Out of general curiosity I looked at the total number of tracks in my iTunes library tonight so that I could do some quick numbers.
I have a total of 8,473 individual tracks in my library. In most cases these are in fact songs, although some of the things I have in MP3 form are actually audio drama. This number does not however include audiobooks or PDFs that are also in my iTunes library.
Of this number, a total of 974 tracks are by Quebecois performers. This means, O Internets, that roughly 11% of my iTunes collection is now Francophone! To put this in perspective for you, only 677 of my iTunes tracks are by Elvis!
Quebecois music now outnumbers Elvis Presley in my music collection.
Elvis. Aron. Presley. Y’know, that guy whose music I grew up listening to and back to whom I can trace pretty much every single thing that makes me swoon about music EVER.
Some amusing sub-stats–a breakdown of track counts by my top groups:
- La Bottine Souriante: 167 items
- Le Vent du Nord: 92 items
- La Volée d’Castors: 91 items
- Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer: 81 items
- Genticorum: 45 items
- Galant, Tu Perds Ton Temps: 43 items
- De Temps Antan: 25 items
(Those last few counts are going to get boosted soon, too! Galant, Tu Perds Ton Temps AND De Temps Antan are working on new albums. I hear rumors Genticorum has one on the way, too!)
I can only now conclude that Quebec must have passed a provincial resolution of some sort, perhaps La Loi du Colonisation des Playlists d’Anna Avec La Musique Traditionnelle. Either that or it’s a genre-wide conspiracy for every trad musician within a hundred-klick radius of Montreal to send me the following musical message:
“Bonjour, Anna! Nous entendrons que t’aime la musique traditionnelle. Nous avons des bouzoukis. Et des violons. Et la très, très belle podorythmie! Et avons-nous mentionné des bouzoukis? Nous avons des CDs pour toi. Tu peux apprendre un peu français, oui? Tu apprends le français, nous vendrons des CDs! Victoire pour tout le monde!”
I have to admit, they’re making one hell of a pitch. ;D Well done, entire province of Quebec. Well done, VRAIMENT.