Anticipated growth is forecasted for the Australian music industry over the next 5 years at an annual rate of 0.6%.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) put out their annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report which states that the media market will grow by 18% and be valued at $40 billion in 2018.
International digital companies like Spotify and Beats Music will contribute to the growth and establishment of the music market, seeing that Australia’s digital sector will undergo a boost from $498 million in 2013 to $658 million in 2018.
Spotify Managing Director Kate Vale told TMN: “We’re thrilled (but not surprised) to see real growth of the Australian music industry attributed to music streaming. We’ve seen similar results and forecasts in more mature markets, where Spotify’s impact has resulted in unprecedented growth of the overall local music industry and we’re definitely on track to see similar success here. It’s a really exciting time and we’re happy to be a part of that.”
PcW’s outlook report for the US stated that their streaming activity was up 33% from 2012 and is expected to hit $1.7 billion in 2018. More recently Nielsen SoundScan released digital sales figures for the past six months in the US, they reveal an 11.6% decrease in digital album sales and a 13% decrease in digital track sales. The report maintains streaming is still strong; audio and video streams rose 42% to US$70.3bn in the first half of 2014.
PwC also reports the international touring market is no longer a guaranteed success, citing our fluctuating dollar and tumultuous festival market as causes.
Written by Erica Whyman.