New Amazon report shows creative industries impact on Canada and beyond

Amazon has released its first report outlining the impact of the company's various entertainment divisions on global markets.

The company presented the report “International Culture and Creative Industries” at a media event in Berlin. MobileSyrup was present at this. Notably, Amazon provided data on the impact of creative industries in various countries and regions outside the US, including parts of Europe, the UK, Mexico, India and, most importantly for us, Canada.

Here's a breakdown of the results by Amazon division.

Prime Video

First, the company promoted its popular streaming service Prime Video. Considering that we were in Germany, a lot of attention was paid Maxton Halla locally produced teen romantic drama that debuted last year to become the biggest ever debut of any non-U.S. Amazon Original series. Upon its release, the show became number one in over 120 countries. (Amazon also invited us to the world premiere of season two later that evening, and I saw first-hand the size and excitement of this fan base.)

To contextualize all this, Amazon also showed data from a survey conducted on behalf of the local German tourism board. A survey of users of global streaming services found that respondents who watched Made in Germany series said they were 2.2 times more likely to buy German products, 2.1 times more likely to want to visit Germany and 1.5 times more likely to find German culture attractive. The survey even showed increased interest from respondents as far away as Japan and Australia.

While we did not receive a similar survey for Canada (understandably, given that this event was held in Germany), there were other interesting results for the Great White North. In particular, Amazon used its popular comedy series. Download as a main example for us. After all, the sci-fi comedy series, which only aired its fourth and final season in August, was filmed in Vancouver and stars Toronto's Robbie Amell (Flash).

For Download For the second season alone, which was filmed between January and April 2021, Amazon says it had a crew of about 1,500 people, 95 per cent of whom were Canadian. On top of that, over 70 percent of the cast was Canadian (though it should be noted that most of the stars, with the exception of Amell, were American) and over 600 local companies were involved in the production. The report also highlights key British Columbia filming locations such as Stanley Park Pavilion in Vancouver, Cecil Green Park House and the University of British Columbia, and Deer Lake Park in Burnaby.

In total, there are more than 40 Prime Video films produced in Canada, according to Amazon. Some of them are American series filmed in Canada, e.g. Boys and him Gen V additional income (Toronto and Greater Toronto Area), Reacher (various parts of Ontario) and The Man in the High Castle (Vancouver), while others are entirely Canadian productions, e.g. All or nothing Documentary “Toronto Maple Leafs”, a detective series directed by Alfred Molina Three Pines And LOL: Canada's last laugh. Overall, Amazon says Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia are key filming locations in Canada.

It's unclear exactly how any of his shows could generate international interest in Canada, e.g. Maxton Hall does for Germany. But anyway, it's interesting to see how something like Download could have an impact beyond Canadians simply enjoying seeing recognizable locations in their favorite shows. (It'll never be funny How Iconic Toronto Concert Hall Roy Thomson Hall Is Vought's Villainous Headquarters Boys.)

Of course, it should also be noted that Amazon also benefits from all of this. In addition to receiving lucrative tax breaks for filming in places like Toronto and Vancouver, the company, like other overseas streamers, there is a requirement produce a minimum amount of content in Canada. Still, it's nice to see the results of CanCon rules like this.

Books and podcasts

I have to sadly admit that while I used to be a fairly regular reader, I spend a lot more of my non-gaming time watching movies instead. And although I listen to quite a few podcasts, they are through Apple. So I'm new to the world of Amazon books and podcasts and it was really interesting to learn more about it.

First, I didn't even know that Amazon's Kindle e-book service has Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), a self-publishing tool that's especially useful for new authors. According to a creative industries report, hundreds of thousands of authors from outside the US have published their work through the platform, “thousands” of whom are Canadian, such as best-selling author Shannon Mayer (Riley Adamson) from Southwestern Canada. Meanwhile, the countries where the works of Canadian authors reach the greatest distribution are the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Mexico.

