Strong growth in vinyl and streaming leads to record $676m music sales in 2023: ARIA
Australians have spent a record $676 million on music in 2023 amid higher cost-of-living pressures putting the brakes on other discretionary spending, with the surprise resurrection of vinyl showing no signs of stopping.
That figure was 11 per cent higher than the previous year, according to fresh data from the Australian Recording Industry Association on Friday. ARIA said this highlighted the ongoing growth of the industry fuelled by digital sales.
The data revealed people consumed most of their music on platforms such as Spotify Premium and Apple Music, with sales for subscription services up 13.9 per cent to $467.6m. This made up 69 per cent of total sales.
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Ad-supported streaming platforms, like Spotify Free and YouTube Music, posted a 15.3 per cent jump in revenue to $68.3m.
ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said music was big business in Australia.
“While we should be excited that music continues to be a great business, we are focused on ensuring more of that pie comes back to Australian artists,” Ms Herd said.
“While Australia remains the 10th largest music market in the world — and Aussies clearly love music — it remains harder than ever for our local artists to reach these audiences.”
Vinyl sales rose 14 per cent to $42.1m, representing 70 per cent of the music sold on a physical format.
Scott Jones, owner of Diabolik Books & Records in Perth, said the growth in vinyl sales was mostly driven by younger consumers.
“Generally I find people that buy records are more enthusiastic about music, they actually want to own something tangible, something they can pick up and read,” he said.
Mr Jones said the top seller was “obviously” Taylor Swift, as well as American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers.
On vinyl, Swift’s re-record of her 1989 album can cost between $70 to $115.
While prices of records have gone up “significantly” in the past year or two, “it hasn’t done anything to the actual sale of records”.
Meanwhile, Spotify recently hiked its premium plan from $11.99 to $12.99 a month.
Compact discs declined again, with revenue down 16.1 per cent.
