Pollies in Canberra got an unusual surprise when they rocked up to Parliament House last week, getting treated to an impromptu set from Aussie global pop superstar Tones And I.
Real name Toni Watson, Tones made history earlier this year by becoming the first woman to reach a whopping three billion streams for a single track on Spotify with ‘Dance Monkey’. She performed a stripped-back rendition of the career-making mega-hit for the suits in Canberra as part of her parliamentary jam session, in a bid to make some noise about Spotify’s Loud & Clear initiative.
Tones And I Makes Takes Spotify’s Loud & Clear Initiative To Canberra’s Parliament House
Loud & Clear is Spotify’s annual report into music streaming and the economics behind it, aimed at empowering artists, the industry and fans around the world.
One of the biggest takeaways from the platform’s 2024 report is that the Australian music industry is now bigger than ever before, thanks to streaming. And in even better news, artist revenue is also on the up.
Notably, royalties generated by Aussie artists from Spotify hit nearly $275 million AUD in 2023, a jump of almost 10% on the previous year.
While the report also found that the majority of homegrown artists’ streams are coming from listeners outside of Australia.
“Make no mistake, Australia is a music export powerhouse. We’ve found that more than 80% of all royalties generated by Australian artists on Spotify were from listeners outside of Australia, with markets such as Brazil, Mexico and Germany emerging as new export markets for local artists,” Spotify Australia Managing Director Mikaela Lancaster said in a press statement.
“Every day at Spotify we have the privilege of shining a light on the incredible talent in this country, so we are thrilled to be here to put a spotlight on these artists and talk about Australian music discovery, through Loud & Clear.”
You can suss some of the big revelations from Spotify’s 2024 Loud & Clear report below, or catch Tones And I touring her forthcoming sophomore album Beautifully Ordinary around the country from next month.
Further Reading
Tones And I Expands 2024 Australian Tour, Announces Support Act
Calls For Action After Male Artists Clean-Sweep Domestic Categories At The 2024 APRA Awards
Spotify Wrapped: Australia’s Most Streamed Artists, Songs, Albums & Podcasts Of 2022
