2012 in Canadian music
This is a summary of the year 2012 in the Canadian music industry.
Events
- February 13 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation launches CBC Music, a digital music service which offers streaming audio broadcasts of 40 different music genre channels, in addition to the existing CBC Radio 2 and CBC Radio 3 services, on both the Internet and iOS devices.
- April 1 – Juno Awards of 2012
- June 14 – Prelimimary longlist for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize is announced.
- July 17 – Shortlist for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize is announced.
- September 24 – Feist's album Metals is announced as the winner of the Polaris Music Prize.
Bands on hiatus
Albums released
A
- Amos the Transparent, Goodnight My Dear, I'm Falling Apart
- Amylie, Le Royaume
- Androgynous Mind, Nightstalker
- Apollo Ghosts, Landmark
- Marie-Pierre Arthur, Aux alentours
- Azari & III, ''Azari & III''
B
- Baby Eagle and the Proud Mothers, Bone Soldier
- Bahamas, Barchords
- Del Barber, Headwaters
- Bidiniband, In the Rock Hall
- Justin Bieber, Believe
- Big Brave, An Understanding Between People
- Billy Talent, Dead Silence, September 9, 2012
- The Birthday Massacre, Hide and Seek
- Blue Moon Marquee, Stainless Steel Heart
- Boxer the Horse, French Residency
- Brasstronaut, ''Mean Sun''
C
- Cadence Weapon, Hope in Dirt City
- Cancer Bats, Dead Set on Living
- Caracol, Shiver
- Paul Cargnello, Papa Paul
- Change of Heart, There You Go '82 – '97
- Tim Chaisson, The Other Side
- The City Streets, White Lightning
- The City Streets, Sawdust & Rum
- Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas
- Cold Specks, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion
- Cookie Duster, When Flying Was Easy
- Ève Cournoyer, Le labeur d'une fleur
- Rose Cousins, We Have Made a Spark
- Cuff the Duke, In Our Time
- Cuff the Duke, Union
- Amelia Curran, ''Spectators''
D
- Daphni, Jiaolong
- Diamond Rings, Free Dimensional
- Digawolf, Naka De
- Céline Dion, Sans attendre
- Julie Doiron, So Many Days
- Dumas, L'Heure et l'endroit
- Durham County Poets, Where the River Flows
- Dusted, ''Dusted''
E
- Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur
- Coral Egan, The Year He Drove Me Crazy
- The Elwins, And I Thank You
- Quique Escamilla, Quique Escamilla
- Esthero, Everything Is Expensive
- Evening Hymns, ''Spectral Dusk''
F
- Jeremy Fisher, Mint Juleps
- Front Line Assembly, AirMech
- Nelly Furtado, ''The Spirit Indestructible''
G
- Gentleman Reg, Leisure Life
- Hannah Georgas, Hannah Georgas
- Ghostkeeper, Horse Chief! War Thief!
- Jenn Grant, The Beautiful Wild
- Great Lake Swimmers, New Wild Everywhere
- Grey Kingdom, The Weeping Suns; Light, I'll Call Your Name Out "Darkness"
- Grimes, Visions
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor, '''Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!''
H
- Hot Panda, Go Outside
- Joshua Hyslop, ''Where the Mountain Meets the Valley''
I
- Islands, ''A Sleep & a Forgetting''
J
- JBM, Stray Ashes
- Japandroids, Celebration Rock
- Carly Rae Jepsen, Curiosity
- Carly Rae Jepsen, Kiss
- July Talk, ''July Talk''
K
- Kalle Mattson, Lives in Between
- Karkwa, Karkwa Live
- Peter Katz, Still Mind Still
- Mo Kenney, Mo Kenney
- Kid Koala, 12 Bit Blues,
- Keith Kouna, Du plaisir et des bombes
- K'naan, Country, God or the Girl,
- K'naan, More Beautiful Than Silence
- Kristina Maria, ''Tell the World''
L
- Zachary Lucky, ''Saskatchewan''
M
- Madison Violet, The Good in Goodbye
- Maestro Fresh Wes, Black Tuxedo EP
- Maïa, Héritage
- Mares of Thrace, The Pilgrimage
- Carolyn Mark, The Queen of Vancouver Island
- Masia One, Bootleg Culture
- Matt Mays, Coyote
- Eamon McGrath, Young Canadians
- Loreena McKennitt, Troubadours on the Rhine
- Holly McNarland, Run Body Run
- Memoryhouse, The Slideshow Effect
- Metric, Synthetica
- METZ, METZ
- Millimetrik, Read Between the Rhymes
- Ariane Moffatt, MA
- Mother Mother, ''The Sticks''
N
- Northern Haze, ''Sinaaktuq''
O
- Mike O'Neill, Wild Lines
- Octoberman, Waiting in the Well
- Ohbijou, Metal Meets
- Karim Ouellet, Fox
- Our Lady Peace, ''Curve''
P
- Dorothea Paas, Same Sun
- Doug Paisley, Golden Embers
- Parlovr, Kook Soul
- Pascale Picard Band, Trauma: Chansons de la série télé Saison 3
- Dany Placard, Démon vert
- Plants and Animals, The End of That
- Joel Plaskett, Scrappy Happiness
- Chad Price, In This Dream
- PS I Love You, Death Dreams
- Purity Ring, ''Shrines''
R
- Radio Radio, Havre de Grace
- Rah Rah, The Poet's Dead
- Johnny Reid, Fire It Up
- Rush, ''Clockwork Angels''
S
- Julien Sagot, Piano mal
- Said the Whale, Little Mountain
- John K. Samson, Provincial
- Saukrates, Season One
- Crystal Shawanda, Just Like You
- Shout Out Out Out Out, Spanish Moss and Total Loss
- Zal Sissokho, Le Partage
- Skydiggers, Northern Shore
- The Slakadeliqs, The Other Side of Tomorrow
- Smash Brovas, Think It's a Game?
- Dallas Smith, Jumped Right In - May 22
- John Southworth, Failed Jingles for Bank of America and Other Corporations
- Rae Spoon, I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets
- Stars, The North
- Jeffery Straker, Vagabond – October 2
- Serena Ryder, ''Harmony''
T
- The Tragically Hip, Now for Plan A
- A Tribe Called Red, ''A Tribe Called Red''
V
- Chad VanGaalen, The Green Corridor
- Various Artists, Have Not Been the Same – November 13
W
- Martha Wainwright, Come Home to Mama
- Rufus Wainwright, Out of the Game
- Patrick Watson, Adventures in Your Own Backyard
- Wax Mannequin, No Safe Home
- Whitehorse, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss
- Wintersleep, Hello Hum
- Royal Wood, We Were Born to Glory
- The Wooden Sky, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun
- Woodpigeon, For Paolo
- Wool on Wolves, ''Measures of Progress''
Y
- Neil Young, Americana
- Yukon Blonde, Tiger Talk – March 20
Z
- Zeus, ''Busting Visions''
Top hits on record
The lists are updated weekly through Jam! and Nielsen Soundscan.Deaths
- January 2 – Ian Bargh, jazz pianist
- January 25 – Andrew MacNaughtan, photographer and music video director
- February 21 – Christopher Reimer, rock guitarist
- April 23 – Billy Bryans, percussionist and record producer
- September 23 – Sam Sniderman, founder of the Sam the Record Man chain