It's Official: Melbourne Has the Most Number of Record Stores in the World, With 19 Stores in One Northside Neighbourhood
The local music scene is thriving, thanks to the city's record-listening habit.
Melbourne is known for its coffee and food, but the city's love for records runs just as deep. Here, a casual stroll can easily turn into hours of thumbing through milk crates of vinyl records. It's no accident: Melbourne is packed with more record shops per capita than any other city in the world.
According to the Victorian Music Development Office, there are almost six vinyl record stores in Melbourne for every 100,000 residents — a statistic that outstrips hot music hubs Tokyo, London and Berlin. Record stores everywhere witnessed a nostalgia-fueled revival in the late aughts, but Melbourne's mania has evolved into a driving force for the local music scene. With up to half of store inventories dedicated to local releases, most Australian music end up getting discovered in crates.
While chart-toppers like Amyl and the Sniffers and Troye Sivan are exceptions, homegrown artistes and bands barely scrape 8.4% of top tracks on streaming platforms. Record stores in Victoria aren't just hobby shops — they're the steady backbone of the Australian music industry.
"Vinyl plays a far bigger role in Australia's music ecosystem than many people realise," Fiona Duncan, CEO of Music Victoria says. "For many artists, it's now a central part of a release strategy. Strong physical sales can genuinely shift an artist's chart position."
Arguably, the world's best piece of record shopping real estate can be found in Melbourne's inner north, on the tiny grid of streets where Collingwood meets Fitzroy. 19 record stores have sprouted within walking distance of each other.Competition might appear stiff, but each store in Melbourne's unofficial vinyl enclave puts its own spin on record shopping.
Head to Smith Street's Happy Valley Shop and Wah Wah Records for buzzy releases, while The Seachers overflows with coveted imports that collectors can browse via Instagram. From melodic synth-pop to bass-heavy dub and groovy disco beats, Skydiver Records carves out its own lane with brain-scratching electronic sounds. On Gertrude Street, Northside keeps things funk- and soul-focused, while Johnston Street is a trasure trove of second-hand digging at Vinyl Space, Licorice Pie, and Dutch Vinyl.
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