‘Call Me Maybe,’ ‘Summer of ’69’ among top-earning Canadian songs abroad in 2014

TORONTO – Americans love Magic!, Brazilians are hung up on "Call Me Maybe" and Germans are still singing "Hallelujah," according to data revealing which Canadian tracks generated the most money abroad last year.

SOCAN, the union of Canadian songwriters, tallied the royalties distributed to homegrown songwriters based on 2014 numbers, which include airplay and live performances.

In the U.S., the inescapable summer spritzer "Rude" by Toronto's Magic! led the way, followed by Drake's butter-smooth "Hold On, We're Going Home."

Some less-recent hits were also radio staples on the U.S. airwaves.

The Guess Who's strutting "American Woman" — also notably covered by Lenny Kravitz — stood strong at No. 4, Bryan Adams's "Summer of '69" placed sixth, and Tom Cochrane's "Life is a Highway" cruised into the ninth spot.

"Summer of '69" managed similarly significant airplay globally, placing sixth in the U.K. and second in Germany, after Leonard Cohen's signature tune "Hallelujah."

Alannah Myles's bluesy hit "Black Velvet" also showed surprising staying power across the pond, ranking as the fifth highest-grossing Canadian song in the U.K. and sixth in Germany.

In France, Claude Dubois's "Si dieu existe" took top spot, followed by Corneille's "Sommets de nos vies" and Sebastien Raimbault's "Laissez nous vivre."

Nickelback seemed to hold unique sway in Brazil, where their "Far Away," "How You Remind Me" and "Photograph" occupied Nos. 4 through 6 on the chart. The divisive band's "Someday" was eighth, and their "Savin' Me" rounded out the South American country's Top 10.

Meanwhile, only Carly Rae Jepsen's earworm "Call Me Maybe" managed true ubiquity across the five countries included in the study.

The smash tune was the most lucrative song for a Canadian songwriter in Brazil, ranked third in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, and claimed the fourth spot in France.