{"id":7782,"date":"2026-01-02T19:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/canada-music-industry-biggest-issues-2026-ai-streaming-tax\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:54:14","slug":"canada-music-industry-biggest-issues-2026-ai-streaming-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/canada-music-industry-biggest-issues-2026-ai-streaming-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"In Canada: The Issues That Will Define the Canadian Music Industry in\u00a02026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tAs the music industry returns from the holiday breaks and out-of-office replies expire, a number of issues continue to loom.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the calendar turning over to 2026,\u00a0Billboard Canada\u00a0<\/em>takes a look at some of the political, legislative, financial and creative issues that continue to affect music in Canada. Many reflect broader conversations that have been hotly debated for the last few years, but continue to intensify with changing pressures and political situations, both north and south of the border.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t14 Questions for the Music Business in 2026: AI, Live Nation, Spotify, UMG-Downtown &\u00a0More\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tKennedy Center President to ‘Seek $1 Million in Damages’ From Jazz Musician Who Called Off Christmas Eve Show\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tDiddy Seeks Immediate Release From Prison in Appeals Argument\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tHere is a taste of what we\u2019re following into 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tOngoing Debates Around The Online Streaming Act and \u2018Streaming Tax\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tBack in 2023, Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, updated the country\u2019s laws around broadcasting for the first time since 1991.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOn June 4, 2024,\u00a0the CRTC announced<\/a>\u00a0streaming platforms that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster and make at least $25 million a year will have to pay 5% of their annual Canadian revenues in order to contribute to Canadian Content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPlatforms affected would include big music streamers like\u00a0Spotify,<\/a>\u00a0Apple Music and Amazon Music, as well as TV and film services like Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime. These foreign streaming platforms have launched\u00a0legal challenges<\/a>\u00a0to avoid paying those fees, arguing they are already contributing to Canadian Content.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Online Streaming Act remains a very hot political potato, with\u00a0intense U.S. government and entertainment industry pressure<\/a> being placed upon the Canadian government\u00a0to dismantle the act. It is\u00a0now rumoured<\/a>\u00a0that this contentious topic will be a key part of upcoming United States\u2013Mexico\u2013Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations between the Canadian and U.S. governments in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tYear-End Roundup: The Biggest Music Business Stories of 2025 (And a Look Ahead to\u00a02026)\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tCanadian industry leaders are now warning that an increasing number of Canadian TV and radio stations could close if the act becomes a casualty of the trade war with the United States.<\/p>\n

\n\tCanadian Record Label Layoffs<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn early December,\u00a0Billboard Canada<\/em>\u00a0reported\u00a0<\/a>that Warner Music Canada laid off at least 24 employees in Nov. 2025, a significant percentage of the major label\u2019s staff. The cuts came amidst global restructuring and layoffs at Warner Music Group.<\/p>\n

\n\tSignificant staffing cuts at major record labels in Canada and internationally have been recurring in recent years, a trend expected to continue in 2026. In Feb. 2024,\u00a0Universal Music Group announced a \u201cstrategic organizational redesign,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0including job cuts, to generate U.S. $270 million in savings globally by 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs global companies continue to consolidate, could there be more cuts coming across the Canadian music industry?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe AI Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already having a major impact on the music industry, forcing artists, music companies and trade organizations to rapidly assess and address both the opportunities and dangers AI presents.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe three major North American performing rights societies (PROs),\u00a0SOCAN<\/a>\u00a0(Canada) and\u00a0ASCAP<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0BMI<\/a>\u00a0(U.S.), have responded rapidly. In October,\u00a0they announced<\/a>\u00a0they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.<\/p>\n

\n\tSimilar conversations are happening across the music industry. The song \u201cI Run\u201d by electronic duo HAVEN. is\u00a0charting on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100<\/a> currently, and has become a case study for questions around AI-generated music.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile,\u00a0industry stakeholders are speaking up about AI <\/a>before the Canadian House of Commons.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNearly every song ever written by a Canadian songwriter has already been scraped and stolen by these AI companies without consent, credit or compensation,\u201d Music Publishers Canada (MPC) CEO Margaret McGuffin<\/strong> told\u00a0Billboard Canada<\/em>\u00a0after speaking in Ottawa. \u201cThis is an important issue for creators and businesses in the creative industries and it is wonderful that the Heritage Committee is listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead more 2026 Canadian music issues\u00a0here<\/a>. \u2014\u00a0Kerry Doole<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\t\tMichael Bubl\u00e9 Extends His Record as \u2018Christmas\u2019 Hits No. 1 in Canada in 10th Different Calendar Year\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s always a Merry Christmas for Michael Bubl\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Canadian singer\u2019s 2011\u00a0Christmas<\/em>\u00a0album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart again for the chart week dated Dec. 27, 2025, unseating Taylor Swift<\/a>\u2018s juggernaut\u00a0The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>\u00a0from the top spot after 10 weeks.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album has stayed at No. 1 for the chart dated Jan. 3, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe No. 1 placement extends\u00a0his record<\/a>\u00a0for hitting No. 1 in the most different calendar years. The album has reached the apex in 2011, 2012, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2025 and 2026. That\u2019s 10 different calendar years total, including eight consecutive.<\/p>\n

\n\tBubl\u00e9 finished at\u00a0No. 7 on the inaugural Top Canadian Artists year-end chart<\/a> for 2025, which combines data from the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Albums charts. The timeless crooner\u2019s catalogue success has a lot to do with that ranking, with\u00a0Christmas<\/em>\u00a0having earned a spot as an all-time holiday favourite in his home country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tChristmas<\/em>\u00a0has sold over 16 million physical copies worldwide and racked up billions of streams, and has been billed by his label Reprise as the best-selling Christmas album of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

\n\tRead more on the feat\u00a0here<\/a>. \u2014\u00a0Richard Trapunski<\/em><\/p>\n


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As the music industry returns from the holiday breaks and out-of-office replies expire, a number of issues continue to loom. With the calendar turning over to 2026,\u00a0Billboard Canada\u00a0takes a look…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,502,1113,1114,640],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-business-news","category-canada","category-in-canada","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}