Quebec ranks last in national language music streaming, says report
Quebec ranks last among the examined nations for the share of music consumed in its national language, capturing a low percentage of total digital streams, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Commissioner of the French Language.
The Quebec Exception in Digital Streaming Data
The report, titled L’exception québécoise and released by Benoît Dubreuil, compares digital listening data from Quebec against the rest of Canada and 24 European nations. The findings show that Quebec trails far behind other non-anglophone societies.
The data relies on metrics collected by Luminate Data across major streaming platforms.
American Artists Dominate Quebec Streaming Charts
Canadian artists singing in French struggle to capture significant audience share on regional charts. According to the report, no French-language Canadian artist placed among the ten most-streamed artists in Quebec in 2022, 2024, or 2025. An exception occurred in 2023, following the death of Karl Tremblay, lead singer of Les Cowboys Fringants, when the group entered the top ten.
Conversely, American artists command over 40 percent of total streams in Quebec, a proportion higher than in any non-anglophone market studied, compared to 18 percent in Spain and 25 percent in Germany.
Hypotheses on Language, Algorithms, and Identity
The report attributes low domestic listenership to several factors, including the influence of streaming algorithms, limits in national music supply, high cultural diversity, and widespread fluency in English within the population. Data cited in the study indicate that countries with high English proficiency—such as Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden—generally exhibit lower consumption of music in their national languages.
To address these trends, the commissioner’s report recommends implementing the Act on the Discoverability of Cultural Content, strengthening ties with the international francophone community, and expanding the presence of French-language music in public spaces.
Quebec Lags Behind Europe in National Language Listening
The proportion of listening in the national language is much higher in several of those countries, including Italy at 47%, France at 45%, and Finland at 34%. The study also highlights that outside of English-speaking countries, Quebec is the region where American artists are listened to the most, obtaining more than 40% of total streams.
Only 350,000 people speak Icelandic. The commissioner also added that he was surprised by the apparent disconnect between Quebec and European Francophonie. French music is listened to a lot in Belgium or French-speaking Switzerland, but little in Quebec.
Mais il ne faut pas se laisser abattre
, sustained the commissioner in his report. L’exemple de la Belgique francophone ou de pays comme la Finlande et le Portugal nous indiquent qu’il n’existe pas de fatalité.