Here is this week's Luminate Data Market Watch report which features Canadian music stats for the current week and YTD with comparisons to last year. The abbreviation "TEA" is a term used to describe the sale of music downloads or singles. A track equivalent album is equal to 10 tracks, or 10 songs.
L-R: Jude Coombe, Susan de Cartier (Blue Rodeo - manager), Madelaine Napoleone, Julia Hummel, Colin Cripps (Blue Rodeo), Ken Boyer, Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo), Eric Wong, Greg Keelor (Blue Rodeo), Jim Bowskill, Michael Boguski (Blue Rodeo), Dave Stelling, Bazil Donovan (Blue Rodeo), Glenn Milchem ( (Blue Rodeo), Danelle Schiele Warner Music Canada
The Canadian Blues Music Awards recently announced the nominees for its 2026 awards. Leading the nomination tally is Ottawa's Angelique Francis, with eight, followed by Yukon native Brandon Isaak and Vancouver Island-based duo Blue Moon Marquee, with five apiece.
Other multiple nominees include Crystal Shawanda, Secondhand Dreamcar, Marcus Trummer, Jeff Rogers, Steve Marriner, Ndidi O and Bywater Call. Trophies for 16 categories, including a lifetime achievement award, will be handed out at the awards presentation on March 30, 2026, at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre. Tickets on sale now.
A record number of first-time nominees was delivered by the new Canadian Blues Music Awards process, which requires submissions based on the year’s recordings, and voting by industry experts representing all regions of Canada. The CBMAs have replaced the previous national awards show for Canadian blues, The Maple Blues Awards, which were produced by the Toronto Blues Society and ran since 1997.
The 2024 Maple Blues Awards faced heavy criticism for its winner list, which awarded only one non-white artist, and this fuelled the Canadian Blues Music Awards, an incorporated national not-for-profit whose mandate is to govern all the processes leading up to the awards ceremony. It now operates as a separate entity from the TBS, which is no longer involved in governance, nominations, judging, voting or any other processes.
See a full list of award nominees in this video.
– The now well-established and lucrative SiriusXM Top of the Country competition has returned for 2026. The champion wins $25,000 plus industry mentorship, high-profile performance opportunities in Canada and Nashville and career development funding for recordings and videos. Previous recent winners have included Noeline Hoffman, Zach McPhee, SACHA, Tyler Joe Miller and Matt Lang, while emerging superstar Josh Ross earned a career boost as a 2022 finalist. Go here for more information.
Thanks in part to its hosting of the 2026 Juno Awards, Hamilton has declared 2026 The Year of Music for the city. One of the associated projects is a new exhibit called Punching In: The Work of Hamilton Music, a look at Hamilton's fascinating music history. It was launched via a music industry party on Jan. 26 and is now open to the public, running until the end of the year at The Visitor Experience Centre, 28 James St. N. Billboard Canada attended the opening, as did Mayor Andrea Horwath and many local music industry luminaries, while Hamilton area activist and artist Layla Staats performed.
The well-curated exhibit, put together by Hamilton Civic Museums, showcases such major contributors to the local scene as record label/management company/venue operator Sonic Unyon, campus station CFMU and internationally-renowned studio Grant Avenue. More information here.
– The City of Kitchener has announced the appointment of William Muir as its Music Officer. In a LinkedIn post, Muir noted that "This role is all about supporting and growing our local music ecosystem working with musicians, venues, and music businesses of all sizes to create opportunities, foster collaboration, and strengthen the cultural and economic impact of music in the community that has given me so much." His background includes work as a producer/engineer and at Centre In The Square.
Departure, the industry-focused festival and conference that replaced Canadian Music Week last year, returns to Toronto for its second edition, running May 4-10. Departure 2026 has announced its first wave of guests, including the first recipients of the Departure Honours including Sarah McLachlan, KPop Demon Hunters creator and co-director Maggie Kang, Heated Rivalry ccreator Jacob Tierney and writer Rupi Kaur (who is also headlining a special event at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre). Conference speakers include comedian Russell Peters, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, EVP and GM of LVRN Records Amber Grimes and songwriter Jenna Andrews (BTS, KPop Demon Hunters). Musicians include Wild Rivers, Tommy Genesis, Katie Tupper, Sacha, Chxrry and jev plus much more. The Live Music Awards on May 6. Main stages will be hosted at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and the Fairmont Royal York, with the new Departure House (58 Berkeley St.) taking over as headquarters.
Hamilton rocker Katie Bulley (The Barettas) has just independently released a new (untitled) album, one she describes as "90’s pop punk with old school 50’s surf rock and roll with rockabilly sounds." The 10 songs are all original Bulley compositions, and the self-produced album was recorded at Hazy Grove Recording Studio in Dundas and engineered by Ryan Barwin. "This is my fifth solo album and I believe it’s my very best," she tells Billboard Canada. Check it out on Bandcamp here.
