Canadians turned to music to get through the second year of the pandemic – and our favourite artists included Adele, Olivia Rodrigo and homegrown artists Justin Bieber and Drake.
According to a year-end report by MRC Data, which tracks sales and streams of music, Canada saw a record high number of on-demand streams – more than 2 billion – in 2021 as well as a 21 percent jump in sales of vinyl.
Rodrigo’s debut album Sour, released in May, was No. 1 with 262,200 album-equivalent sales and 334.4 million on-demand audio streams. It was followed by country star Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (235,000 sales; 280 million on-demand streams), Bieber’s Justice (230,000; 271.2 million), The Kid LAROI’s F**k Love (202,000; 261 million) and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (185,000; 230 million).
The rest of the Top 10 consisted of albums from Drake, Adele, Pop Smoke, The Weeknd and Doja Cat.
The most streamed song in Canada last year was Dua Lipa’s “Levitating.”
There was a nearly 22 percent jump in vinyl sales in Canada last year, to 1.1 million, fuelled by top sellers like Adele’s 30, Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) and evermore, Harry Styles’ Fine Line and The Tragically Hip’s Saskadelphia.
Among Canadian acts, Bieber, Drake and The Weeknd had the biggest albums of 2021. “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande was the No. 1 song by a homegrown act, followed by “Peaches” by Bieber with Daniel Caesar and Giveon; “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd; “Wants and Needs” by Drake; and “You Broke Me First” (Tate McRae).