; the number of CDs sold dropped from 13 million in 2004 to just 500,000 in 2025. However, vinyl record sales have been steadily increasing since 2008, with the number of units sold last year clocking in at 400,000.

But the decline in physical music sales is having a greater impact on local artists than international artists.

“The share of album sales accounted for by Quebec artists has been declining for the fourth consecutive year,” the report states. “In one year, it fell from 24% to 18%.”

“This decline is due to a sharper drop in album sales among Quebec artists than among artists from other regions, for both CDs and digital files. Furthermore, vinyl—which is growing—does little to benefit Quebec artists (8% of sales),” the report adds.

Only one Quebec artist—Les Cowboys Fringants—made it to the list of the 20 most-streamed artists in Quebec, ranking 12th on the list. The second-most popular Québécois artist was Charlotte Cardin, but she only ranks 38th overall. Meanwhile, Celine Dion ranks fifth on the Quebec chart, but 68th overall.