What Music Do You Choose for Record Store Day?
On April 23 of each, we celebrate this anniversary, now in its 15th edition and this year for the vinyl boom
We celebrate Record Store Day, the day of independent record stores, every year today, April 23: the organizers dedicate it to the most iconic musical format, vinyl, which thus takes the center of the global event now in its 15th edition. On this day the labels release and reissue many albums, for the occasion. And which music do you choose to honor this initiative?
THE VINYL
The anniversary crowns a period of excellent health for physical music supports, which in 2021 marked a growth of 38%. In particular, it is vinyl that gives the body constant growth: after overtaking CDs at the beginning of last year, it confirmed his exploit with an almost 79% increase, equal to about 27 million euros.
CDs AND CASSETTES
In the era dominated by streaming and the liquid use of songs, revenues from other physical formats, such as CD, have also increased by 10.6% — even if the figure remains below 2019 — and cassettes, once again generating revenues up by as much as 245%.
From this perspective, in Italy, the Culture Bonus of € 500 for the new 18-year-olds was fundamental, the impact of which has come to mean over 21 million euros in total.
DISCOGRAPHY
The recording sector grew by 18.5% globally with a double-digit performance that covered all the main markets reaching almost $ 26 billion in 2021. In this context, we are also witnessing a strong surge in the Italian record sector, which after five years returns to the top ten of the most important markets globally with a 27.8% growth to over 332 million euros in revenues.
STREAMING
The data from Deloitte / IFPI relating to Italy, in particular, show that, as already happened in 2020, the revenues from subscriptions to streaming platforms have dragged the sector: the premium segment grew by 35.6%. The impact is also strong in the video streaming area supported by advertising with + 46.3%. General, the entire segment between audio and video streaming grew by 24.6% reaching 208 million euros in revenues.
In the audio segment alone, Italian consumers now make an average of over a billion streams every week. In general, as also highlighted by the IFPI Engaging with Music research, in 2021 Italian consumers spent over 19 hours a week listening to music. 45% through premium subscription, a percentage that rises to 57% between 16 and 24 years.
A CURIOUS NICHE
The so-called related rights — the revenues from licenses for the use of music in radio, television, gyms, public establishments, and private parties — grew by + 37.2% to 52 million euros while the synchronization rights or the music in commercials, films, and TV series saw an increase of 36.4%, exceeding ten million euros for the first time.
ITALY
The Italian market, thus, saw a particularly strong year with the confirmation of the important investments by record companies in the Italian repertoire and in young talents. Positive effects are also recorded from the fiscal interventions with the tax credit for the new works.
Prevalent, 231 Albums, 6 Compilations, and 1,054 Digital Singles between gold, platinum, and multi-platinum were awarded in 2021.
Furthermore, 479 albums have exceeded the threshold of 10 million streaming: this is 302 artists in total, a significant increase compared to ten years ago. In 2011, only 134 albums for 105 artists had in fact exceeded the equal threshold of 10 thousand copies sold (physical + download): a fundamental signal also for the economic sustainability of the market.
The past year also saw the growth in revenues from sales of Italian music abroad which, in terms of royalties generated, rose by 66% to around 20 million euros.