Sales of vinyl records are “absolutely booming” – currently selling at the same rate as it was in the 80s – and Alli Galloway, chief marketing officer at Vinyl Group tells Mediaweek that having the license for Rolling Stone merchandise means the group can make the most of this momentum.
In fact, vinyl represented 70% of total physical sales in 2023 by dollar value and 42% of physical sales by volume in Australia.
“Music fans love to collect, they’re very passionate, we can see that with the launch of our vinyl.com ecommerce store,” Galloway said.
“Plus, because the Rolling Stone brand is so iconic and it’s so recognisable to music fans, being able to don that big red embroidered logo on their chest is a sign of their identity. Getting the licence to have the Rolling Stone merchandise available has been amazing.”
The Rolling Stone licence falls under The Brag Media, one of four core brands that Vinyl Group oversees – with the other three being Jaxsta, Vampr, and Vinyl.com.
“We’ve all been able to see the opportunities that exist between the various companies that we’ve acquired, but the fun part is unravelling all the integration opportunities so that each part of the business is able to amplify another part of the business,” Galloway said.
“We’ve integrated display ads across The Brag network sites for Vinyl, and we’ve got dynamic Vinyl ads running within the Vampr app.”
Galloway said that for brands looking to advertise on Vinyl Group’s sites, the team “sees the opportunity as one that will be quite lucrative.”
“We’re talking to music fans, we know that if they’re reading an article about a particular artist or they’re interested in a particular artist through the Vampr app, being able to deliver them exactly those types of bundles and deals is really exciting for us.”
The word “exciting” comes up time and again with Galloway, who said it is “the only way to explain” Vinyl Group’s growth, and that “We’re really focused on further integration opportunities.”
“Everybody is seeing this broad opportunity to continue to evolve the creator ecosystem, service brands, fans, and the music industry creators, and elevate all of them.
“Each of our brands services a different part of the industry, and when you bring that together as an ecosystem, unlocking ways to amplify each is quite powerful. There’s no other business in Australia that has the audience of music fans, music creators, the music industry, and the media in the way that we do,” said Galloway.
Looking ahead, Galloway said the future of Vinyl Group will be “about further integration between all the brands.”
“As chief marketing officer, I’m always looking for ways to further integrate marketing across all our brands in Vinyl Group, but also not losing focus on the individual brand objectives,” she said.
See Also: Luke Girgis exits The Brag, six months after $10m Vinyl Group deal