In its year-end report for 2019, Nielsen Music Canada also published some decade-end data including a batch of Top 10 lists. Find them below with introductory comments. Canadian artists in the charts appear in red.
Fuelled by the success of albums 21 and 25, Adele crowns the Top Artists by Album Sales chart. Three Canadians make the top ten. Michael Bublé (3rd overall) released four albums. All sold well, but particularly Christmas which has been certified diamond. Justin Bieber (5th overall) also released four including his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. Céline Dion (7th) launched four as well, the most successful of which, at quadruple platinum, was Loved Me Back to Life.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – ALBUM SALES
1 Adele 2,966,000
2 Eminem 1,948,000
3 Michael Bublé 1,774,000
4 Taylor Swift 1,738,000
5 Justin Bieber 1,539,000
6 Beatles 1,224,000
7 Celine Dion 1,177,000
8 Elvis Presley 1,052,000
9 Mumford & Sons 1,048,000
10 One Direction 998,000
As far as song sales go, Taylor Swift is the champ. She began the decade with “Today was a Fairy tale” topping the Canadian Hot 100 in February 2010. It was one of six #1 hits for the Pennsylvanian through the 2010s. The only Canadian artist to make the Top 10 was Drake. His “One Dance” was certified diamond and was one of four chart toppers through the decade.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – SONG SALES
1 Taylor Swift 6,591,000
2 Eminem 6,440,000
3 Rihanna 6,040,000
4 Katy Perry 5,813,000
5 Pitbull 5,022,000
6 Maroon 5 5,006,000
7 Drake 4,421,000
8 Ed Sheeran 4,287,000
9 Bruno Mars 4,244,000
10 Adele 4,164,000
People were more interested in streaming Drake songs in audio and video than buying them, as he finished the decade as the most streamed artist with over 3 billion. We are not sure about the numbers for these, as they should be much higher. For example, Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” music video has racked up over 3.2 billion views, higher than Drake’s tally of 3.1 billion. Perhaps the numbers are weighted (“track equivalent streams”). The Weeknd is a second Canadian artist to make the Top Ten at 6th overall.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – ON-DEMAND STREAMS (audio+video)
1 Drake 3,063,535,000
2 Eminem 1,922,883,000
3 Ed Sheeran 1,891,517,000
4 Post Malone 1,814,483,000
5 Ariana Grande 1,383,661,000
6 The Weeknd 1,332,176,000
7 Taylor Swift 1,263,757,000
8 Rihanna 1,054,367,000
9 Xxxtentacion 988,155,000
10 Kanye West 985,501,000
In terms of audio only streams, Drake again reigns supreme with The Weeknd a notch higher at 5th.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – ON-DEMAND STREAMS (audio only)
1 Drake 2,610,926,000
2 Post Malone 1,441,119,000
3 Eminem 1,199,499,000
4 Ed Sheeran 1,184,126,000
5 The Weeknd 1,002,886,000
6 Ariana Grande 871,752,000
7 Kanye West 849,112,000
8 Kendrick Lamar 758,162,000
9 Xxxtentacion 744,480,000
10 Travis Scott 730,674,000
Drake (5th) and The Weeknd take drops when streams are determined by video only. Justin Bieber appears in this Top Ten chart at 8th.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – ON-DEMAND STREAMS (video only)
1 Eminem 723,384,000
2 Ed Sheeran 707,391,000
3 Taylor Swift 558,380,000
4 Ariana Grande 511,909,000
5 Drake 452,610,000
6 Katy Perry 448,239,000
7 Maroon 5 431,486,000
8 Justin Bieber 426,819,000
9 Rihanna 415,834,000
10 Imagine Dragons 390,321,000
Although he scored no Top 40 hits through the decade, 80s-90s icon Bryan Adams is the most spun artist at radio. Rock bands The Tragically Hip (6th) and Nickelback (7th) join him in representing Canada for this chart.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – AIRPLAY SPINS
1 Bryan Adams 2,747,000
2 Maroon 5 2,623,000
3 U2 2,362,000
4 P!nk 2,341,000
5 Taylor Swift 2,281,000
6 The Tragically Hip 2,254,000
7 Nickelback 2,073,000
8 Katy Perry 2,060,000
9 Rihanna 2,019,000
10 Aerosmith 1,883,000
In terms of Airplay Audience, Bryan retains the title while The Hip(3rd) and Nickelback (5th) inch up a bit. Shania Twain enters the Top Ten at 9th being the must radio audience reached country act.
TOP 10 ARTISTS – AIRPLAY AUDIENCE
1 Bryan Adams 16,786,134,000
2 U2 14,193,754,000
3 The Tragically Hip 12,888,560,000
4 Maroon 5 12,858,977,000
5 Nickelback 11,772,806,000
6 P!nk 11,411,506,000
7 Rihanna 11,337,927,000
8 Madonna 10,948,682,000
9 Shania Twain 10,574,318,000
10 Katy Perry 10,487,833,000
Adele one-twos the 2010s with her blockbuster albums 21 and 25 respectively. Michael Bublé’s Christmas is the top Canadian disc at #3.
