Vinyl-album sales along with record players are booming in Australia.
A Soundmag survey of 10 specialist retailers revealed that one of the hottest categories is turntables with retailers reporting average sales increases year on year of 45%.
From Brisbane to Melbourne consumers are turning to retro music with specialist dealers reporting that consumers are not frightened to pay over $10,000 for a turntable.
At Addicted to Hi Fi their store rooms are packed floor to ceiling with Regan and Project turntables.
Neilsen Research who track music sales reports that in the first quarter vinyl sales rose 53 percent in units compared with the year-ago quarter.
The surge was driven by a 66 percent increase in catalogue album sales.
Vinyl album sales in the U.S. have grown 260 percent since 2009, and in 2014, vinyl recorded its ninth consecutive year of sales growth.
In 2014, 9.2 million units sold, up 52 percent, to account for 6 percent of physical album sales, Nielsen said. “Vinyl remains a viable way for music fans to listen to both new and classic albums,” Nielsen said.
Mervyn Marshall at Northside Audio in Brisbane said that he was selling 10 turntables a week.
Addicted to Audio executives in Melbourne said that they could not keep up demand for turntables and premium priced headphones.
