In Canada: Warner Music Canada Lays Off at Least 24; Tate McRae & Shaboozey Top Year-End Charts

Warner Music Canada has laid off at least 24 people, Billboard Canada has learned. The cuts come amidst global restructuring and layoffs at Warner Music Group.

According to multiple former staffers, the layoffs came on Nov. 18, the same day Julia Hummel and Madelaine Napoleone were announced as new Warner Music Canada co-general managers.

A companywide email reportedly went out on Nov. 17 informing the staff that the office would be closed the following day and that they should make themselves available for meeting invitations from human resources. Many staffers were informed during those video meetings that their position had been eliminated.

The layoffs reportedly affected departments companywide, including positions in business, catalogue, design and video production, publicity, sales and more, including significant reductions in A&R and marketing. They also included executive vice president and general manager Andy West, as previously reported by Billboard Canada.

According to a 2025 annual report by Warner Music Canada, there were previously approximately 185 employees working in Canada, which would mean the layoffs represent at least 12 to 13% of the workforce — though some have suggested the percentages could be higher.

In a statement to Billboard Canada, Warner Music did not confirm the number of layoffs or budget or resource details for Canadian operations, but affirmed their commitment to investing in Canadian artists and staff.

“Canada is rich with musical talent,” a Warner Music spokesperson says. “We remain committed to growing our presence here. These changes will help us focus on the most extraordinary local artists and help them have a greater global impact.”

The company’s roster includes developing Canadian talent including Ari Hicks, Crash Adams, Jade LeMac and Diamond Cafe. The spokesperson declined to answer whether or how their deals would be affected by the company changes.

The layoffs follow a tumultuous period for Warner Music Canada. In September, former president Kristen Burke departed the company, with New York City-based president of East West Records and head of global A&R at Warner Music Group Eric Wong stepping in to lead business in Canada. In an email to staff, Burke wrote that the appointment would mean Warner Music Canada would “now be connected more directly to the U.S. team.”

Burke’s departure followed a Warner Music Group global restructuring and a series of layoffs across territories.

Read more here. — Richard Trapunski

Billboard Canada 2025 Year-End Charts: The Biggest Chart Trends and Stories of the Year

What a year it’s been for music in Canada. We saw some huge chart runs, major breakthroughs from Canadian artists and global heavy-hitters keeping their grip on the top spots. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” had the year’s biggest chart run, with the sentimental ballad challenging for a Billboard Canadian Hot 100 record set by Shaboozey last year. Was he successful?

Internationally, Taylor Swift proved once again she’s the queen of album sales, though country music’s main man, Morgan Wallen, challenged her for the Top Artist and Canadian Albums crowns. The charts were buzzing with a mix of viral TikTok hits, surging K-pop tracks and Punjabi music hits, showing us how Canadian audiences are finding their tunes.

This year, Billboard Canada debuted seven Canadian Airplay charts, which you can find on our charts page every week. This year, we’re rolling out year-end versions of all seven, along with the top overall Radio Songs year-end chart. There’s also the debut of the Top Canadian Artists chart, which is topped in 2025 by a surprising winner: Tate McRae.

Billboard Canada has also just dropped the year-end versions of several other key Billboard Canada charts, as well: the Canadian Hot 100, Canadian Albums, Top Artists (which pulls data from both), Canadian Airplay, Canadian Streaming and Canadian Digital Song Sales.

Every chart tells a unique story about the Canadian music landscape in 2025. 

This year’s song of the year was hotly contested. Towards the end of August, Alex Warren’s anthemic ballad “Ordinary” approached the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching 21 weeks. But while the 2025 hit arguably earned the song of the summer title, the song it was chasing still couldn’t be shaken for song of the year: Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

The country singer’s ditty dominated 2024’s year-end charts, after spending a record 25 weeks at No. 1 — and it’s stayed at the top. The song holds No. 1 on the year-end Canadian Hot 100 chart for 2025, with Warren’s “Ordinary” following at No. 2.

The Beaches were the Billboard Canada Women of the Year 2025 — and it’s clear to see why they were deserving of the accolade — the first given to a group in the award’s history. 

The beloved Toronto-based band has kept a hold on their home country, becoming a mainstay on the Modern Rock chart, securing four spots on the year-end ranking, including their hit “Last Girls At the Party,” which held the No. 1 spot on the chart earlier this year for 11 weeks, and comes in at No. 3 on the year-end chart. 

Female artists played a big role on the rock charts this year, and on the airplay charts in general.

Read more here. — Richard Trapunski, Heather Taylor-Singh

Divide Between Québec Institutions, Artists and Consumers Grows as Government Debates French Music Streaming Quotas

Debate over Québec’s Bill 109 is resurfacing with new force, as fresh consumer data adds a critical layer to the conversation.

A Léger survey released in late November shows that most Québec music streaming users oppose government intervention in determining what music appears on digital platforms — a notable finding as the province continues to deliberate on the bill.

As Billboard Canada recently reported, the legislation would require digital platforms to prioritize French-language cultural content. Escalating debate has widened the divide between the streaming industry and the cultural sector.

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, has been among the most vocal critics, warning the legislation could negatively impact consumer experience, artist revenues and platform operations in the province.

The new survey, commissioned by DiMA, found that 66% of Québecers believe the government should not influence the music available on streaming services, while 76% say they would oppose the bill if it resulted in higher subscription prices. Only 4% of respondents consider regulating streaming platforms a government priority, placing it far below concerns such as affordability, housing and health care.

The findings land as Québec’s National Assembly debates the bill, introduced on May 21, 2025, by Culture and Communications Minister Mathieu Lacombe. The bill — formally titled An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec — aims to strengthen the visibility of francophone cultural content on digital platforms and would impose new obligations on major global streaming services and connected-device manufacturers.

Québec cultural organizations and industry representatives have pushed back against claims that Bill 109 would limit consumer choice, instead framing the proposed legislation as a necessary tool to support French-language culture in an increasingly globalized digital environment.

Last spring, several major organizations and artists featured in Quebec media — including ARRQ (the Quebec Directors’ Guild), GMMQ (the Quebec Musicians’ Guild), SARTEC (the Quebec Society of Radio, Television and Film Authors) and UDA (the Quebec performers’ union) — voiced their support for stronger regulatory measures on streaming platforms. Their comments, published in Le Devoir, Radio-Canada and other Québec outlets, argued that market-driven discoverability alone has not been enough to ensure the long-term visibility of francophone works. ADISQ, which represents Québec’s music and live performance industries, has also consistently supported regulatory intervention.

While major cultural institutions have largely rallied behind Bill 109, the response on the ground tells a very different story — especially within Québec’s multilingual and underground communities. Artists working in hip-hop, anglophone pop and folk, electronic, Afro-diasporic, Latin and other non-francophone genres say the bill overlooks their realities and risks deepening long-standing disparities in cultural visibility.

Laval producer High Klassified — a multi-platinum artist known for his futuristic sound and collaborations with global acts including The Weeknd, Drake, Future, Migos, A-Trak, Metro Boomin, as well as Damso and Hamza — is a central figure in Québec’s electronic and hip-hop scenes. He argues the legislation fails to reflect how music is consumed today, pointing to what he describes as “a huge generational gap” at the core of the debate.

“Streaming services give us the freedom to listen to what we want, when we want. It’s a new era, a new way of consuming music,” he tells Billboard Canada. “The government shouldn’t decide what we listen to. People choose for themselves — that’s the whole purpose of streaming.”

Read more here. — Yasmine Seck