Music Business

Canada to demand $770M yearly for local creators from Spotify, YouTube, TikTok

Canada is on track to passing legislation that will all require audio and video streaming services to pay an estimated $770 million into a fund to help Canadian musicians and other creators.

The streamers will also be required to feature more local content. The country has long required over the air broadcasters to follow similar guidelines.

Spotify and Apple Music, and video services like Netflix, YouTube and TikTok will all be forced to comply.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new law will “demand that streaming companies and video-sharing sites make annual payments to fund Canadian artists, which officials peg at an estimated one billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about $770 million”.


Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.

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