Canadian music charts

Last updated
RPM magazine logotype.png
BillboardLogo2013.svg
RPM (1964–2000) and Billboard (1996–present) are the biggest providers of the official music charts in Canada

The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. RPM and Billboard are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first Canadian music chart was published by radio station CHUM AM in 1957. The oldest music publication in Canada, RPM launched music charts in 1964, compiling the country's top albums and singles. It remained the nation's music industry standard chart until they ceased publication in November 2000.

Contents

Nielsen SoundScan began tracking retail sales in November 1996. [1] It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by Jam! /Canoe. The singles chart also appeared in Billboard until March 2006, when Billboard stopped publishing the retail singles chart in favor of the Canadian Digital Song Sales chart. [2] The Canadian Hot 100 was launched by Billboard on June 7, 2007, and remains the standard music chart in Canada for songs, alongside Billboard Canadian Albums for albums.

History

The oldest Canadian music chart was CHUM Chart, which debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade by Toronto radio station CHUM AM. It was considered the de facto national chart of Canada until 1964, when RPM magazine was founded and CHUM lost its special status and became just a regular single-station chart. RPM (1964–2000) was the oldest music industry publication in Canada and was considered the country's "music bible". [3] [4] [5] It published Canadian national record charts from June 22, 1964 until its final issue on November 13, 2000. [4] RPM also created Juno Awards, [6] which remains the biggest music award ceremony in Canada and their equivalent of Grammy Awards in the United States. [7]

In the 1960s, the Canadian music industry was disparate and regionally focused, and English-speaking Canadian artists were often overlooked in favour of American acts. To encourage a more national focus and ensure that domestic artists were promoted across Canada, the Maple Leaf System (MLS) was set up in 1969. [8] The MLS produced its own national singles chart, [9] which Billboard magazine reproduced as Canada's entry in its weekly Hits of the World section. [10] The MLS struggled to achieve widespread support in Canada, however, particularly as participating radio stations failed to give the nominated Canadian records the requisite national airplay. [8]

In 1983, The Record magazine began publishing Canadian music charts to rival RPM. The Retail Singles chart of The Record was based on a national sample of single sales reports given by Canadian retailers and rack jobbers. [11] The chart was associated with Canada in the Hits of the World section of American magazine Billboard . The Record ceased publishing the chart due to a lack of sales reports owing to declining single sales in the country. [12]

In November 1996, Nielsen SoundScan started compiling sales charts in Canada. [13] When the chart was started in 1996, there were 200 positions (with the top 50 being published by Jam! and the top 10 being published by Billboard). By the late 1990s, physical single sales in Canada had greatly declined. In April 1999, Billboard described Canada's singles market as "dire" and Doug Spence, Director of the Canadian operations of Soundscan, said: "there's no singles market here". [14] Due to the limited amount of commercially available physical singles, singles began remaining on the chart for lengthy periods of time. Elton John's charity single "Candle in the Wind '97"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" spent 45 weeks at number one despite selling only one million copies in its first two years of release in the country. [15] It stayed in the top twenty for three years. [16]

With of the growing popularity of digital music downloads in the mid-2000s, physical single sales in Canada declined further, and in March 2006, Billboard reported that most of the then-recent number-one singles on the Canadian Singles Chart had sold less than 200 copies. [2] In March 2006, Nielsen Entertainment Canada created the Canadian Digital Songs Chart, which tracked sales of digital music downloads, and Billboard stopped publishing the Canadian Singles Chart in favor of the new chart. [2] However, the chart continued to be published on Jam!. [17]

Billboard introduced their own singles chart for Canada, the Canadian Hot 100, on June 7, 2007. Similar to the US Billboard Hot 100, the chart is based on digital download single sales and streaming data from Nielsen SoundScan and radio audience levels from Nielsen BDS. [18]

Album charts

Singles charts

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emotions (Mariah Carey song)</span> 1991 single by Mariah Carey

"Emotions" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey for her second studio album of the same name (1991). It was written and produced by Carey, Robert Clivillés, and David Cole of C+C Music Factory and released as the album's lead single on August 13, 1991, by Columbia Records. The song's lyrics has its protagonist going through a variety of emotions from high to low, up to the point where she declares, "You got me feeling emotions." Musically, it is a gospel and R&B song heavily influenced by 1970s disco music and showcases Carey's upper range and extensive use of the whistle register. Jeff Preiss directed the song's music video.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanda Lwin</span> Canadian music historian and journalist

