After 127% revenue jump, Australia now 9th largest vinyl market

Global figures from the IFPI – which represents the recorded music sector – show that Australia has become an important market for vinyl record sales.

Earlier this year, ARIA announced that Australia posted a revenue growth of 127% to A$6.4 million for vinyl between January to December 2014. This was for 277,767 units sold, a 101.7% rise in quantity. In 2013, Australia’s vinyl market had been worth $2.4 million after shifting 137,658 units.

According to the IFPI last week, the 127% growth was the largest posted in any country last year. As a result, Australia is now the 9th biggest vinyl market.

Evidence thatthe local vinyl revival is driven by the younger demographic was clear at the turn-out during last Saturday’s Record Store Day. Some collectibles go for up to $10,000. Collectors are part of the mix of the crate digger set: some are audiophiles, some love the experience of large coverart and liner notes, others buy a vinyl version of a CD they already have to hang on the wall.

Kyle Jenkins, of Queensland’s Suicide Swan, whose album is issued in vinyl,explains, “Vinyl allows you to have a more intimate experience with music.”

At hi fi shops, turntables from $500 to $6,000 are in such demand that customers are put on waiting lists. Australia’s only vinyl plant, Zenith in Melbourne’s East Brunswick, has its three pressing machines going at full capacity but is still two months behind in orders.

The global vinyl revival continues its purple patch, increasing by 54.7% in 2014 alone to US$346.8 million, representing 9.2 million units. It was worth $224.2 million in 2013, for sales of 6.1 million.

Vinyl record sales now represent2% of the global recording industry’s $14.97 billion. In the first three months of 2015, sales were 53% higher than for the same period last year.

The biggest market for it is the United States, where it is worth $181.6 million, up 52.8% from $118.8 million in 2013.

Germany is $34 million, up 38.4% from ($25.5 million).

The UK is the third biggest in the vinyl countdown, worth $31.7 million after a 60.1% leap from $19.8 million. So much so that as a result of 1.28 million vinyl long players being sold there last year, a Top 40 vinyl sales chart (singles and albums) has been launched there. The 2014 sales figure was the highest since 1995 when 1.41 million LPs found new homes.

Japan, at #4, also showed a strong resurgence, up 81.4% from $9 million to $16.3 million. So did the Netherlands, now $14.1 million after a 50.2% expansion from $9.4 million.

France is at sixth place at $12.2 million, a 39.2% rise from $8.8 million. Canada is $9.2 million (up 31.6% from $7 million) and Italy is $6.2 million (up 76.5% from $3.5 million).

At #10, after Australia’s 9th ranking, is Sweden at $3.7 million after a 54.7% jump from $2.3 million in 2013.

Frances Moore, CEO of IFPI, said:“The recording industry is a portfolio business, offering music in formats from vinyl to streaming.Critics thought vinyl would disappear as a format, but many music fans around the world seem to be falling in love with it again.With the accompanying artwork and liner notes, vinyl records really can be a work of art and a collector’s delight.”

The biggest selling vinyl album since 2010 is The Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road. The list, from Billboard is:

1. Beatles, Abbey Road (172,000 units)

2. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More (110,000)

3. Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago (102,000)

4. Jack White, Lazaretto (94,000)

5. Arctic Monkeys, AM (89,000)

6. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon (87,000)

7. Bob Marley & The Wailers, Legend (83,000)

8. Lana Del Rey, Born To Die (81,000)

9. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (75,000)

10. Black Keys, Brothers (75,000)

In New Zealand, vinyl record sales have topped $1 million a year for the first time since the late ‘70s. Radioscope, which compiles record sales for the Top 40, said sales jumped by 116% from 2013 to 2014, from $462,000 to $1 million, making up 1.8% of the NZ market. In comparison, digital sales represent 60% of the market and CDs 38%.