Vinyl resurgence as downloads kill CDs

Daft Punk’s album Random Access Memories was one of the biggest selling vinyl releases in Australia last year. Picture: supplied
Source: AP

AUSTRALIAN music fans downloaded more albums than they bought physically in 2013 for the first time since iTunes launched here in 2005.

And while Australians bought more digital albums than actual CDs in 2013, hipsters and audiophiles are leading a vinyl resurgence with LP sales up a whopping 77 per cent.
Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories was one of the most sought-after vinyl releases last year.
The annual ARIA wholesale report discovered we finally caught up with the rest of the world in buying albums online even though there was a small drop in the volume of single tracks downloaded.

Top of the charts … Daft Punk helped spearhead a vinyl revival in Australia last year. Picture: Matt Sayles/Invision
Source: AP

ARIA CEO Dan Rosen said hardcore music consumers here had clung to the “physical manifestation” of their fandom.
While vinyl releases are generally bundled with a code which allowed the fan to also download it, the black plastic is enjoying a renaissance as culturally cool.
Audiophiles who bristle at the compression of digital files prefer the warm, lush crackle of the record.
“You take your music around on your mobile device during the day and impress your friends at night by playing records,” Rosen said.
“People like to check out someone’s vinyl collection to work out what sort of person you are and you would have to steal their phone to do that via playlists.
“We found most of the vinyl sales were for new releases rather than heritage reissues and Daft Punk’s record was very big on vinyl.”
Artists who have protested the minuscule royalties returned by streaming will not be heartened by ARIA’s figures which show revenue from services such as Spotify and Pandora doubled to $ 20.9 million last year.
A recent leaked report of the rates paid by on-demand digital music platforms and subscription services estimated Spotify pay as little as $ 0.00521 per stream.
Australian labels lost almost 12 per cent of their recorded music revenue last year in a “transition period” which provoked new artist deals to leverage income from tours, merchandise and sync deals with television and film.
“Overseas we have seen it takes a couple of years for streaming services to grow financially but it was momentous that digital sales overtook physical last year,” Rosen said.

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