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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #09: From Madonna to JKER

This week’s data-driven roundup of artists killing it around the world and in Australia this week

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Start next week right by getting across the biggest and the hottest new music around – as usual, I’ve taken a look at which artists are bagging the most spots (especially those punching above their weight) on both the best Australian playlists and on New Music Fridays around the world.

Don’t forget there are two dashboards you can play with via the site if you want to get into the raw data behind it, one for Australia and one for the New Music Friday stuff.

Let’s get into the artists who moved with purpose this week:

1. The top five global superstars with new releases

2. Five artists punching above their weight around the world this week:

3. In terms of Australian artists, these are the acts seeing playlists at home and abroad making bets that they’ll be taking it to the next level soon:

If you want to know why they’re on my list this week, well…

The artists killing it on New Music Friday playlists around the world this week

First of all, these are the big five – these are the artists you’ll probably be hearing the most about this week.

The releases that put them on the top of the pile this week:

  • Madonna – CONFESSIONS II (album)
  • SIENNA SPIRO – Visitor (deluxe album)
  • Jorja Smith – Alive (feat. Wizkid) (single)
  • Céline Dion – Bonjour, Pardon, Merci (single)
  • Erin LeCount – THE CINEMA (single)
    • NB: UK alt-pop artist Erin LeCount made #5 on this list, carrying a Spotify following of under 100k, which is incredibly rare. For comparison, there is a less than 10% chance of an artist to make it into the top ten, if they carry less than one million followers, so this is some pretty serious backing!

Anyway, New Music Fridays are always dominated by the bold-faced names – but if you look hard enough you can spot the up-and-comers too.

These are five artists (and their releases) that I’ve spotted being disproportionately supported around the world compared to their size, the acts being given hyper-valuable playlist real estate *before* they’ve blown up for real.

The releases – and the support – that made them standouts this week:

  • Ceri Wax – Sun Boy (EP)
    • Italian EDM artist sees adds on major list from Canada to Australia
  • Haley Bridge – Flying (single)
    • Just over a thousand Spotify followers and bags slots on a whopping 15 NMFs around the world, just missing out on a top 30 spot for total reach – impressive
  • Fat Dog – Cancel Me (I’m Tired) (single)
    • The follow up to the extremely subtle “Go Fuck Urself” sees this avant-garde electro post-punk outfit supported heavily, with spots on both the massive Global and UK NMFs
  • Ela Minus – espiral (single)
    • Known for exclusively using sequencers and synths, this Colombian artist is all hardware and no computers, and gained spots on some of the biggest NMFs around, as well as slots in countries all over the world
  • Florrie – Malibu (Falling Over The Edge) (single)
    • Ahead of her sophomore album release later this year, this well-connected and heavily-tipped big pop artist sees the strong backing continue apace with big spots in the UK and Global NMFs, but also notable support across Asia

The artists killing it on the best new music playlists in Australia (and globally) this week

First of all, let’s take a look at the new releases that bagged their artists the most spots on the best Australian new music playlists this week.

These three landed at the top of the list with their latest releases:

  • JKER – Game Over (album)
    • This grime artist from Bunury saw heavyweight backing for their new album, with backing from NMF AU & NZ as well as both A1 and Local Hype
  • Adam Newling – LIFE (single)
    • Always popular with Australian new music playlisters, Adam Newling’s sparkling new single hit the right marks for a wide range of lists, both indie and major
  • Rowena Wise – Home In This World (single)
    • A really lovely track that lit up the pleasure centres of a really strong list of playlists this week

Outside of this top three, it was another strong week of releases from emerging artists. Looking down the top 20 there are some great new acts getting the support they rightfully deserve.

Once you’re done making notes of who to check out, we’ll take a look at how the Aussies did abroad this week.

OK, so – getting backing from the new music playlists in Australia is hard enough to do, but breaking out into international markets is another level entirely.

These are the artists and releases putting Aussie artists on the radar both at home and abroad this week:

  • Adam Newling – LIFE (single)
    • #2 on the best-performing artists domestically, Adam Newling also bagged a huge spot on global playlist The Indie List, which carries over 1m followers
  • Swapmeet – Halfway (single)
    • Near-permanently camped on the biggest playlists around the world this year, Swapmeet are peaking at just the right time ahead of their debut LP release on 17th July
  • Jack Gray – Swimming In Jeans (single)
    • Another rising Australian artist with a debut album out later in the year, Jack Gray’s latest also ticked boxes around the world with a ton of adds across Asia and a slot on All New Pop
  • Oliver Cronin – Closure (single)
    • Another well-supported artist at home also seeing strong Asian support
  • effe – See-through (single)
    • After an excellent performance last week, effe saw strong support continue on major global lists including the mega-sized All New Indie list
  • Charli Lucas – Sunburn (single)
    • A cracking new single saw notable strong support on home turf, with a solid All New Pop add to give some global exposure as well
  • Budjerah – Even At My Worst (single)
    • Budjerah’s silky-smooth sounds warmed the cockles of some influential Aussie playlisters, as well as escaping the lab for a global list with a solid six-figure following
  • JVLY – END OF THE SKY (single)
    • This chilled electro R&B was just the flavour a good number of homegrown lists were looking for while also ticking the box for the likes of the global Indie Brandneu list.

And that’s your lot this week, the artists that popped on the playlists, punched above their weight, and pushed out into global lists.

If you’re into raw data, then there are two new dashboards you can play with on the site for the Australia and the New Music Friday data.

Go and discover something new and amazing 🤘

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Photo: Adam Newling at Vic On The Park, Sydney