Australia’s music industry has seen it’s first rise in revenue in 3 years, thanks to the massive surge of music streaming which doubled  revenues in 2015.

The Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA) report for 2015 showed a 5% rise in Australian recorded music’s value for the year. Since 2012 Australia’s music industry has seen an overall decline in generated revenue but it seems the giant rise of music streaming has turned the industry around for Australia with a 101% rise of subscription services and 179% increase in ad-supported models.

Digital music (downloads and streaming) now accounts for 62% of the music market in Australia, thanks to the ongoing domination of Spotify as well as the introduction of Apple’s breakout service Apple Music – which has become one of the most popular streaming services less than a year since it’s launch with 11 million subscribers. The value of subscription-based streaming doubled from $23 million to $46 million in 2015.

Chairman at ARIA and Sony Music Australia, Denis Handlin spoke enthusiastically of the report, saying: “It is exciting to see our local industry return to growth in 2015. The music business has continued to manage its way through times of challenge and transition. Australian music fans are embracing the many legitimate platforms where an incredible range of local and international music is widely available.”

Whilst digital downloads and CD sales continued to drop last year ARIA’s report also showed that Vinyl sales surprisingly soared by 38% more in 2015. Vinyl’s rise almost offset the reduction in CD sales as physical sales overall for Australia dropped by 3% compared to 18% the year before.

ARIA CEO, Dan Rosen said of the positive report: “Australian music fans are consuming more music than ever before and did so across an unpreceded number of formats from streaming and downloading on mobile devices, to buying CDs and vinyl at local record stores. Already in 2016, we have seen some big Australian releases and a growing number of local artists hitting the international stage. No doubt there is more to come, which will set the stage for celebrations later in the year of the 30th Anniversary of the ARIA Awards.”