Tag: Dance Monkey

Spotify Celebrates a Thriving Australian Music Industry With Pop Sensation Tones And I

July 11, 2024

Around the world, the shift toward streaming has completely transformed the music industry, and Spotify has led that charge. That includes in Australia, where Spotify is helping artists grow their revenues and audiences in big ways. Just ask Tones And I, the busker turned international pop star.

On June 24, Tones And I joined Spotify’s Loud & Clear event at Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra to celebrate the growth of the country’s music industry, as well as the discoverability and global stage presence of Australian artists. Tones delivered a surprise performance for attendees including Minister for the Arts The Hon Tony Burke MP, representatives from Music Australia (a dedicated body to support and invest in the Australian contemporary music industry), and members of Parliament. The showcase included a stripped-back version of her 2019 smash hit, “Dance Monkey,” which reached 3 billion streams on Spotify earlier this year—making her the first woman to reach that milestone for a single track.

These are Spotify’s Top Workout & Wellness Trends – Plus 2020 Predictions to Help Kick-Start Your Resolutions

December 31, 2019

As we enter the New Year—or better yet, new decade—there are endless ways to get on that fitness, wellness, or self-care resolution. Since there are plenty of songs, podcasts, and playlists dedicated to helping people achieve their wellness goals on Spotify, we took a look at how listeners have been using music and podcasts to stay on track. Plus, we made some predictions for what trends the new year will bring.

So, with more than 54 million workout-themed playlists on Spotify, what songs do listeners sweat to the most? Eminem’s “‘Till I Collapse” is the most-streamed track on workout lists at the moment. Ed Sheeran’s “I Don’t Care” with Justin Bieber is second highest, followed by Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey,” “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes, and “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran and Khalid.

It turns out that our listeners have a particular workout preference—running. Spotify listeners around the world have created more running playlists than any other workout type. Yoga follows in popularity, so you can be sure listeners are staying flexible as well.

We found that people want to learn about wellness from podcasts, too. Listening in the fitness and wellness podcast genre increased 145% in the past year. Plus, listeners are falling asleep—and in love—with sleep podcasts. The most popular podcast in the health and fitness category is Sleepy, where host Otis Gray reads classic stories to help listeners doze off. Is this what sweet dreams are made of?

As for 2020 predictions, we have reason to believe there’s going to be more meditating than ever before. We saw a 113% increase in streams of meditation playlists in the past year, higher than any other workout or wellness type.

Plus, we feel self-love will continue to reign supreme, with pump-up empowerment anthems like Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” Lizzo’s “Good as Hell,” and Hailee Steinfeld’s “Love Myself,” popular on self-care playlists. These powerful women are here to say You’ve got this.

Keep up the motivation with even more workout and wellness trends:


Download the infographic here.

Get inspired by our Wellness hub or get your heart racing with Spotify’s most-followed workout playlist, Beast Mode.

Meet Tones and I, the Australian Ex-Busker Who Achieved a Global Hit Thanks to Streaming

October 15, 2019

In the span of just a year, Toni Watson has leapfrogged from working retail to busking full-time to topping the charts in almost a dozen countries—including her native Australia. That’s all thanks to “Dance Monkey,” the viral smash that was the second-ever single for the artist best known as Tones and I.

One listen to the song is enough to grasp its globe-trotting success; animated by an indelible keyboard hook, the stark earworm combines the brightest features of emotive pop and body-moving EDM while subtly addressing Watson’s stint busking to tourists in popular Byron Bay.

“If we’re not entertained in the first minute, we just scroll on,” says Watson. “I could see that reflected in me busking in the street. I wrote the song about the pressure of live performance and how it compares to the instant gratification of social media.”