PwC Report: Digital music entrants boost Aus Music market

The Australian music market is forecast to grow over the next five years at an annual rate of 0.6%.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report, the entertainment and media market will grow by 18% to be valued at $40 billion in 2018.

The establishment and growth of international digital companies like Spotify and Beats Music will contribute to the music market’s growth. Australia’s digital sector will undergo the biggest boost, from $498 million in 2013 to $658 million in 2018.

Spotify Managing Director Kate Vale told TMN: “We’re thrilled (but not surprised) to see real growth of the Australian music industry attributed to music streaming. We’ve seen similar results and forecasts in more mature markets, where Spotify’s impact has resulted in unprecedented growth of the overall local music industry and we’re definitely on track to see similar success here. It’s a really exciting time and we’re happy to be a part of that.”

The local digital growth complements PwC’s outlook report for the US; early last month PwC reported US music streaming activity was up 33% from 2012 and is expected to hit $1.7 billion in 2018. More recently Nielsen SoundScan released digital sales figures for the past six months in the US, they reveal an 11.6% decrease in digital album sales and a 13% decrease in digital track sales. The report maintains streaming is still strong; audio and video streams rose 42% to US$70.3bn in the first half of 2014.

PwC also reports the international touring market is no longer a guaranteed success, citing our fluctuating dollar and tumultuous festival market as causes.

The report released for New Zealand last month showed its music market was worth NZ$212m in 2013, a NZ$9 million fall on 2012. It’s predicted that in 2018 the New Zealand music business worth will decrease to NZ$195m.