ARIA, APRA AMCOS figures show Australian industry heading for another record year

The Australian recording and publishing sectors are aiming for another record year– as indicated by figures from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) this week, and upcoming ones from APRA AMCOS.

ARIA’s half-year figures for 2018 show that between January and June, the recording sector clicked up revenues of $195, 649, 154.

At the half-way mark for 2018, this showed that the recording biz was already 6.04% up from the first half of 2017 when it generated $184, 498, 747.

This paves the way for the recording biz to outdo the entire calendar year for 2017 when it grew by 10% to a value of $391 million.

ARIA said at the time this was the best outcome in 20 years.

As has been the case for the last few years, the streaming phenomenon fuelled the continued growth in 2018.

Streaming has steadily accelerated to be the major revenue source.

It now makes up 67% of the market. It was 54% throughout the 2017 calendar year and 38% in 2016.

Ad-supported streaming services so far in 2018 made $12.6 million, up 31.86% from the $9.6 million from the same period last year.

Income from subscription services as Apple Music and Spotify totalled $10.99 million (up 35.10%) and video streaming $14.6 million (up 41.11%).

“Australian music fans are embracing music streaming services in even greater numbers,” ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen said.

“This trend should continue as more devices enable access to music, including smart home speakers.”

As Rosen points out, streaming is opening the door for more global success for Australian acts.

The greater export potential for domestic acts are also shown in upcoming APRA AMCOS figures.

These will not be released for a few more weeks.

But at their annual BIGSOUND breakfast last week, APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston previewed some preliminary data.

APRA AMCOS is going to report group earnings of just over $420 million, which is 8.7% up from last year.

He pointed specifically to the increase of foreign revenue as more Australian music was consumed abroad – reaching a record $43.7 million.

“It’s a very strong indicator of how healthy our industry is,” he said.

APRA AMCOS too is looking at the growing market for Australian talent outside their home borders.

Ormston quoted the NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who said that “we want our songs to become our ambassadors to the world, they can travel with us or without us.”

He’s already setting up for discussions with the federal government on investing more in the creative sector, similar to the way New Zealand and Canada have done of late.

“One of the messages we want to take to government – whether it’s export, live music or education – is we’re not a one-portfolio horse; we cross all government portfolios and the relevance of our industry to all portfolios.”

He added many aspects of the industry are still untapped and urged the different sectors of the music biz to come together to discuss “and articulate to government a clear strategy.”

Ormston held up Victoria’s arts and music ministry Creative Victoria as “a shining example of how you pull the cultural and economic heritage under one umbrella and have everybody talking on the same page.”