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Summary of our market study
The French vinyl record market is estimated at €90 million in 2022.
The global market is estimated at around €2 billion.
Vinyl sales are expected to rise from 24.1 million units in 2020 to 41.6 million in 2022.
Young people under 35 account for 60% of vinyl buyers.
Online platforms have contributed to this boom. Online vinyl sales on Discogs, for example, jumped by 40.75% in 2020, with 11.9 million vinyl records sold on the platform alone.
The French vinyl market: a mix of nostalgia and new trends
In France, 2022 saw a significant increase in vinyl sales, with volumes rising from 0.5 to 1 million to 5 to 6 million....
Sales rose from around €10 million to almost €90 million.
Specialized superstores such as FNAC and Cultura play a key role in vinyl distribution.
Demand for vinyl records has boosted production, with leading European manufacturers such as Germany's Optimal Media, the Czech company GZ Media and France's MPO (Moulages Plastiques de l'Ouest).
The main players in the vinyl record market
Record companies, catalysts of the vinyl comeback
- Universal Music, Warner Music France and Sony Music Entertainment have become the pillars of the vinyl renaissance.
Distributors
- FNAC Darty Group
- Boulanger
- Cultura
Manufacturers
- MPO (Moulages Plastiques de l'Ouest)
- GZ Media, from the Czech Republic,
- Optimal Media, from Germany
SACEM :
- The Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM) is an integral part of the vinyl market infrastructure. This organization ensures that the rights of authors, composers and publishers are protected in this fast-moving sector.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of the study
The first vinyl records were marketed in 1948. Long sidelined by the advent of CDs, the vinyl market is now growing again.
Also known as a microsillon record, "galette" or black record, vinyl is a sound recording medium. It consists of two engraved sides. Each side has a microscopic "spiral" groove running through it, beginning on the outside and ending towards the center of the record. Vinyl records are generally black, but colored (green, red, white, blue, etc.) or transparent records are also available. Some even have a picture incorporated on one or both sides: these are called picture-discs. They are designed to be played on a turntable or an electrophone.
More than just a fad, the vinyl revival is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the proliferation of fairs, blogs and collectors' forums in France. The vinyl market is now enabling physical music distributors to compete with the major online streaming platforms.
Vinyl now appeals to a younger clientele, attracted by vintage. In 2022, 59% of vinyl buyers were under 35.
On a global scale, the market is also enjoying a second wind: estimated at 1.7 billion euros in 2022, it is set to grow at a rate of 8.7% a year until 2028.
This study focuses mainly on the market for 33 and 45 rpm records.
1.2 The global vinyl market is growing again
The global vinyl market has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years. Indeed, vinyl, a historically important product, is making a strong comeback, despite the rise of digital music-listening media. Traditionally, these records were used as the main medium for commercial music production, but today they are gaining in popularity with ...
1.3 France's vinyl market rises from the ashes
The French vinyl market is experiencing the same boom as the world's other major recorded music markets. Indeed, after years of decline due to the emergence of digital media, vinyl is enjoying a second lease of life.
Vinyl sales in France France, **** - **** SNEP
The vinyl market experienced significant growth between ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Profile of vinyl fans
Age of listeners
"In the last ** months, have you listened to music via vinyl? " France, ****, in % Source: ****
Vinyl seems to be more popular with young people: **% of under-**s and **-**s have listened to music at least once on vinyl in the last ** months. This is the case for ...
2.2 The habits of vinyl music listeners
Generally speaking, the profile of physical music listeners does not differ greatly from that of French music listeners as a whole. Nevertheless, certain trends can be observed:
Among those who listen to music on physical media at least once a month (***)[***]:
- **% of respondents currently play an instrument or sing, compared ...
2.3 Vinyl demand drives physical sales of recorded music
While physical sales are struggling, vinyl sales have been booming in recent years.
Trends in physical and vinyl sales France, **** - ****, in % and in millions of euros Source: ****
Physical sales have been declining steadily since **** (***)
3 Market structure
3.1 Structure of the recorded music market
3.2 The vinyl production revival
The upturn in demand for vinyl records has led to a revival in the production of "black wafers", in France as in most of the major music markets (***).in Europe, only a few major players share the cake: Germany's Optimal Media, the Czech Republic's GZ Media, a number of factories in ...
3.3 The role of record companies in the vinyl market
Although streaming is still largely in the lead, the revival of physical music is well underway: vinyl is stabilizing and now accounts for **% of physical sales [***]. This is forcing the major labels to reinvest in vinyl and update their catalogs.
In ****, the Universal group decided to reposition itself on the vinyl ...
3.4 Vinyl distribution, between independent distributors and the rise of online platforms
Looking at the physical market for recorded music as a whole, we can see that record stores have a small market share. In fact, as can be seen from the graph below, specialized superstores (***) remain the main distributors, with **.*% of sales, while independent distributors account for just *.*%, a figure that is ...
