StatsCan Reports Industry Revenues For 2017

By FYI Staff

Canada’s recording and music publishing industries grew by 21.1 percent to $1.1 billion in 2017, according to Statistics Canada.

The majority of operating revenue came from the record production and distribution market, which saw a 53.9 percent growth.

While sales of music in most formats declined, the industry earned $175.9 million in revenue from streaming revenues.

In 2017, streaming sales represented the largest share (42.6%) of sales by format, followed by compact discs (27.7%), digital downloads (23.3%) and other forms, including vinyl and DVD (6.4%). CD sales were down 26.1% from 2015, while digital download sales decreased 23.9% over the same period. In 2017, streaming income generated $175.9 million in revenue.

Royalties, franchise fees, and memberships accounted for one-third (33.6%) of operating expenses in this industry in 2017, followed by the cost of goods sold (25.8%) and salaries, wages, commissions and benefits (14.4%).

Music publisher revenues came second with 30.7 percent operating revenue growth and sound recording studios’ operating income grew by 13 percent in 2017.

Music publishers earned operating revenues of $329.1 million in 2017, up 17.2% from 2015. The industry's operating profit margin declined from 11.4% in 2015 to 10.5% in 2017. As with record production and distribution, the largest share of expenditures in this industry comes from royalties, franchise fees, and memberships (36.9%). Salaries, wages, commissions, and benefits followed, accounting for 21.1% of operating expenses.

Recording studio operating revenues increased 6.8% from 2015 to $139.5 million in 2017, while the operating profit margin rose to 17.4%.