Canada 2015 Mid-Year Report: 10.5 Billion On-Demand Streams; Digital Albums Up 10%; Vinyl LPs Up 40%

ielsen, the music industry’s leading data information provider, announced the 2015 Canada Music mid-year report for the six-month period of Dec. 29, 2014 through June 28, 2015.

Streaming volume continues to grow, with over 10.5 billion songs streamed on-demand through audio and video platforms in the first six months of 2015. Digital album sales are also showing a significant increase over last year, up nearly 10%, while digital track sales are down 10% over mid-year 2014. Combining digital albums and track equivalent albums, we see overall digital sales up 3.2%. CD sales are down nearly 9%, but vinyl LP sales remain strong, up 40%.

“The biggest story of the year continues to be the growth of streaming,” said David Bakula, SVP Industry Insights, Nielsen. “With over 10.5 billion on-demand streams in the first six months of the year, streaming is becoming the primary choice of consumption for many music fans.”

BILLBOARD’S TOP CHARTS FOR MID-YEAR 2015
COMPILED BY NIELSEN MUSIC
2015 Top Albums + TEA
Artist Album Sales

1 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 172,000
2 ED SHEERAN X 170,000
3 SOUNDTRACK FIFTY SHADES OF GREY 134,000
4 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR 132,000
5 YOAN * YOAN 101,000
6 HOZIER HOZIER 101,000
7 DRAKE * IF YOU’RE READING THIS… 101,000
8 MAROON 5 V 92,000
9 MEGHAN TRAINOR TITLE 86,000
10 MUMFORD & SONS WILDER MIND 84,000

2015 Top Albums
Artist Album Sales

1 ED SHEERAN X 117,000
2 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 111,000
3 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR 105,000
4 YOAN * YOAN 100,000
5 SOUNDTRACK FIFTY SHADES OF GREY 89,000
6 DRAKE * IF YOU’RE READING THIS, 89,000
7 JEAN LELOUP * PARADIS CITY 76,000
8 MUMFORD & SONS WILDER MIND 74,000
9 HOZIER HOZIER 68,000
10 IMAGINE DRAGONS SMOKE + MIRRORS 66,000

2015 Top Digital Albums
Artist Album Sales

1 DRAKE * IF YOU’RE READING THIS… 77,000
2 ED SHEERAN X 63,000
3 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 56,000
4 SOUNDTRACK FIFTY SHADES OF GREY 52,000
5 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR 47,000
6 MUMFORD & SONS WILDER MIND 46,000
7 HOZIER HOZIER 40,000
8 KENDRICK LAMAR TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY 36,000
9 IMAGINE DRAGONS SMOKE + MIRRORS 33,000
10 SOUNDTRACK GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 33,000

*Indicates Canadian artist

2015 Top On-Demand Streams
Artist Album Streams

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 38,000,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUT 25,000,000
3 WIZ KHALIFA FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH SEE YOU AGAIN 23,000,000
4 MAROON 5 SUGAR 20,000,000
5 TAYLOR SWIFT BLANK SPACE 18,000,000
6 TAYLOR SWIFT SHAKE IT OFF 18,000,000
7 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 18,000,000
8 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 17,000,000
9 SIA ELASTIC HEART 13,000,000
10 OMI CHEERLEADER 13,000,000

2015 Top On-Demand Streams
Artist Album Streams

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 38,000,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUT 25,000,000
3 WIZ KHALIFA FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH SEE YOU AGAIN 23,000,000
4 MAROON 5 SUGAR 20,000,000
5 TAYLOR SWIFT BLANK SPACE 18,000,000
6 TAYLOR SWIFT SHAKE IT OFF 18,000,000
7 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 18,000,000
8 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 17,000,000
9 SIA ELASTIC HEART 13,000,000
10 OMI CHEERLEADER 13,000,000

2015 Top Audio On-Demand
Streams
Artist Album Streams

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 4,800,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUD 4,100,000
3 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 4,000,000
4 WIZ KHALIFA FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH SEE YOU AGAIN 3,900,000
5 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 3,800,000
6 MAROON 5 SUGAR 3,700,000
7 FLO RIDA FEAT. SAGE THE GEMINI G.D.F.R. 3,500,000
8 OMI CHEERLEADER 3,500,000
9 MAJOR LAZER FEAT. DJ SNAKE LEAN ON 3,400,000
10 WEEKND * EARNED IT 3,100,000
*Indicates Canadian artist

2015 Top Video On-Demand
Streams
Artist Album Streams

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 33,600,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUD 20,800,000
3 WIZ KHALIFA FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH SEE YOU AGAIN 19,100,000
4 TAYLOR SWIFT BLANK SPACE 18,000,000
5 TAYLOR SWIFT SHAKE IT OFF 17,800,000
6 MAROON 5 SUGAR 16,100,000
7 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 13,700,000
8 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 13,000,000
9 PSY GANGNAM STYLE 12,000,000
10 MEGHAN TRAINOR ALL ABOUT THAT BASS 11,500,000

2015 Top Digital Songs
Artist Album Sales

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 526,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUD 346,000
3 WIZ KHALIFA FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH SEE YOU AGAIN 315,000
4 MAROON 5 SUGAR 289,000
5 RIHANNA/KANYE WEST/PAUL MCCARTNEY FOURFIVESECONDS 289,000
6 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 279,000
7 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 245,000
8 OMI CHEERLEADER 242,000
9 ANDY GRAMMER HONEY, I’M GOOD 204,000
10 WALK THE MOON SHUT UP AND DANCE 200,000

2015 Radio Songs
Artist Album Plays

1 MARK RONSON FEAT. BRUNO MARS UPTOWN FUNK! 69,000
2 ED SHEERAN THINKING OUT LOUD 65,000
3 MAROON 5 SUGAR 65,000
4 TAYLOR SWIFT STYLE 61,000
5 ELLIE GOULDING LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO 56,000
6 HOZIER TAKE ME TO CHURCH 54,000
7 SHAWN MENDES * SOMETHING BIG 51,000
8 TAYLOR SWIFT BLANK SPACE 48,000
9 WALK THE MOON SHUT UP AND DANCE 46,000
10 WEEKND * EARNED IT 43,000
Based on plays at all Canadian Formats