The company also talked about its audiobook service Audible, which features both audiobooks and podcasts. As for Canada, Amazon has singled out an Audible original Mistletoe Murderswritten by Winnipeg native Ken Kuperus and featuring Canadian talent such as Vancouver's Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Raymond Ablack from Toronto (Ginny and Georgia) and Anna Cathcart from Vancouver (To all the boys row).

Finally, Amazon promoted the Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle, a six-month mentorship program for aspiring First Nations, Inuit and Métis writers in Canada. The program launched in 2022 and has helped dozens of writers. Although the authors of this year's circle have already been selected, you can find out More information about the program on the Amazon website.

In addition to the report's findings, the event also featured a roundtable discussion between four successful European authors, French Jupiter Phaeton (over 60 books published), Germany Markus Huennebeck (published dozens of books after retiring from economics, Spanish Sophie Saint Rose (over 200 published) and Italian Chiara Assi (turned a travel blog into a book series).

Amazon Music

This is another service that I haven't used and therefore don't know much about. Here comes the report.

For example, Amazon says its music service has connected 2.8 million artists with fans around the world, half of whom are listened to in Canada. In total, Amazon Music Canada has 100 million tracks and millions of podcast episodes, as well as more than 400 music label partnerships.

But perhaps the most intriguing data concerns the most streamed local artists in Canada:

• Michael Bublé (number one)
• Josh Ross
• Weekend
• Justin Bieber
• Drake
• Shawn Mendes
• Celine Dion
• Tragically fashionable
• Reklow
• Fringing cowboys

Overall, Amazon says Canadian artists have the largest reach in the US, UK, Germany, Japan and Mexico. (In case you missed it, this is the same top 5 Canadian authors. While it may not be surprising to see the US, UK and Mexico there, given our close ties to those countries, it's especially interesting to see Germany and Japan there.)

Video games

The report also had a short section on games. This is especially notable in Canada, as the company's Amazon Games division has only two studios outside the United States: one in Bucharest, Romania, and the other in Montreal, Quebec. It makes sense that Amazon would have a studio in Canada. considering our huge $5.1 billion gaming industry. From this, Quebec leads by a wide margin; In fact, Montreal alone is one of the best video game development centers in the entire world.

It is noteworthy that Amazon opened its Montreal studio in 2021 and hired former Ubisoft Montreal developers who worked on Rainbow Six: Siegeone of the most popular multiplayer games in the world. In this report, Amazon confirms that 99 percent of Montreal's team of more than 100 people is local talent. In March, the team revealed what they were working on: March of the GiantsA free-to-play multiplayer online battle zone (MOBA) that is currently in alpha testing.

Miscellaneous.

While Amazon is not directly associated with the creative industries report, it also launched a new UNESCO document at the event called “Digital Culture for All by 2035.” Organized during UNESCO Mondiacult 2025 Taking place a few weeks ago, the document provides recommendations for companies like Amazon and its peers on how to approach digital media. It is noteworthy that the rapporteur of the UNESCO global expert group Veronique Guevremontis a specialist in international law at Laval University in Quebec. (Last nifty Canadian connection for this feature.)

In short, the UNESCO document proposes the following basic principles:

• inclusive access (allows people of all backgrounds to participate)
• linguistic diversity (ensuring multilingualism)
• openness (systems for promoting a wide range of cultural expressions)
• education (systems for developing digital skills, curiosity and creativity)
• mobility and identity (authors from different diasporas and those living in remote areas are taken into account)
• green culture (environmentally friendly behavior)
• balance between “physical” and “digital” (considering fluid movement between offline and online environments)
• the role of governments (governments provide thoughtful and meaningful support)
• governance and diversity of participants (public, private and public people working together to achieve common goals)

The document also acknowledges the growing concerns around AI, especially when it comes to “cultural deepfakes, the erosion of human creativity and skills, inequitable income distribution, and dependence on a limited number of large language models (LLMs).” At the same time, he recognizes that “AI is lowering barriers to creativity and production and opening up new creative possibilities.” Therefore, the article calls for a balanced approach to AI.

It remains to be seen what will come of this in the next 10 years, but it's good to see these conversations happening now.

Header image credit: Amazon