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 – Jeans In Japan (single)
- Followers: 614
- # AU Playlists: 7
- Combined AU playlist reach: 745k
- 😮 The third solo single from the Hockey Dad singer lands in the top three for the third time in a row
- 🌏 A big spot on All New Rock added international reach of 961k potential listeners from that one spot alone
#2 Sour Worm – Whole World Round / Fly (single)
- Followers: 244
- # AU Playlists: 5
- Combined AU playlist reach: 116k
- 😮 With just a couple of hundred Spotify followers, Sour Worm did well at home in Australia for an emerging project including spots on influental playlists like Fresh Finds AU & NZ and Indie Arrivals
- 🌏 Internationally, the new single did particularly well, with over 2m potential listeners, and a spot on All New Indie, which carries over a million followers
#3 The Buoys – Concrete Cowboy (album)
- Followers: 22.6k
- # AU Playlists: 11
- Combined AU playlist reach: 845k
- 😮 A killer performance above even where you’d expect an artist of this size to end up, with a near-perfect score of major playlist support, especially from Spotify’s major new-music editorial lists
- 🌏 Spots on All New Rock and Front Left also added some international heft, adding combined total global reach of 1.6m to their domestic coverage
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:
Mack Geiger – How It Ends (single)
- Followers: 73k
- # AU Playlists: 3
- # Global Playlists: 5
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 14.8m
- 😮 An absolute whopper performance from this country artist, gaining huge global reach, inc mega-sized spots on lists like Hot Country, New Boots, and the global version of New Music Friday
Sweatbaby – YOU MAKE ME (single)
- Followers: 2.4k
- # AU Playlists: 6
- # Global Playlists: 10
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 6.0m
- 😮 Sweatbaby bagged a big haul of global lists including not only NMFs all over the world but the huge multi-million follower versions in in Latin America
Dream Boat – Real! (single)
- Followers: 1.6k
- # AU Playlists: 4
- # Global Playlists: 6
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 4.0m
- 😮 While this is a fabulous performance for a debut track, Dream Boat are made of two members of Parcels, which is a significant turbo-boost for your first release – that said, All New Indie and the global Fresh Finds (which both carry over 1m followers) don’t exactly give spots away to just anyone, so it’s still pretty bloody impressive
Windwaker – smile, you’re on camera (album)
- Followers: 77.6k
- # AU Playlists: 5
- # Global Playlists: 2
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.4m
- 😮 This is Windwaker’s fourth appearance from four releases since July, notable for its consistent appearances on major international playlists like All New Metal and All New Rock
Kita Alexander – Back to Sydney (single)
- Followers: 86.8k
- # AU Playlists: 5
- # Global Playlists: 10
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 2.2m
- 😮 A particualrly strong performance on New Music Friday playlists around the world
Teenage Dads – Find A Way (single)
- Followers: 44.0k
- # AU Playlists: 6
- # Global Playlists: 2
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 1.7m
- 😮 The first new music of the year for Teenage Dads – with its hard=left swerve into full-on indie sleaze – bagged strong domestic support as well as international interest
Dan Sultan – Little Miracles (album)
- Followers: 34.6k
- # AU Playlists: 6
- # Global Playlists: 1
- Combined AU + Global playlist reach: 1.7m
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
Niis – Play Niis (EP)
- Followers: 23.2k
- NMF Ranking: #18
- # Global NMFs: 9
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 9.2m
JYT – Just Your Type (EP)
- Followers: 53.7k
- NMF Ranking: #35
- # Global NMFs: 13
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.7m
Rubí – ocean park (single)
- Followers: 51.7k
- NMF Ranking: #37
- # Global NMFs: 10
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.7m
Irepelusa – BRUJA (single)
- Followers: 95.2k
- NMF Ranking: #38
- # Global NMFs: 10
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.6m
A.B.C. – PEOPLE IN THE PLACE (single)
- Followers: 1.3k
- NMF Ranking: #43
- # Global NMFs: 7
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 6.2m
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:
John Mayer – Tom and Jerry (single)
- Followers: 6.5m
- NMF Ranking: #1
- # Global NMFs: 37
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 15.4m
John Legend – Muse (album)
- Followers:8.9m
- NMF Ranking: #2
- # Global NMFs: 42
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.6m
Anderson .Paak – Heavy Is The Crown (album)
- Followers: 2.9m
- NMF Ranking: #3
- # Global NMFs: 41
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.6m
LISA – PRESS PLAY (EP)
- Followers: 16.8m
- NMF Ranking: #4
- # Global NMFs: 40
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.5m
girl in red – BLUE (EP)
- Followers: 9.7m
- NMF Ranking: #5
- # Global NMFs: 38
- Combined Global NMF playlist reach: 14.1m
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 🤘
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 🤘
—
Photo: Ricky Albeck at The Lord Gladstone, Sydney