CANADIAN LIVE MUSIC ASSOCIATION RELEASES BENCHMARK STUDY ON THE INDUSTRY’S ECONOMIC IMPACT
New Study Provides Hard Data On The Live Music Industry’s Economic Impact On Canadians, Including a $10.92 Billion Annual Contribution To GDP and Creation of Over 100,000 Jobs
For Immediate release -- January 30th, 2025 – Toronto, Canada -- The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) released findings of its long-anticipated economic impact study today, inside Massey Hall’s Allied Music Centre. 'Here and Now: understanding the economic power and potential of Canada’s live music industry” commissioned by the CLMA, was led by Nordicity, a leading strategic, policy, and economic analysis firm.
“The incredible small, medium, and large venues, clubs, concert halls, festivals, arenas, and other live music spaces that connect artists with their fans form a vast, complex, indoor and outdoor ecosystem. This is the system that facilitates live music–and its massive supply chain across Canada, be it a national arena tour, or a one-off local show in a 120-cap independent venue…and everything in-between.” said Erin Benjamin, President & CEO of the CLMA. “Understanding and harnessing this system creates a significant and scalable competitive advantage for Canadians and for all levels of government and is essential for our artists so that they can continue to share the music we love and need. And why wouldn’t we? This study is a benchmark, the numbers in it have been achieved largely in the absence of any dedicated fiscal policy frameworks aimed at incentivizing growth. $10.92B in combined impact from live music and tourism spending… without trying.”
The study found that the live music industry supports over 100,000 jobs – from artists, performers, and technicians to venue staff, promoters, and service workers – and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists year over year. In 2023 alone, live music festivals and live shows at venues in Canada together brought in a total of 19.69 million visitors. In addition to the live music and artistic experience we all know and love (and many of us can’t live without), the economic benefits of live music spillover directly into other industries, helping the creation and sustainability of jobs in sectors like hospitality, transportation, and retail.
“The findings in Here and Now make it clear that protecting and growing Canada’s live music infrastructure directly results in more jobs, major economic impact for cities and towns, and more performance opportunities for Canadian artists. It means more fans choosing Canada when deciding where to spend their (billions of, as it turns out) music tourism dollars. It means sold out hotels, fully booked flights, bustling shops, and restaurants. It means togetherness and social cohesion. It means better mental health. It means thriving downtowns. It means attracting and retaining other industries and talent to our cities. It means more revenue for artists and musicians. It means more music and memories with family and friends that change our lives,” said Tarun Nayar, Co-Founder, 5X Festival; Co-Founder, Snakes x Ladders, artist, and board chair of the CLMA.
Key statistics:
Combined impacts of live music company operations and tourism spending:
$10.92 billion contribution to GDP
$9.9 billion in visitor spending
101,604 jobs created
$3.73 billion in taxes
$5.84 billion in labour income
Live music operations:
$2 billion contribution to GDP
27,490 jobs created
$513.5 million in taxes
$1.17 billion in labour income
The Canadian Live Music Association was founded in 2014 to drive the narrative of the power of live music, and to collaborate with members and government to stimulate increased sector capacity across the ecosystem. With this new data in hand, we hope the hard evidence and robust research in this report will incentivize forward and innovative thinking about the industry’s place and potential for growth within Canada’s cultural and economic framework.
To download the executive summary and the full report: canadianlivemusic.ca/economic-impact-assessment
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We extend our thanks to all of our industry sponsors for making this project possible.
Special thanks to our top tier sponsors: RBC Foundation, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, City of Mississauga, Music Canada, City of Brampton, evenko, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and Stageline.
This project is supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Creates, and Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.
About Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts contributes to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and supports its presence across Canada and around the world. The Council is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments support Canadian artists, authors, and arts groups and organizations.
About Ontario Creates
Ontario Creates is an agency of the Government of Ontario that facilitates economic development, investment and collaboration in Ontario’s creative industries including the music, book, magazine, film, television and interactive digital media sectors.
About Creative BC
Creative BC is an independent non-profit society created and supported by the Province to sustain and help grow British Columbia’s creative industries: motion picture, interactive and digital media, music and sound recording, and magazine and book publishing.
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Supporting Quotes:
Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert (BC Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport)
“Live music isn’t just about great shows—it drives jobs, tourism, and makes B.C. a vibrant place to live, work and visit. From local gigs with emerging artists, to sold-out arena shows, B.C. musicians are significant cultural and economic contributors. With the JUNO Awards and Canadian Country Music Awards coming to B.C. in 2025, we are celebrating a year of music. We can’t wait to showcase the diverse talent that makes our provincial music scene a global powerhouse.”
Michelle Chawla, Director, and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts
“I’m thrilled that the Canada Council for the Arts was able to support the CLMA in the pursuit of this study on the economic impacts of the live music sector in Canada. The data collected as part of this research establishes a benchmark that alongside other existing studies highlights the extraordinary value of Canada’s arts and cultural sector to several areas of our national economy. I believe these findings are necessary to encourage ongoing dialogue and interest in the combined economic value of contributions made by artists and arts organizations to our country’s GDP, as well as to local economic development.”
Jon Weisz, Vice Chair, Canadian Live Music Association; Founder & Executive Director, Les SMAQ; President & Founder, Indie Montréal
"This economic impact study confirms what many in the live music sector have known for years: Canada’s live music industry is a major economic and tourism driver. Independent venues play a particularly important role, forming the foundation of Canada’s live music ecosystem. This report helps to emphasize the importance of these community spaces and will create opportunities to recognize their contribution to Canadians.”
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