Music Times reported as the new year began that digital music sales had decreased for the first time ever in the United States...a fairly dire report. The good news however is that digital sales are up for our favorite neighbor up north, Canada.
Nielsen Soundscan reported that digital single sales were up two percent from 2012, a percentage that equates to nearly two million more tracks sold (114.3 million during 2012, 116.1 million during 2013). Compare this to the United States, which saw digital track sales fall 5.7 percent. Unfortunately, 5.7 percent translates to nearly 80 million songs in the U.S. music market.
Canada also saw a boost in digital album sales, an even more impressive nine percent. This takes the total sold from 10.5 million albums sold in 2012 to 11.4 million moved during 2013. This doesn't come near to counteracting the decrease seen in the American market, but it's good to know some populace listens to entire albums (kudos to Neil Young, Drake and Rush for inspiring them).
As for what music inspired Canadians to buy, the results are very similar to the buying habits of Americans in some places, very dissimilar in other places. Eminem could only get to no. 2 in the United States for total album sales, but the Detroit native reigned Supreme in nearby Canada. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 topped year-end charts up north, selling 242,000 copies (which, granted, was only around a seventh of what he sold in the United States). The results get humorous and stereotypical at no. 2, where Celine Dion and Love Me Back to Life sold 231,000 copies. Imagine Dragons placed third, and interestingly Drake couldn't top 200,000 in his homeland despite selling 1.34 million copies in the United States.
The best-selling digital single was Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," which also topped charts in the United States during 2013. Thicke has ties to both nations: He lives in the United States, and as every fan of How I Met Your Mother knows, his father is Canadian songwriter Alan Thicke.
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