U.S.-based measurement giant Nielsen has inked a deal with rights management organization SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) in order to extend its relationship as the exclusive provider of detailed radio airplay data in Canada. Through the deal, it’s added 200 new stations, increasing its coverage to 500 total Canadian stations.

While Nielsen’s data and insights largely helps fuel royalty payments for artists and songwriters, as well as fuels insights for the Billboard charts, the airplay data is also used to help advertisers plan their major radio campaigns.

Paul Shaver, VP of Nielsen Music Canada, explains: “People have access to our dashboard when we monitor these stations. They can rank on all our various metrics.”

The song metrics can be measured against audiences and studies – such as Numeris PPM ratings, or third-party data – to target audiences based on the genres they’re most likely listening to. “Let’s say the ultimate buyer is a beer beverage company. If they’re trying to go after males, they can go into our systems and see, ‘okay, what stations are actively playing rock music?’ If they have a good idea of what those demographics interact with, they’d be able to go in and select stations that target that format.”

The dashboard also means stations have access to competitive information – they can log on and see what other stations are playing.

With the 200 new stations signed, Shaver says Nielsen’s measurement now extends to 137 new geographic markets, and is also measuring the Christian format for the first time. On top of live radio, Nielsen also tracks online streaming.