This morning I went on the 9am show on Network 10 with Australian Idol winner Wes Carr and we talked about Record Store Day Australia this weekend.
Wes said he was blown away when he first saw his albums in a store. “I was at Bondi Junction the other day and saw a whole stack of my albums in the front of the store. It was a bit of a spin-out, first time seeing that actually”.While sectors within the media talk about the download as killing off the CD, Wes says that he would rather own an album. “I think the release of the iPod makes it so easy to walk from your bed to your living room and download,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with that. It is very easy to access music. In my opinion, I like going and buying the record. I love vinyl. I remember growing up as a really young kid and playing mum’s vinyl. I just love holding something physical in my hand and flicking through because I come from that area of life. I think younger kids are more interested in downloading and listening to their iPods as well”.
When host David Reyne asked about how many people are downloading verses buying the CD, I pointed out that the percentage is less than 10% and in Wes Carr’s case last week, around 3% of buyers downloaded his album. 97 out of ever 100 people who bought the Wes Carr album last week bought the CD.
Record Store Day Australia is this Saturday. Find out who you can meet and where you can meet them at recordstoreday.com.au.
