Stats reveal that Australians listen to dance music more than any other country
A series of industry services have the data to prove it.
Australia has never been a more popular hub for dance music.
While the news of constant troubles for our festival sector, the lagging approach to drug safety held by many of our state government bodies, and an overall feeling of conservatism that runs rife through our media might have you feeling differently, the stats around our music consumption tell quite a different story.
In actual fact, across many different areas, Australia is the most blossoming location for dance music across the globe.
As we look to the future of Australia’s dance scenes, not to mention the launch of Mixmag ANZ itself, let’s be clear on exactly where Australia stands and how it looks to be growing when compared to the rest of the world.
The most recent International Music Summit (IMS) Business Report has revealed that Australian fans, on average, stream more of the genre than anyone else on the planet.
SoundCloud has revealed in its own research that electronic music makes up a third of all its Australian streams, compared with a 22% average across the rest of the globe. This doesn’t stop at listens either, with Australian fans engaging with electronic music (that is, liking, sharing, playlisting and repeat listens) more frequently than any other genre.
Production of electronic music is, according to SoundCloud, on a huge rise also. Electronic music sits at 35% of all total Australian uploads to SoundCloud in 2024, up from 28% in 2023. The genres most to thank for this are techno and dubstep, leading in the number of uploads by Australian artists on the platform.
Unsurprisingly, other prominent genres include House, Trance and UK Dance. House has the most listeners generally, while Hardcore music secures the most streams, and funnily, Trance ranks third in total listening time.
We’ve learned not to trust streaming stats entirely to represent popularity however, and thankfully, Australia’s love for dance isn’t only down to these kinds of numbers. According to Pollstar, a trade publication for the concert and live music industry, “Australia is home to some of the world’s best promoters” too.
Three Australian brands are ranked in Pollstar’s Top 50 global list, including Untitled Group, Handsome Tours and Frontier Touring, who are among the promoters selling the most tickets worldwide. Events like Pitch, the upcoming Jamie XX tour and The Dare, among some of the upcoming events held by these three.
Event attendance by punters isn’t all, however, the representation of Australian artists at Europe’s premier electronic music festivals like Dekmantel, Tomorrowland, Creamfields and Ultra Miami has steadily increased over the past decade.
The representation of Australian artists at Europe’s premier electronic music festivals like Dekmantel, Tomorrowland, Creamfields and Ultra Miami has steadily increased over the past decade.
So what does the future of Australian dance music look like?
Well, stay tuned to find out.
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Jack Colquhoun is the Managing Editor of Mixmag ANZ, find him on Instagram.