3.5 The development of online sales
Online vinyl distribution is also beginning to take off. The rapid success of the Discogs platform illustrates the development of this new practice. Launched in ****, the platform lists electronic music and vinyl record productions. In ****, just over * million productions were catalogued.
Since ****, the site has also had an online marketplace, called ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Types of vinyl
the ** rpm (***)
Discs spinning at ** rpm were generally ** cm in diameter, sometimes ** cm, and contained * to * minutes of recording time, or one or two songs per side. ** rpm records replaced the cylinder. Their manufacture ceased in the ****s, and today they are sought after by collectors for their historic recordings. Today, ...
4.2 The vinyl manufacturing process
Cutting
The first stage is the production of the first disc, which will serve as an imprint. This is done in a mastering studio equipped with an engraver. This machine is used to engravecutter"a disc made of a special material calledlacquer. This is an aluminum disc coated with a nitrocellulose ...
4.3 Vinyl album sales rankings
The vinyl format appeals to listeners with a wide range of tastes, from hip-hop to rock and pop music. Here are the top ** best-selling vinyl albums of ****:
Source: ****
5 Regulations
5.1 SACEM, at the heart of the regulatory framework
the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique(***) is a French copyright collective founded in ****. For each work, the amount due to the beneficiaries is determined according to different distribution keys.
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS
For radio, television, concerts, balls and any public performance of works, the distribution key is statutory ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Positioning the players
- Warner Music Group
- Boulanger
- Universal Music
- Sony Music Entertainment France
- Moulages Plastiques de l'Ouest MPO
- Cultura
- GZ Media
- Optimal Media
- Believe
- Discogs
- Balades Sonores
- Superfly Records
- Media industrie
- Vinyl Me, Please
- Diggers Factory
- Music On Vinyl
- Bigwax Records
- Toolbox Records
- Betino's Record Shop
- dunk!pressing
List of charts presented in this market study
- Trends in the size of the global vinyl market
- Trends in vinyl sales
- Share of music listeners who listened to music on vinyl in the last 12 months, by age
- Percentage of listeners who have listened to music on vinyl in the last 12 months, by socio-professional category
- Device most often used to listen to music
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Latest news
Sony aims to consolidate its presence in webtoons and digital manga - 13/05/2024
- - Proposed purchase of Infocom by Sony Music Entertainment: $1.3 billion.
- - Infocom owns Mecha Comics, a manga and webtoon distribution platform
- - Mecha Comics revenues for last fiscal year: 340 million euros.
- - Japanese manga publishing sales in 2022: 677 billion yen (4.3 billion euros).
- - Sales of digital manga in 2022: 447.9 billion yen (2.8 billion euros).
- - Paper manga sales in 2022: 175.4 billion yen (1.1 billion euros).
Boulanger's plan to rival Darty's after-sales service - 02/04/2024
- Last year, Boulanger repaired 1.5 million products, up 15% year-on-year.
- Out-of-warranty repairs jumped by 18%.
- Boulanger saw a slight drop in sales of 2.7%, from 4.495 billion in 2022 to 4.371 billion in 2023.
- The company has gone from 201 stores in 2022 to 217 in 2023.
- 400 home repair technicians, and four repair centers specialized by product type.
- Workforce dedicated to repairs at Boulanger: 900 employees, up 30% in three years, with a target increase of 300 over the next three years.
Cultura hires ex-Décathlon man as general manager - 08/02/2024
- Year Cultura was founded: 1998
- Number of employees: 4,500
- Number of stores in France: 109 (including 4 franchises)
- Number of references on e-commerce site: over 4 million.
Belgian dunk!pressing seduces music lovers with vinyl records - 28/08/2023
- The dunk!pressing factory is located in Zottegem, between Ghent and Brussels, Belgium.
- The company occupies an area of 2,000 m² and employs 14 people.
- Vinyl records are produced in runs of 500 and up to 10,000.
- Daily production capacity is between 1,500 and 2,000 records.
- 50% of the company's capital is held by the Belgian industrial group SDG.
- The company's own production accounts for 10-15% of the total, the remainder being manufactured on behalf of other labels.
Plaxtil and Cultura join forces to recycle old schoolbags - 20/08/2023
- Plaxtil was created in 2020.
- The company works with brands such as Lacoste and Kiabi.
- It is collecting non-reusable schoolbags from 110 Cultura stores until September 3.
- Plaxtil employs around twenty people.
- It achieved sales of 850,000 euros and earnings of over 200,000 euros.
- The company is preparing to raise 3 million euros to finance the creation of small recycling plants.
Music: Believe continues to weave its web - 04/08/2023
- Believe sales for January to June period: 415 million euros (+17.5%)
- Believe's growth rate: almost twice as fast as Universal's (+8.7%).
- Believe supports 1.3 million artists directly or via labels it distributes on platforms
- Value of Believe today: 1 billion euros
- Believe invests in data analysis and digital marketing.
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the vinyl market | France
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