ARIA celebrates Record Store Day with new vinyl album chart reflecting boom in LP sales

The resurgence of records has the music industry spinning around, and as tens of thousands of music fans prepare to celebrate Record Store Day, ARIA has some big news for vinyl fans.

Kathy McCabe and Cameron Adams

3 min read

April 11, 2019 - 12:01AM

News Corp Australia Network

Music

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The resurgence of records has the music industry spinning around, with ARIA reintroducing a top 100 vinyl album chart this week to coincide with the annual Record Store Day celebrations.

As tens of thousands of music fans prepare to trawl through the racks of their local record store on Saturday, ARIA reveals vinylphiles are embracing new releases on the shiny black plastic as much as they replenishing their collections with classic albums.

While Queen’s hit collections were among the most sought-after records in 2018, new releases by Australian artists including Gang Of Youths, Tash Sultana, Skegss and four albums by psychedelic rock heroes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard factored in the top 50 albums.

Nevermind by Nirvana was in the top 10 vinyl sales last year. Picture: Supplied.

And for every Abbey Road purchased to replace that well-worn or scratched copy in a music fan’s Beatles collection, there is a shiny new version of the Arctic Monkeys’ most recent studio release Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

Seminal albums from artists who are no longer with us, such as Nirvana’s Nevermind and Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black are also popular with vinyl fans.

Recent figures released by ARIA showed vinyl sales in Australia grew for the eighth year in a row, up 15 per cent to almost 900,000 albums in 2018.

But that growth fails to factor in the burgeoning second-hand trade in vinyl at record stores and weekend market stalls suggesting the consumption of the black plastic is even higher.

Suzanne Bennett, one of the owners of iconic Melbourne music store Basement Discs has seen a substantial increase in the sale of vinyl over the last 12 years.

Suzanne Bennett of Melbourne store Basement Discs said she has seen a substantial increase in the sale of vinyl over the last 12 year. Picture: Tim Carrafa

“Our customers are not interested in downloading or streaming, they want the physical product and the deluxe packaging,” Bennett said.

“They’re collectors. You don’t ever own a download or a stream. It’s like books, there’s people who don’t want to read a book on an iPad.”

Most vinyl lovers cite the “warm” listening experience and the better display of artwork for preferring the black plastic over streaming.

Producer Anna Laverty who has worked with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Courtney Barnett, Paul Dempsey and Florence and The Machine said a vinyl release sounds better because it is an analog recording as opposed to CDs and MP3s which are digital recordings.

“Vinyl is an accurate reproduction of the wave form whereas CDs and MPs are a sample of the wave,” she explained.

“With digital, there just isn’t as many samples per second as there are with analog so the vinyl recording is closer to what the artist was hearing in their head when they created the song.”

The Tommyhawks have always had vinyl versions of all the singles and EPs available to fans. Picture: Supplied

Even though it costs more to press a vinyl record, the majority of Australian artists are adamant their latest release gets the vinyl treatment.

Much-loved indie rockers Jebediah will reissue their seminal Of Someday Shambles for Record Store Day to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Jebediah’s bassist Vanessa Thornton said her new band The Tommyhawks have always had vinyl versions of all the singles and EPs available to fans, with some of the limited editions going into second pressings.

“They are so expensive to make and you’re not going to make a cent on putting your single out on a seven inch record,” Thornton said.

“With all the packaging, it was costing $13.50 and we were selling them for $15 at our shows.

“It may not be a wise business decision but we’re all vinyl lovers and want to hold our own record in our hands,” Thornton said.

Kate Ceberano bought a new turntable when her daughter discovered vinyl. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

The record boom is naturally boosting sales of turntables.

Kate Ceberano is one of thousands of Gen Xers who have updated their hifi-equipment to satisfy their love of records and share that experience with their children.

“Up to just recently I didn’t actually have a record player. Which after recently having gotten a new one seemed like a part of my youth was omitted,” she said.

“My daughter Gypsy has brought it back into the house rediscovering the culture as a “retro” thing with her teenage mates.”