Tones and I Performs Mini-Set at Parliament House

Ahead of a major tour in support of her forthcoming second album, Tones and I warmed up this week with a performance in Canberra for the nation’s leaders.

Tones stopped by Parliament House for the surprise showcase before a gathering that included Tony Burke MP, minister for employment and workplace relations and minister for the arts, representatives from Music Australia, and members of Parliament.

The hitmaking former busker performed four songs including a stripped-back rendition her global smash “Dance Monkey,” her new single “Dance With Me” and an unreleased song from her forthcoming LP.

Tones’ performance was an element of Spotify’s Loud & Clear event, a presentation of the streaming giant’s economics report published in May.

“The opportunities that are there [for Australian artists] with Spotify are phenomenal,” comments Burke in a statement. “We had that brief moment of international sharing with Napster where people could suddenly get access to any music they could imagine but the artist got nothing. So to have a system where you can still imagine and get access to any music that you want, is an incredible opportunity.”

Burke adds, “I’m also very grateful to the Australian [Spotify] team for everything that’s being done to promote Australian artists and there is an extraordinary story there, with Tones And I in particular.”

As previously reported, Loud & Clear found that royalties generated by Australian artists from Spotify in 2023 reached nearly $275 million, up almost 10% since 2022.

The report also peers in on who is listening, and how. More than 80% of all royalties generated by Australian artists on Spotify were from listeners outside of Australia — including the global market-leading United States, plus the U.K. and Germany (both top 10 markets, according to the IFPI).

Australian artists, notes Spotify Australia managing director Mikaela Lancaster, “are right up there on the global stage, being discovered by first time listeners more than 2.7 billion times globally.”

Lancaster continues, “we also recognise the work of Music Australia as part of the government’s National Cultural Policy in this space and engaging with industry.”

Tones’ second album, Beautifully Ordinary, is due out Aug. 2. It’s the followup to 2021’s Welcome To The Madhouse, which opened at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Earlier this year, Tones (real name Tony Watson) became the first woman to reach three billion streams for a track on Spotify with “Dance Monkey,” helping her to the Rolling Stone Global Award at the 2024 Shure Rolling Stone Australia Awards. Career streams across all platforms top 10 billion.

Tones will support Beautifully Ordinary with a headline tour of Australia and New Zealand, produced by Live Nation and kicking off Aug. 17 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.