The Australian recorded music industry posted its sixth consecutive year of growth in 2024, with wholesale sales rising 6.1% to $717 million, and the demand for vinyls continuing to increase.
Data released by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) on Wednesday showed that the industry growth was fuelled by both physical and digital sales.
The digital market now represents $656 million, or 91.5% of the total market. Streaming subscription services accounted for the bulk of it increasing their market share by another two percentage points to represent 71% of Australia’s total music market, or $509 million, an increase of 8.9% more than in 2023. Ad supported streaming models slowed significantly however, from a 15.3% jump in revenue in 2023 to just 1.9% growth in 2024.
As for physical sales, vinyl albums came out on top, growing 5.6% in revenue despite a small decline in the quantity of sales of 0.5%. Vinyl represented 72.8% of total physical sales in 2024 by dollar value and 45.7% of physical sales by volume.
Australia’s demand for vinyls reflects that of much bigger markets, such as the US. The Recording Industry of America said in an annual report that sales of vinyl records rose for the 18th straight year in that market last year to $2.2 billion — the highest revenue for that format since 1984, around the time that CDs began to emerge.
In the US, vinyl accounted for nearly three-quarters of physical format revenue in 2024. It was the third consecutive year that there were more shipments of vinyl records than CDs — 44 million vs. 33 million, according to Endgadget. Fuelling the demand for vinyls, major music stars such as Taylor Swift released thirty-six variants of her The Tortured Poets Department album, including eight vinyl editions.
Australia’s recorded music industry growth comes as worldwide total music revenues rose 4.8% to almost $47.16 billion last year, according to IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide – a decrease from the more than 10% growth in 2023, making it the slowest growth for almost a decade.
The global slowdown was led by a fall in physical music revenues globally, which dropped 3.1% to $7.55 billion, compared to an increase of 13.4% the previous year, reported the Financial Times. However, vinyl demand worldwide still grew last year, but sales of CDs and tapes fell.
“While digital dominates, the sustained demand for physical formats like vinyl shows that fans want to engage with music in multiple ways. This isn’t just a resilient music listening market, it’s a thriving one, and that’s something to be proud of,” said ARIA Chief Executive Officer, Annabelle Herd.
“Market conditions have been anything but stable over the past year, so for the Australian recording industry to achieve a sixth consecutive year of growth speaks volumes about the enduring connection Australians have with music.