TOP 10 ALBUMS – ALBUM SALES
1 Adele 21 1,582,000
2 Adele 25 1,093,000
3 Michael Buble Christmas 968,000
4 Eminem Recovery 613,000
5 Taylor Swift 1989 542,000
6 Mumford & Sons Babel 431,000
7 Mumford & Sons Sigh No More 395,000
8 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 376,000
9 Ed Sheeran X 375,000
10 Imagine Dragons Night Visions 357,000
The following list looks very suspect. Although digital downloads have been in decline, the songs that made the Top Song Sales chart are all recent ones. Songs like “Blurred Lines” and “Call Me Maybe” have received 8 or 9 times platinum certification indicating sales of 700, 000 copies, far ahead of the chart’s #1 entry “Despacito”. This chart could be a complete flub by Nielsen or the data collector may have used a different kind of metric in determining the numbers and rankings.
TOP 10 SONGS – SONG SALES
1 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber Despacito 577,000
2 Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 491,000
3 Ed Sheeran Perfect 434,000
4 Imagine Dragons Believer 317,000
5 Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug Havana 274,000
6 Imagine Dragons Thunder 264,000
7 Chainsmokers feat. Halsey Closer 231,000
8 The Chainsmokers & Coldplay Something Just Like This 231,000
9 Lady Gaga & Bradley Copper Shallow 224,000
10 Lil Nas X Old Town Road 210,000
The next chart makes more sense. As streaming increased in popularity through the decade, the songs that made the final Top Ten cut are recent ones. In terms of both audio and video, “Despacito” featuring Justin Bieber wins the race, while Drake’s “God’s Plan” finishes in 9th.
TOP 10 SONGS – ON-DEMAND STREAMING (audio+video)
1 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber Despacito 300,890,000
2 Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 294,647,000
3 Lil Nas X Old Town Road 244,096,000
4 Ed Sheeran Perfect 231,232,000
5 Post Malone feat. 21 Savage Rockstar 211,703,000
6 The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey Closer 208,910,000
7 Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug Havana 202,608,000
8 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 197,165,000
9 Drake God’s Plan 181,295,000
10 Imagine Dragons Believer 179,282,000
Audio only song streaming sees Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” bump “Despacito” off the top spot. Drake’s “One Dance” (7th) joins his “God’s Plan” (6th).
TOP 10 SONGS – ON-DEMAND STREAMING (audio only)
1 Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 147,112,000
2 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber Despacito 145,239,000
3 Post Malone feat. 21 Savage Rockstar 142,507,000
4 Lil Nas X Old Town Road 128,635,000
5 Ed Sheeran Perfect 122,572,000
6 Drake God’s Plan 120,836,000
7 Drake One Dance 120,494,000
8 The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey Closer 115,059,000
9 Kendrick Lamar Humble. 111,939,000
10 French Montana feat. Swae Lee Unforgettable 111,843,000
With 6.6 billion YouTube views and 156 million video streams, “Despacito” is tops for video streaming with Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” coming in 8th. It had 106 million video streams and 3.2 billion YouTube views.
TOP 10 SONGS – ON-DEMAND STREAMING (video only)
1 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber Despacito 155,651,000
2 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 150,163,000
3 Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 147,535,000
4 Lil Nas X Old Town Road 115,461,000
5 Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth See You Again 111,570,000
6 Ed Sheeran Perfect 108,661,000
7 Taylor Swift Shake It Off 106,516,000
8 Justin Bieber Sorry 105,676,000
9 Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug Havana 105,067,000
10 Maroon 5 Girls Like You 97,180,000
Carly Rae Jepsen’s 8x platinum “Call Me Maybe” (6th) was the top Canadian artist song spun at radio across all formats with 262,000 spins. Although “Run to You” was the bigger radio hit from his Reckless album back in the day, modern DJs prefer Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” (7th). 2009’s “I Gotta Feeling” from the Black Eyed Peas crowns the chart.
TOP 10 SONGS – AIRPLAY SPINS
1 Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling 283,000
2 Kid Rock All Summer Long 276,000
3 Avicii Wake Me Up 274,000
4 The Police Every Breath You Take 271,000
5 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 265,000
6 Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe 262,000
7 Bryan Adams Summer Of ’69 261,000
8 Lumineers Ho Hey 261,000
9 Bon Jovi Livin’ On A Prayer 258,000
10 Adele Rolling In The Deep 256,000
A song about predatorial stalking was loved most by the decade’s radio disc jockeys; The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” triumphs the Airplay Audience chart. Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” leads a string of Canadian artist entries from 3rd to 8th which you can view below.
TOP 10 SONGS – AIRPLAY AUDIENCE
1 The Police Every Breath You Take 1,748,060,000
2 Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling 1,677,367,000
3 Avril Lavigne Complicated 1,660,880,000
4 Bryan Adams Summer Of ’69 1,658,915,000
5 Daniel Powter Bad Day 1,502,363,000
6 Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe 1,493,499,000
7 Tom Cochrane Life Is A Highway 1,474,510,000
8 Nelly Furtado Say It Right 1,458,021,000
9 Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) 1,456,005,000
10 U2 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For 1,451,528,000
Spins at the Contemporary Hit Radio format see “This Is What It Feels Like” featuring North Vancouver’s Trevor Guthrie take the cake. Five entries by Canadian artists back it.
