News March 11, 2020

‘Dance Monkey’ among Top 10 digital singles globally in 2019

‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones And I was the world’s sixth biggest-selling digital single in 2019.

The Top 10 were named in a report published by the London-based IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide with 1,300 members.

The biggest seller of 2019 was ‘bad guy’ by Billie Eilish, which shifted 19.5 million units of global converted track equivalent.

‘Dance Monkey’ by new homeowner Toni Watson generated 11.4 million.

The viral smash reached #1 in 30 countries, including Australia (where it was certified 9 x Platinum for sales of 630,000), Belgium, China, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK.

It peaked at #4 in the US where it was certified platinum for sales of 1 million, with the track becoming the first Top 5 hit written solely by a woman in over eight years on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was also the fasted by an Aussie to pass the 1 billion streams mark, and made Tones the first Aussie artist to reach #1 on Spotify’s Global Top 50 Playlist, a position she held for four months.

The music video, shot at Eynesbury Golf Club in Victoria, has racked up over 760 million views on YouTube alone.

Tones also signed a neighbouring rights deal with Kobalt last month.

Billie Eilish with IFPI’s Frances Moore

Eilish’s ‘bad guy’ topped the charts in 15 countries, including Australia, the US, Canada and Mexico.

It became Spotify’s second-most streamed song globally last year and, according to Shazam, was the most-searched track of 2019.

‘bad guy’ won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 62nd Grammy Awards in January 2020, making Eilish the youngest-ever artist to win the latter category.

Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “Billie Eilish has taken the world by storm with her incredible voice and genre-defying sound.

“She is also an artist who addresses important issues like mental health in her lyrics that clearly resonate with her fans all over the world.

“We wish her success for what will no doubt be another standout year.”