News March 10, 2021

Tones And I’s ‘Dance Monkey’ earns IFPI Digital Singles Award podium position

Senior Journalist, B2B

Tones And I has another reason to dance.

The Aussie phenomenon’s gargantuan hit ‘Dance Monkey’ was the world’s No. 2 song across digital formats in 2020, the IFPI reports.

‘Dance Monkey’ roared past 2.34 billion subscription stream equivalents for its lofty position on the leaders’ board and is one of just two tracks to pass the two billion mark during the year.

Not bad for a song that dropped back in May 2019, and had zero paid publicity.

Just one song got more action on digital music platforms in 2020, The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ (2.72 billion units), a song which this week set a milestone for logging an entire year in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

‘Blinding Lights’ takes out the IFPI Global Digital Single Award for 2020, a prize that recognises single track downloads, and streams on both paid subscriptions and ad-supported services.

Tones can now tell all her friends she had the biggest song by any female artist last year, beating out Dua Lipa (No. 5 on the list with ‘Don’t Start Now’) and Billie Eilish (‘Bad Guy’ at No. 9).

Watch Tones And I’s ‘Dance Monkey’:

‘Dance Monkey’ introduced the former busker and her incredible pipes to the world, and crushed multiple records along the way.

In Australia, ‘Dance Monkey’ led the ARIA Singles Chart for a whopping 24 weeks, an all-time record, and it ruled in the U.K. for 11 weeks, a record for a solo female artist.

‘Dance Monkey’ owned the sales charts in more than 30 countries, and went Top 5 in the United States, where it became the first song written solely by a woman to reach those heights in over eight years, Billboard reported.

The last time that happened was when Whitney Houston’s version of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ reached No. 3 in March 2012, after Houston’s death.

Also, ‘Dance Monkey’ is the No. 3 most-streamed song on Spotify, behind Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ and Post Malone’s ‘Rockstar,’ and ahead of The Weeknd’s fourth-placed ‘Blinding Lights’.

It’s the second successive year ‘Dance Monkey’ has impacted the IFPI Top 10, and it actually improved its chart position against the previous year, an effort matched only by Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ in 2018.

The Global Digital Single Award is the second award announced this year by the IFPI.

In recent weeks, BTS were unveiled as the 2020 Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, and their hit ‘Dynamite’ comes in at No. 10 on the Digital Single list.

Top 10 Global Digital Singles 2020

Rank | Artist | Track Name | Global Subscription Stream Equivalents (Billions)