Sydney’s largest vinyl market comes to Glebe as sales soar by 70 per cent
SYDNEYSIDERS swept up in the vinyl revival will be able to get their fix of vintage wax at the Glebe Record Fair on Saturday.
Inner West
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SYDNEYSIDERS swept up in the vinyl revival, and we are not talking about the paisley-adorned stretch vinyl fashions from the ’70s, will be able to get their fix of vintage wax at the Glebe Record Fair on Saturday.
This treasure trove of nostalgia represents the biggest one-day record fair in Australia, with organiser Baz Scott, from Newtown’s Egg Records, reporting there will be 100,000 vinyl records as well as CDs on sale at Glebe’s Peter Forsyth Auditorium.
“We have more than 100 private sellers and dealers from around the country coming to this year’s record fair and they will be selling all genres, including punk, pop, jazz, soul, blues, hip hop and rock.
“So if you are looking for that ‘Holy Grail’ the chances are you will find it here, plus the annual fair has a great sense of community with young and old getting together to discuss their favourite music,” Scott said.
Scott and his brother-in-law, Ric Trevaskes’s love of music found form in their store, Egg Records 18 years ago and a desire to celebrate vinyl on an even bigger stage came to fruition in 2002 with the first Glebe Record Fair.
What they did not predict was that a whole new generation would embrace vinyl albums, making it one of the hottest fads in music.
“The appeal of vinyl is not only the sound but the artwork and the ritual of putting a record on the turntable and listening to it from start to finish, the way the artist had set the tracks out,” Scott said.
“The classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and The Beatles still have an amazing appeal on vinyl.”
The latest Australian Recording Industry Association wholesale sales figures show that while vinyl is still a niche market, it still enjoyed another stellar year in 2016, rising 70 per cent to more than $15.1 million in value.
This represents the sixth consecutive year the Australian music industry has seen an increase in the demand for vinyl.
The vinyl revival has also hit the US, where the surge in the sales of vinyl records spans more than 12 years, with 260 per cent growth since 2009.
Vinyl records accounted for 14.3 percent of all US physical format sales in 2017, according to Nielsen Music.
Glebe Record Fair runs from 10am-4pm at the Peter Forsyth Auditorium. Entry $3