Leading Music & Podcasts Brands in Canada: Q1 2025 Insights

Introduction

In the dynamic world of digital music and podcasts, platforms such as Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud Limited continue to dominate the Canadian market. Utilizing Sensor Tower's comprehensive data, we delve into the performance of these leading brands from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. This analysis provides insights into audience trends, app engagement, and advertising strategies that are crucial for decision-makers.

Spotify

Spotify's digital presence is robust, featuring its website, spotify.com, and the Spotify: Music and Podcasts app.

• Audience Trends: From Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, Spotify's website maintained over 136M monthly visits. The monthly true audience remained stable above 10M, with a balanced distribution between app and web-only visitors.

• App Engagement: The app sustained a strong monthly active user base, with numbers hovering around 9.6M by March 2025, indicating steady engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Spotify's monthly advertising spend varied, with a notable peak in December 2024, surpassing $1.2M. Instagram and Snapchat were prominent channels, delivering substantial impressions.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music, accessible via music.youtube.com and the YouTube Music app, continues to thrive in Canada.

• Audience Trends: The website consistently attracted over 159M monthly visits in March 2025, with a true audience slightly above 4.7M. The app dominated user engagement, indicating a preference for mobile access.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users of the YouTube Music app remained stable, reaching approximately 4.1M by the end of Q1 2025.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Minimal advertising activity was noted, with a brief spike in December 2024 on Instagram.

SoundCloud Limited

SoundCloud's platform includes soundcloud.com and the Soundcloud: The Music You Love app.

• Audience Trends: Website visits showed variability, peaking in March 2025 at over 24M monthly visits. Monthly true audience numbers hovered around 2M, showcasing a balanced web and app user base.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users grew steadily, closing Q1 2025 with nearly 1.3M users.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Monthly advertising spend peaked in December 2024, exceeding $27K, with Facebook and Instagram leading in impressions.

Conclusion

The Canadian music and podcasts market in Q1 2025 was marked by stable audience engagement and strategic advertising across platforms. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights reveal critical trends and cross-platform behaviors, enabling brands to refine their strategies. For a deeper dive into web and app analytics, explore Sensor Tower's Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and advertising insights through Pathmatics.