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.
Essential Australia-based artists winning at home
To see who’s getting the most backing from a cross-section of Australian tastemakers and crtitics, I track the adds on ~60-70 of the most credible new music playlists in the country and weight the data to highlight any artist with a lower following getting onto these lists at any sort of scale – this highlights newer artists getting backing from major playlisters. The top three performers (and their releases) this week were:
#1 Zach Stephenson – Broke My Jaw (single)
- Followers: 527
- # AU Playlists: 8
- Combined AU playlist reach: 787k
- 🌏 Also gained spots on 5 global playlists for a total combined global playlist reach of 4.7m
#2 Becca Hatch – Extra Time (single)
- Followers: 10.1k
- # AU Playlists: 10
- Combined AU playlist reach: 890k
- 🌏 Also gained spots on 2 global playlists for a total combined global playlist reach of 1.5m
#3 Kook Joey – Miracle (single)
- Followers: 1.3k
- # AU Playlists: 6
- Combined AU playlist reach: 508k
- 😮 Last week’s release picked up a good head of steam in week #2 including a slot on triple J’s New Music Hitlist (which also comes with a full on-air rotation slot)
The top 20 best-performing artists this week are below. Once you’re done making notes of who to check out, we’ll take a look at how the Aussies did abroad this week.
Essential Australia-based artists winning on global playlists
Landing on home turf playlists is one thing, but also breaking out into global lists is another thing entirely. I track a few hundred of the biggest and best international playlists – these are the best-performing Australia-based artists who made it onto significant lists both in Australia and around the world this week:
daine – Hello (triple j Like A Version) (single)
- Followers: 59.2k
- # AU Playlists: 8
- # Global Playlists: 8
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 10.1m
- 😮 Since June, daine has appeared on this list eight times, and has added nearly 20k Spotify followers, an increase of around +50%
Radio Free Alice (w/ thanks for coming, Rachel Brown) – Big Ideas (single)
- Followers: 50.8k
- # AU Playlists: 10
- # Global Playlists: 13
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 9.2m
- 😮 In the last four months, there have been only four weeks where Radio Free Alice hasn’t appeared on this list
Delivery – Measuring Cup (single)
- Followers: 7.0k
- # AU Playlists: 6
- # Global Playlists: 9
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 7.1m
- 😮 This is a particularly impressive result for an emerging Australian artist
Sycco – Look Up (album)
- Followers: 38.9k
- # AU Playlists: 4
- # Global Playlists: 4
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.5m
Sam Alfred (w/ Luuk Van Dijk, Storm Mollison)- Connected By Light (single)
- Followers: 22.9k
- # AU Playlists: 3
- # Global Playlists: 2
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.7m
RinRin – fever dream (single)
- Followers: 19.4k
- # AU Playlists: 7
- # Global Playlists: 2
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.7m
Swapmeet – Mount Zero (album)
- Followers: 17.9k
- # AU Playlists: 3
- # Global Playlists: 6
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.6m
- 😮 Swapmeet have appeared on this list eleven times since May, and in that time their Spotify following has grown by around +150%
Essential global artists – five bets for the future
If you’re looking outside Australia, I also take a look at artists achieving a larger presence on New Music Friday playlists around the world than their followings might initially suggest – these are five artists (and their releases) who are getting international backing before they’ve blown up for real.
NB: a 🇦🇺 flag indicates an Australia-based artist
Carlina de Place – You Said Jump… And I Flew (album)
- Followers: 4.8k
- NMF Ranking: #7
- # Global NMFs: 25
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 12.0m
- 😮 Making it onto this many NMFs with a Spotify following of less than 10k is remarkable (there’s usually a <10% chance of making it into the top ten with less than one million followers)
Fat Dog – Cancel Me (I’m Tired) (album)
- Followers: 79.3k
- NMF Ranking: #26
- # Global NMFs: 19
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 8.5m
Logic1000 – Confirmation! (album)
- Followers: 72.8k
- NMF Ranking: #32
- # Global NMFs: 12
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.9m
Fine – Sometimes I rush (single)
- Followers: 34.7k
- NMF Ranking: #36
- # Global NMFs: 10
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.8m
Forrest Nolan – Indie Movie Soundtrack (album)
- Followers: 78.3k
- NMF Ranking: #39
- # Global NMFs: 12
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.5m
Essential global artists – the big five
Finally, these are the artists you already know, the bold-faced names who appeared the most across all New Music Fridays globally. These are artists and their the releases that the most people will be hearing and talking about this week:
Noah Kahan – Draw You Out (single)
- Followers: 6.0m
- NMF Ranking: #1
- # Global NMFs: 41
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 15.5m
Drake – HABIBTI (FOMO) (album)
- Followers: 117.6m
- NMF Ranking: #2
- # Global NMFs: 33
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.4m
Lil Nas X – World’s Greatest! (single)
- Followers: 12.5m
- NMF Ranking: #3
- # Global NMFs: 42
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.4m
Victoria Monét – Frequency Of Love (album)
- Followers: 1.4m
- NMF Ranking: #4
- # Global NMFs: 40
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 13.9m
Quavo – QRÖMELIFE (Extended Version) (album)
- Followers: 8.9m
- NMF Ranking: #5
- # Global NMFs: 34
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 13.1m
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: Zach Stephenson (performing with Hockey Dad) at Shoreshocked, Sydney