Previously the indie sector had only made estimates of its share, and which were far below what official statistics now find.
It is estimated that in 2014-15, the independent sector had revenue of $154.8 million, and released over 6,000 singles and albums. in the 2014/15 financial year. In that period, the total Australian recorded music industry was valued at $400 million. (Work on the report began in 2016 but getting the figures in took time).
The inaugural AIR Share: Australian Independent Music Market Report was commissioned by The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) and conducted by Deloitte Access Economics.
Maria Amato, GM of AIR said, “This is truly a benchmark report that serves as the first indicator of the enormous cultural and fiscal value the Australian independent recording sector contributes to the Australian economy.”
The importance of AIR Share is that for the first time, a study has focussed on the OWNERSHIP of the tracks and not DISTRIBUTION which pushes the balance towards the major record companies. Taylor Swift, for instance, is regarded as a Universal Music act when she is in fact signed to the independent Big Machine Records which is distributed by Universal Music.
Similarly, big selling Australian acts like Sia, Flume, Gotye, Sheppard and Vance Joy are all independent label acts.
It also confirms the important roles indies play in finding and taking to the market new and musically diverse acts.
Among the findings of the survey:
* 4% of independent sector revenue comes from digital channels
* 57% of independent sector revenue comes from Australian artists
* 95% of independent sector music releases are new content.
* Two-thirds of the acts signed by local indies are Australian.
* An impressively high 30% of revenue for indie labels comes from overseas, an indication of the great job they’re doing in getting Australian music out to the world. This is something that state and Federal governments should be looking at supporting in the future.
Corenne Wilkie, manager of The Cat Empire, observed, “Establishing an independent label has meant that we have central control around how to best spend every dollar to maximise both the touring and record business units. It also makes for global consistency of the brand. This structure has reaped enormous rewards in terms of sales numbers of both tickets and recordings, and of overall profitability.”
Chris Maund, of Mushroom Group of Companies added, “The independent sector is important for the industry, but also for the Australian community. We sign a lot more Australian artists then the majors, creating funding and opportunities for local talent.
“Also indie labels can afford to take more risks, and so ensure the diversity of music. Almost every new music genre in history, from hip-hop, grunge to trance, were launched
from indie labels – with the passion and low overheads to take such risks.”
The AIR Share report is available in print and online at www.air.org.au. It will be updated every year, with more data as a state-by-state breakdown and analysis of the performances of the different genres.