TOP 10 SONGS AT CHR – SPINS
1 Armin Van Buuren ft. Trevor Guthrie This Is What It Feels Like 78,000
2 Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla One Dance 72,000
3 Loud Luxury feat. Brando Body 70,000
4 Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 69,000
5 Avicii Wake Me Up 68,000
6 Drake feat. Majid Jordan Hold On, We’re Going Home 66,000
7 The Weeknd Can’t Feel My Face 65,000
8 The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey Closer 64,000
9 Justin Bieber Sorry 63,000
10 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 63,000
The next chart is a valuable one as Francophone charts are hard to come by. The Top 10 Francophone songs at radio place Alex Nevsky’s “On Leur A Fait Croire” at #1 with 46,000 radio spins through the decade. All but one of the artists are Canadian, the lone foreigner being Belgium’s Milow who howls at the moon in 3rd.
TOP 10 FRANCOPHONE SONGS AT RADIO – SPINS
1 Alex Nevsky On Leur A Fait Croire 46,000
2 Patrice Michaud Mechaniques Generales 42,000
3 Milow Howling At The Moon 42,000
4 Karim Ouellet L’amour 42,000
5 Alex Nevsky Les Colories 39,000
6 Vincent Vallieres On Va S’aimer Encore 39,000
7 Jean Leloup Paradis City 39,000
8 Coeur De Pirate Carry On/Oublie-Moi 36,000
9 Alex Nevsky Polaroid 36,000
10 Alexe Gaudreault Placebo 34,000
The Hot Adult Contemporary format, supposedly targeting young adults, witnesses Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” in first place. Songs from Alessia Cara, Serena Ryder, and Magic! also make the Top Ten.
TOP 10 SONGS AT HOT AC – SPINS
1 Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe 76,000
2 Armin Van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie This Is What It Feels Like 66,000
3 Alessia Cara Scars To Your Beautiful 66,000
4 Adele Rolling In The Deep 65,000
5 Avicii Wake Me Up 65,000
6 Justin Timberlake Can’t Stop The Feeling! 64,000
7 Serena Ryder Stompa 64,000
8 Magic! Rude 63,000
9 Taio Cruz Dynamite 63,000
10 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 63,000
Adult Contemporary radio preferred The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” with Carly Rae Jepsen (3rd) being the only Canadian in the Top Ten.
TOP 10 SONGS AT AC – SPINS
1 Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling 55,000
2 Train Hey, Soul Sister 52,000
3 Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe 51,000
4 Lady Antebellum Need You Now 47,000
5 Adele Rolling In The Deep 47,000
6 Justin Timberlake Can’t Stop The Feeling! 46,000
7 Avicii Wake Me Up 44,000
8 Taio Cruz Dynamite 44,000
9 Kelly Clarkson Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) 44,000
10 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 44,000
Emerson Drive is the only Canadian act to appear in Country radio’s Top Ten most spun songs of the decade; “That Kind of Beautiful” makes 8th. Eric Church one-twos the 2010s.
TOP 10 SONGS AT COUNTRY – SPINS
1 Eric Church Drink In My Hand 62,000
2 Eric Church Springsteen 61,000
3 Florida Georgia Line Cruise 61,000
4 Jake Owen Barefoot Blue Jean Night 60,000
5 Kip Moore Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck 60,000
6 Darius Rucker Wagon Wheel 59,000
7 Thompson Square Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not 58,000
8 Emerson Drive That Kind Of Beautiful 57,000
9 Zac Brown Band Homegrown 57,000
10 Blake Shelton Honey Bee 57,000
Mainstream Rock flew the flag of Nirvana which takes the 1st and 3rd spots. No Canadian act made the Top Ten.
TOP 10 SONGS AT MAINSTREAM ROCK – SPINS
1 Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit 41,000
2 Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine 39,000
3 Nirvana Come As You Are 38,000
4 Guns N’ Roses Welcome To The Jungle 37,000
5 Metallica Enter Sandman 37,000
6 Ozzy Osbourne Crazy Train 37,000
7 Pink Floyd Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) 37,000
8 AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long 36,000
9 Aerosmith Sweet Emotion 36,000
10 AC/DC Back In Black 36,000
Modern Rock loved the Arctic Moneys’ “Do I Wanna Know?” As with “mainstream rock”, no Canadian act made the Top Ten at “modern rock”.
TOP 10 SONGS AT MODERN ROCK – SPINS
1 Arctic Monkeys Do I Wanna Know? 22,000
2 AWOLNATION Sail 21,000
3 Foster The People Pumped Up Kicks 21,000
4 Black Keys Tighten Up 20,000
5 Cold War Kids First 20,000
6 Mumford & Sons I Will Wait 19,000
7 Milky Chance Stolen Dance 19,000
8 White Stripes Seven Nation Army 19,000
9 Franz Ferdinand Take Me Out 19,000
10 Black Keys Lonely Boy 19,000
Canadian Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.