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    2010

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    New music formats are on the rise

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    Canadians are embracing music's newer digital formats. Sales of compact discs (CDs) and cassette tapes are falling, but sales of other music formats such as digital music files and digital video disc (DVD) audio are rising—they climbed fourfold from 2005 to 2007.

    In 2007, 54% of all music published was on CD, down from 82% in 2005. Meanwhile, digital music (single tracks and albums) grew from 12% to 46% of all music produced and tripled to capture 11% of total sales. Sales in other formats (such as DVD audio) doubled to 8% of total sales.

    Canadians prefer words with their music. New releases with French lyrics increased 24% from 2005 to 2007, while those with English lyrics rose 2%. However, new releases of music without lyrics decreased in the same period, so overall there was a 2% decline in new releases from 2005 to 2007.

    Chart 8.4 Music sales by format, 2007
    View data source for chart 8.4

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