Contents
- Sound recording employment statistics: workforce gender by recording industry
- Sound recording employment statistics: age distribution in music publishing and studios
- Sound recording employment statistics: age distribution in production and other recording businesses
- Sound recording employment statistics: full-time and part-time positions in publishing and production
- Sound recording employment statistics: studio full-time employment trend
- Sources
Sound recording employment statistics: workforce gender by recording industry
Statistics Canada’s 2023 workforce profile shows different gender distributions across four parts of Canada’s sound recording industry. Women made up 41.7% of employees in music publishing and 44.0% in record production and distribution. The corresponding male shares were 58.3% and 56.0%. The figures are percentages of employees in each named industry, rather than counts of people or shares of the entire sound recording workforce. (Statistics Canada, Chart 2)
| Industry, Canada, 2023 | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Music publishers | 41.7% | 58.3% |
| Record production and distribution | 44.0% | 56.0% |
| Sound recording studios | 18.4% | 81.6% |
| Other sound recording industries | 18.2% | 81.8% |
In studios, women were 18.4% of employees and men 81.6%. In other sound recording industries, the shares were 18.2% women and 81.8% men. These two categories show a substantially lower female share than the publishing and production categories in this table. The data describe industry groups as classified in the study; they do not explain why the shares differ or identify particular occupations within those groups. (Statistics Canada, Chart 2)
The gender table has a specific boundary: its non-binary category was removed because of its small size. Consequently, the published female and male percentages do not sum to 100% in every industry. The two percentages should be read as the reported categories, not as a complete representation of every gender identity among workers. The overall study includes employees who received an employer T4 slip and self-employed individuals, while excluding other employment types such as contract workers. Those coverage rules matter when interpreting the profile: it is not a census of every person who may perform work connected with sound recording. (Statistics Canada, study notes and Chart 2)
Sound recording employment statistics: age distribution in music publishing and studios
The 2023 age distributions for music publishers and sound recording studios both place their largest shares among employees aged 25 to 34. That group accounted for 25.7% of music publishers industry employees and 28.2% of studio employees. The next age band, 35 to 44, represented 22.9% in publishing and 25.7% in studios. These percentages describe the composition of each industry’s employees by age group; they are not age-specific employment rates in the wider population. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
| Employee age group | Music publishers, 2023 | Sound recording studios, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 18 to 24 | 4.8% | 4.7% |
| 25 to 34 | 25.7% | 28.2% |
| 35 to 44 | 22.9% | 25.7% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.9% | 19.8% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.4% | 14.3% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.5% | 5.8% |
| 75 to 84 | 2.5% | 1.3% |
The younger end of the reported distribution is similar in these two industries: employees aged 18 to 24 represented 4.8% in publishing and 4.7% in studios. For both, the largest individual band was 25 to 34, followed by 35 to 44. Studio employees aged 45 to 54 made up 19.8%, compared with 18.9% in music publishing. The 55 to 64 group accounted for 14.3% in studios and 15.4% in publishing. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
At older ages, the reported shares were higher in publishing than studios for both listed bands from 65 to 74 and 75 to 84: 9.5% versus 5.8% for ages 65 to 74, and 2.5% versus 1.3% for ages 75 to 84. These values provide a description of the recorded workforce in 2023. The table alone does not establish whether differences reflect hiring, retention, self-employment patterns, or other factors. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
Sound recording employment statistics: age distribution in production and other recording businesses
Record production and distribution had its largest 2023 age share among employees aged 25 to 34, at 38.8%. Employees aged 35 to 44 represented 24.6%, and those aged 18 to 24 accounted for 9.0%. This makes the 25-to-34 band the prominent category in this industry’s reported distribution, with the 35-to-44 group next. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
| Employee age group | Record production and distribution, 2023 |
|---|---|
| 18 to 24 | 9.0% |
| 25 to 34 | 38.8% |
| 35 to 44 | 24.6% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.1% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.0% |
| 65 to 74 | 2.1% |
| 75 to 84 | 0.3% |
The remaining reported shares in record production and distribution were 15.1% for ages 45 to 54, 10.0% for ages 55 to 64, 2.1% for ages 65 to 74, and 0.3% for ages 75 to 84. These are shares within the industry’s employees, not a measure of how many people of each age are employed. The study’s administrative data and coverage definitions also apply to this distribution. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3 and study notes)
Other sound recording industries show a different age profile. The largest reported band was 35 to 44, representing 29.3% of employees. Ages 25 to 34 accounted for 23.7%, while ages 45 to 54 represented 17.6%. The 18-to-24 share was 2.7%, making it a smaller part of this industry group’s recorded employee profile than in record production and distribution, where that band was 9.0%. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
For other sound recording industries, employees aged 55 to 64 represented 15.1%, ages 65 to 74 accounted for 8.9%, and ages 75 to 84 made up 2.6%. The full sequence places the largest reported share at ages 35 to 44, then 25 to 34, followed by 45 to 54. The age bands are descriptive categories; they do not show individual career paths or the length of time people have worked in the field. (Statistics Canada, Chart 3)
Sound recording employment statistics: full-time and part-time positions in publishing and production
Statistics Canada reports that full-time positions represented 53.2% of music publishers industry positions in 2023, while part-time positions represented 46.8%. In record production and distribution, full-time positions accounted for 52.1%, and part-time positions for 47.9%. These figures are shares of positions in each industry, not shares of workers or total hours. (Statistics Canada, Table 3)
| Industry, Canada, 2023 | Full-time positions | Part-time positions |
|---|---|---|
| Music publishers | 53.2% | 46.8% |
| Record production and distribution | 52.1% | 47.9% |
In both industries, the reported full-time share was only modestly above the part-time share. The classification requires care: the study uses an average-hourly-wage proxy to represent full-time salary. It is therefore not a direct count based on hours worked. Readers should treat “full-time” and “part-time” here as the study’s wage-proxy categories when comparing the figures with other employment measures. (Statistics Canada, Table 3 and study notes)
Sound recording employment statistics: studio full-time employment trend
The share of positions classified as full-time in sound recording studios was 27.1% in 2020 and 25.9% in 2021. It was 42.0% in 2022 and 45.1% in 2023. These are annual percentages of studio positions, using the study’s average-hourly-wage proxy for full-time status. They do not provide annual position counts, and they should not be read as a direct measure of hours worked. (Statistics Canada, Chart 4 and study notes)
| Year | Full-time positions as a share of sound recording studios positions |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 27.1% |
| 2021 | 25.9% |
| 2022 | 42.0% |
| 2023 | 45.1% |
The sequence shows the reported studio full-time share for 4 consecutive years, with a lower value in 2021 than in 2020 and higher reported shares in 2022 and 2023. Because the source presents proportions rather than headcounts, it cannot establish from these figures alone whether the number of full-time positions rose or fell. The study also covers employees with employer T4 slips and self-employed individuals, excluding other employment types such as contract workers; the coverage and wage-proxy method define the limits of this trend. (Statistics Canada, Chart 4 and study notes)