Drake continues to rule streaming. After being crowned Spotify’s most-streamed artist in Canada last year, the streaming service has released its Global Impact List for the first half of 2026, revealing the 50 most-played songs by Canadian artists outside of their home country. To no one’s surprise, the Toronto rapper has 40 of the 50 spots, including the top 12.
Thanks to the rapper’s historic Iceman release — which included a triple-album drop with Maid of Honour and Habibti — Drake commands a whopping 80% of the list, led by his chart-topping hit, “Janice SFTU,” which the streaming platform already tapped as one of its song-of-the-summer contenders. It’s followed by “National Treasures,” “Shabang,” “Whisper My Name” and “Ran To Atlanta,” featuring Future and Molly Santana, to round out the top 5. He wraps up the list, too, with “Rust Intro” at No. 50.
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The remaining artists on the list boast a diverse lineup of homegrown acts, spanning genres including country, indie rock, Punjabi, hip-hop and electronic.
Cameron Whitcomb is the highest-ranking act after Drake, landing at No. 13 with his viral track “Kingdom of Fear,” another track that the streaming service listed as a song-of-the-summer contender. It has become a big moment for the B.C. artist, securing his first top 3 hit on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart dated Aug. 22. Whitcomb earns a second entry on the Spotify list at No. 49 with “You and Me.”
In recent years, the growing influence of Punjabi-Canadian artists on the world stage has become a major force. While the second half of 2025’s list featured multiple tracks by Karan Aujla and Ikky, they’re passing the torch to Shubh, who claims two entries on the 2026 list. He arrives at No. 23 with “Moves” and “Bounce” at No. 35. It’s a welcome return for the Punjabi-Canadian act, who was on Spotify’s first-ever Global Impact List in 2025.
Viral act bbno$ lands at No. 41 with “diamonds are forever.” It’s been a year of transformation for the Vancouver-based artist, born Alex Gumuchian, who has found success with his independent project over the past couple of years.
At No. 43, viral Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine makes their first and only appearance on the list with “Fabienk,” arguably the group’s biggest hit from their album, Vol. II. The buzzy math rock group has made a global breakthrough with their polka-dot ensembles and unique sound.
Rounding out the list is what Spotify calls “a diverse cross-section of Canadian talent,” including: Toronto indie-rockers Good Kid with “Cicada” (No. 29), producer Murda Beatz’s Prospa-featuring track “Baby” (No. 33), Korean-Canadian rapper OXYNOVA’s “SSSAK” (No. 34) and Vancouver-based producer Asad Khan’s remix “Piya Ghar Aaya” (No. 39).
Read more here. — H.T.S.
Montreal’s LASSO Festival Grows Rapidly Alongside Canada’s Country Music Scene
It’s not every day that Montreal’s public transit is filled with cowboy hats, Canadian tuxedos and Western belt buckles. Now, that’s a yearly mid-August tradition for country music lovers as LASSO celebrates its fifth edition.
The large-scale country music festival, co-produced by Evenko and Live Nation, welcomed over 43,000 fans this year on August 15 and 16. The lineup featured headliners Thomas Rhett and Mumford & Sons, along with established country acts like Carly Pearce, The Band Perry, Old Dominion and Jon Pardi and rising Canadian stars like Cameron Whitcomb, Morgan Griffiths and Noah Brigden.
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Nick Farkas, Evenko’s senior vice-president of booking, concerts and events, says it’s a rapidly growing success story that has grown faster than other major festivals like Osheaga (which he co-founded).
“Five years in, where this festival is at, for me, is just fantastic,” Farkas says. “We were not this far along on any festival we’ve ever done. It’s a ton of fun to work on it.”
The festival’s growth fits into a bigger trend of country music throughout the music landscape. Recently, the genre has surpassed hip-hop and pop as the most successful genre at the top of the charts.
This week, the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 features a rare sweep of country songs comprising the top four slots, with Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” at No. 1, Stella Lefty’s “Boston” at No. 2, Cameron Whitcomb’s “Kingdom of Fear” at No. 3 and Morgan Wallen’s “Been By Now” at No. 4.
That potential was first bubbling when LASSO began five years ago, but it was unforeseen in Canada just five years before that.
“We had one arena country show every few years,” Farkas explains. “[The scene] was non-existent, and we had no country radio, so it was not on anyone’s radar. We started seeing a shift when we booked a show with Luke Bryan in 2016 and it sold out the Bell Centre in like a day. We were like, “Holy crap, that’s, there’s something going on here with some of this newer country stuff.”
Evenko later rolled the dice with a large-scale festival, combining the rising global appeal of country music with the Quebec and Canadian scene, giving local country musicians a global stage and spotlight that didn’t previously exist in the metropolis.
This year, Lasso saw a record 30% turnout from outside Quebec, a “huge win,” per Farkas, that has cemented the festival’s nationwide and international reputation.
Read more here. — Richard Trapunski & Stefano Rebuli
Drake Celebrates the Opening of History Ottawa: ‘I Will Be There to Drop Off My Personal Touch’
History Ottawa is officially open.
The city’s newest music hub is the first expansion of the popular five-year-old Toronto music venue co-owned by Drake and Live Nation. In celebration of its public opening, the homegrown rapper took to social media to express his excitement.
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Drake hints that there could be more expansions coming while thanking Live Nation “for giving me the continued trust on a journey that I hope is shared with every city and country worldwide” and teases an in-person experience in Ottawa, revealing that he “will be there to drop off my personal touch to Ottawa soon.”
The 2,000-person venue will welcome dozens of international artists to the country’s capital, cementing the nation’s capital as a music hub outside of the bigger ones in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Artists slated to perform at the venue include: Two Door Cinema Club, Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, Owen Riegling, Jamie Fine and Thundercat, among others.
Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh