New list shows Aussie musicians are streaming their way to success
Young Australian singers and musicians are making huge waves abroad, with lots of emerging talent being played across the globe thanks to streaming services as Spotify releases new rankings
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Aussie pop stars are making a big splash overseas.
Streaming platform Spotify has released a new ranking of Australian songs that have been listened to a lot in other countries this year and The Kid Laroi, Dom Dolla and Tones And I have all made the grade.
While the Oz music scene often points to the lack of local artists featuring in the Australian music charts, there are dozens of Aussie singers and bands, both famous and emerging, building large international audiences.
The Global Impact List factored in streaming numbers outside of Australia plus follows, saves and other data.
At 19, The Kid Laroi has already made quite an impact overseas.
His single Love Again came second on the list after being streamed more than 146 million times since it was released in January this year. About 30 million Spotify users listen to the song each month.
Old school pop sensation Kylie Minogue topped the list after her latest single Padam Padam was streamed more than 40 million times across the globe in just two months.
Dom Dolla came fourth with his collaboration with US singer Nelly Furtado Eat Your Man.
Triple J Unearthed talent Go-Jo came in ninth with Mrs Hollywood getting over 20 million streams in four months.
Spotify’s Head of Music Alicia Sbrugera said dance and electronic music by Dom Dolla, Timmy Trumpet, Shouse, PNAU and Luude featured high on the list because of the demand for upbeat party songs during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
“The vast majority of these releases have happened in the lead up to the American and European summer season,” she said.
“These artists have built huge audiences overseas, touring on the festival and club runs.”
She said artists like Dom Dolla have opened up new audiences overseas by collaborating with American singers or musicians.
“Artists like Luude and Dom Dolla play their new tracks in their live sets before they drop and that has an impact when the song is released,” she added.
Social media has also helped to propel emerging artists like Go-Jo into the international spotlight.
He became a ‘stream dream’ after a TikTok of him playing his pop gem Mrs Hollywood on his guitar to random people on Bondi Beach blew up in America.
Chugg Music CEO Andrew Stone said his viral videos started the buzz and now more fans are searching for the full length song on streaming.
“We’re just getting started on how big this song could be,” Mr Stone said.
Go-Jo’s social media content grabs so much attention he has been able to win over a huge amount of listeners. Before platforms like TikTok and YouTube became big, artists could have only done this by getting their song played regularly on radio, he said.
“About 85 per cent of the audience for his Bondi clip came from the US and it went international straight away,” Mr Stone said.
“Now, in terms of streams for Mrs Hollywood, it’s two thirds international and a third from Australia.”
POLL
GLOSSARY
- emerging: just starting to become popular
- international: from overseas
- collaboration: working together with other musicians
- drop: a music industry term for the moment a new song is released to the public
- propel: push something forward
- viral: a video that has become very popular on social media
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QUICK QUIZ
1. Which Aussie artist had the number one song on the list?
2. Why were many of the songs dance and electronic music?
3. How did Go-Jo’s song Mrs Hollywood become popular?
4. Which American singer did Dom Dolla collaborated with?
5. What position on the list did The Kid Laroi’s song ‘Love Again’ make?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What’s your name?
Think about the names that today’s most popular pop artists have. Tones And I’s real name is Toni Watson, The Kid Laroi is Charlton Howard and Go-Jo is Marty Zambotto. If you wanted to become a pop star, what name would you give yourself? Think of a name and write the reasons why you chose it.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
What makes a song popular or viral? Write a list of as many things that you can think of. Use ideas in the story to help you.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Music
VCOP ACTIVITY
To sum it up
After reading the article, use your comprehension skills to summarise in a maximum of three sentences what the article is about.
Think about:
What is the main topic or idea?
What is an important or interesting fact?
Who was involved (people or places)?
Use your VCOP skills to re-read your summary to make sure it is clear, specific and well punctuated.