Nanda Layos Lwin is a Canadian author, music historian, journalist, civil engineer, and educator. He wrote the weekly ChartTalk column, a commentary of the current Canadian music charts; it appeared on canoe.ca from 1997 to 2002 and in The Hamilton Spectator from 2003 to 2006. He is the author and publisher of eight books including Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (1999) and Top Albums: The Essential Chart Guide (2003), primarily documenting the chart history of the Canadian music magazine The Record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shania Twain discography</span>

Canadian singer and songwriter Shania Twain has released six studio albums, three compilation albums, three remix albums, one box set, two live albums, 45 singles, 38 music videos, six promotional singles, and made six guest appearances. Twain's repertoire has sold over 34 million albums in the United States alone, placing her as the top-selling female artist in country music. Moreover, with 48 million copies shipped, she is ranked as the 26th best-selling artist overall in the US, tying with Kenny G for the spot. She is also recognized as one of the best-selling music artists in history, selling over 100 million records worldwide and thus becoming the top-selling female artist in country music ever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knocked Out</span> 1988 single by Paula Abdul

"Knocked Out" is the debut single by American singer and dancer Paula Abdul, released in 1988 by Virgin Records from Abdul's first album, Forever Your Girl. The song was written by Babyface, L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons, and produced by Babyface and Reid. Babyface and Simmons provide background vocals along with Pebbles and Yvette Marine. The single hit Billboard's Dance Single Sales chart on June 11, and entered the Hot 100 chart a week later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Change the World</span> 1996 song by Wynonna Judd

"Change the World" is a song written by Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy, and Wayne Kirkpatrick and recorded by country music artist Wynonna Judd. A later version was recorded by English singer Eric Clapton for the soundtrack of the 1996 film Phenomenon. Clapton's version was produced by R&B record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Girls (Donna Summer song)</span> 1979 single by Donna Summer

"Bad Girls" is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer from her 1979 seventh studio album of the same name. Casablanca Records released it as the album's second single on June 23, 1979. The song was produced by Summer's regular collaborators Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and co-written by Summer and the members of Brooklyn Dreams, Bruce Sudano, Joe "Bean" Esposito and Edward "Eddie" Hokenson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let Your Backbone Slide</span> 1989 single by Maestro Fresh-Wes

"Let Your Backbone Slide" is the debut single by Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 from his first album, Symphony in Effect. In Canada, over 50,000 copies of the single were sold, making Maestro the first Canadian rapper to have a gold single. It also reached #1 on The Record Singles Chart, in April 1990. In the United States, 25,000 copies were sold in its first few weeks of release. It remained the best-selling Canadian hip hop single of all time until 2008, when it was eclipsed by Kardinal Offishall's "Dangerous".

The Boomtang Boys are Canadian dance-remix musicians and music producers. They are known for both their remix work and pop-dance music, in particular their singles "Squeeze Toy" and "Movin' On", which both topped the Canadian Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Twelfth of Never</span> 1956 song by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster

"The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song written in 1956 and first recorded by Johnny Mathis the following year. The title is a popular expression, which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass. In the case of the song, "the 12th of Never" is given as the date on which the singer will stop loving his beloved, thus indicating that he will always love them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blowing Kisses in the Wind</span> 1991 single by Paula Abdul

"Blowing Kisses in the Wind" is a song by American singer and dancer Paula Abdul, taken from her second studio album Spellbound (1991). Written by Peter Lord and produced by Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith, it was released as the album's third official single on October 17, 1991, exclusively to North America, Australia, and Japan, as the album's next single "Vibeology" would be released in Europe instead of this song. "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" utilizes the harpsichord. Sweet Pea Atkinson provided background vocals to the track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vibeology</span> 1991 single by Paula Abdul

"Vibeology" is a song from American singer Paula Abdul's second studio album, Spellbound (1991). The song was written by Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor, and V. Jeffrey Smith and produced by Lord and Smith. It was first released on October 21, 1991, in Japan, becoming the album's fourth official single. It was preceded with a November release in Australia and a January 6, 1992, release date in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will You Marry Me?</span> 1992 single by Paula Abdul

"Will You Marry Me?" is a song by American artist Paula Abdul, released as the fifth and final widely released single from her second studio album, Spellbound (1991). The song was written by Abdul, Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor and V. Jeffrey Smith and produced by Lord and Smith. Stevie Wonder notably appears as a special guest playing the harmonica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Love Is for Real</span> 1995 single by Paula Abdul

"My Love Is for Real" is a song by American singer and songwriter Paula Abdul with backing vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza. It was released on May 30, 1995 by Virgin and Captive, as the first single from Abdul's third studio album, Head over Heels (1995). Intended as Abdul's comeback single, "My Love Is for Real" reached number one in Hungary and the top 20 in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, but it stalled outside the top 20 in the United States, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, and failed to make a major impact in Europe. The song's music video was directed by Michael Haussman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lay Down Sally</span> 1977 single by Eric Clapton

