ARIA 2013 wholesale figures: digital outsells physical for the first time

The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) today unveiled its 2013 wholesale figures, showing for the first time that digital music revenues have outstripped physical sales.

Digital music revenues now account for 54.7% of the market, as opposed to the 45.3% share commanded by physical product. However, the total market experienced an annual decrease of 11.6% in revenues compared to a 4% lift in 2012.

Digital download revenue stayed steady throughout the year, reporting an overall 0.5% increase. In stark contrast to other territories such as the US and UK where digital album sales experienced a decline, digital album unit sales rose 7.88% to 7.37m units ($67.4m in value). Digital single sales fell 3% to 106.9m units ($95m in value). Streaming revenue almost doubled in 2013, and now makes up 5.9% of the total market value.

CD album sales continued to nosedive, dropping 25% to 14.22m units ($141.7m in value). CD singles notched up 87,000 unit sales, equalling revenues of just over $360,000.

Notably, there has been a continued resurgence in vinyl album sales with the market reporting an increase of 77% in the past year. There were also a record 14 #1 Australian albums during the year.

ARIA CEO Dan Rosen says the music industry in Australia is well-placed to prosper in the rapidly evolving digital music landscape.  “It is an exciting time, as Australian music fans are consuming more music than ever before with an ever-expanding range of options to access music - whether it is streaming music, digital downloads or visiting the local record store.”

He adds, “The way that music is discovered and enjoyed by fans continues to evolve, and as the industry continues to transform itself, the sales trajectory will not always be a straight line.”