"Lay Down Sally" is a song performed by Eric Clapton, and written by Clapton, Marcy Levy, and George Terry. It appeared on his November 1977 album Slowhand, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In My House</span> 1984 single by Mary Jane Girls

"In My House" is a song produced, written and arranged by American musician Rick James and recorded by his protégées, the Mary Jane Girls, for their second studio album, Only Four You (1985). It was released as the album's lead single in October 1984 by Gordy Records. In the United States, the single topped Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in April 1985 and remained atop the chart for two weeks. It also reached the top 10 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number seven on the Hot 100 in June 1985 and remained in the top 40 for 12 weeks. It is the group's highest-peaking single and their only top-40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100, although they have had other singles succeed on both the R&B and dance charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Never Be the Same (Christopher Cross song)</span> 1980 single by Christopher Cross

"Never Be the Same" is the title of the third single by singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, released from his debut Grammy Award-winning album Christopher Cross. It was the singer's third consecutive single to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at No. 15 in 1980. The song was a No. 1 hit on the adult contemporary chart, remaining there for two weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitney Houston singles discography</span>

American singer Whitney Houston, known as "The Voice", released 57 singles as a leading artist and 4 as a featured artist. Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. In the United States, Houston amassed 11 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, all of whom have been certified either gold, platinum, multi-platinum or diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and was one of a selected group of artists to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in four different decades. She is currently ranked in seventh place of the artists with the most number one singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Prior to the introduction of digital singles, Houston sold 16.5 million physical singles in the country, the most ever by a female recording artist. In October 2012, the Official Charts Company claimed Houston was the fourth biggest-selling female singles artist of all time with a sales total of 8.5 million singles in that country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Richard singles discography</span>

The singles discography of English singer Cliff Richard consists in excess of 200 singles, of which 159 singles have been released in the UK in varying vinyl, CD, cassette and digital formats. Listed alongside the UK singles in the discography below are a further 20 singles which were released in other territories, as well as 22 singles which were sung in German and only released in German-speaking countries.

References

  1. ↑ "Hits of the World: Canada (IFPI/Nielsen Marketing Research) 06/24/00". Billboard . Vol. 108, no. 46. Nielsen Business Media. 16 November 1996. p. 56. ISSN   0006-2510.
  2. 1 2 3 "Canadian Digital Chart Bows; Jaheim's Third Charms 03/04/06". Billboard . Vol. 118, no. 9. Nielsen Business Media. 4 March 2006. p. 47. ISSN   0006-2510.
  3. ↑ "Another music mag bites the dust". The Globe and Mail . 14 March 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  4. 1 2 Canada, Library and Archives (April 16, 2013). "The RPM story". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Kearney, Mark; Ray, Randy (September 30, 2006). Whatever Happened To-- ?: Catching Up with Canadian Icons. Dundurn. ISBN   9781550026542 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ McLean, Steve. "Juno Awards". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died at 84 -CBC". Reuters. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  8. 1 2 Green, Richard (February 2015). "RPM, 1964–2000: The Conscience of Canada's Music Industry". Library and Archives Canada . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Yorke, Ritchie (15 May 1971). "From the Music Capitals of the World" > "Toronto". Billboard . p. 50. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Tomko, Andy (charts dir.) (5 June 1971). "Billboard Hits of the World". Billboard . p. 52. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  11. ↑ Lwin 2000, pp. 11–14.
  12. ↑ Lwin 1996, p. 9.
  13. ↑ "Canadian Business Has Troubled '96 12/28/96". Billboard . Vol. 108, no. 52. Nielsen Business Media. 28 December 1996. p. 52. ISSN   0006-2510.
  14. ↑ "'Candle' Still Burning on Canada's Chart". Billboard . Vol. 111, no. 16. Nielsen Business Media. 17 April 1999. p. 60, 64. ISSN   0006-2510.
  15. ↑ "BBC News | Entertainment | Elton's candle burns in Canada". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  16. ↑ "Chart Beat 09/2/00". Billboard . Vol. 112, no. 33. Nielsen Business Media. 2 September 2000. p. 102. ISSN   0006-2510.
  17. ↑ "SINGLES : Top 20". Nielsen SoundScan. Jam! Canoe. June 3, 2010. Archived from the original on June 7, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Billboard Launches Canadian Hot 100 Chart". Billboard . June 7, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  19. ↑ David Farrell (October 29, 1977). "Diversity is the Key to Maple Leaf Market". Billboard.

Further research

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.