All-time high International earnings
Group revenue: $86.1m, up from $70.3m, an increase of 22.5% YoY
International revenue has grown from $47.3m in FY19 to $86.1m in FY24
- International revenue is the result of direct consumption of our songwriter and composer members’ work in overseas territories
- International APRA revenue up 74% since 2019’s $47.3m and more than tripled since 2014’s $26.7m
- APRA members achieved an all-time high USA result
- Digital revenue accounted for 47% of APRA’s International (versus 42.6% LY)
BLUEY loveable | TIM MINCHIN adaptable | SIA unstoppable
Digital and traditional media combine for international success of the music overseas audiences love
Bluey doubled its Disney+ US viewing time in 2023 to 43.9 billion minutes, besting Cocomelon as the top streaming program for kids.
It is the most-watched show in the US partway through 2024.
The music composed by Joff Bush (Universal Music Publishing) and team for Bluey is a hit across streaming and TV broadcast (Disney Junior) in the US.
Illustration: Beth Harvey
Tim Minchin’s (Kobalt Music Publishing) stage success, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical was adapted for the big and small screen, charming cinema audiences and going Top 10 in 89 countries on Netflix.
Photo: Maria Boyadgis
‘Unstoppable’ from Sia’s (Sony Music Publishing) massive 2016 This Is Acting, is featured in an extensive Samsung Galaxy ad campaign that began airing in 2022. Uplift in streams, US radio airplay and over 100 weeks on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart contributed to Sia winning Most Performed Australian Work Overseas at the 2024 APRA Music Awards.
Photo: supplied
More members touring globally
Overseas live performance submissions increased 30% YoY, on a trajectory to pre-pandemic numbers
Clockwise from top: The Beths (photo: @joylandfest), Thy Art Is Murder (Photo: Kim Quint), TKay Maidza (Photo: Sounds Australia), Nick Cave (Photo: Daniel Boud)
Worldwide Impact
Members took mainstages by storm and coolly co-wrote some of the biggest hits in music's biggest genres
Electronic
- Dom Dolla (Sony Music Publishing) picked up an ARIA Award and Grammy nom, 2x top 30 US dance hits for ‘Eat Your Man’ feat. Nelly Furtado and ‘Saving Up’ and was a must-see at Coachella.
- Darwin’s homegrown success VASSY (Universal Music Publishing) became the first woman to win the EDMA Icon Award. She also graced the Grammy’s World Spin and our Sydney office!
- The first-ever SongHubs at ADE took place, with DJ and producer Mall Grab curating the Amsterdam sessions. Featuring Ninajirachi, KLP (BMG), Muki and more.
L-R: Vassy (Photo: Joel Tinker), Muki and Ninajirachi at SongHubs ADE
Country
- Lindsay Rimes (Sony Music Publishing) achieved two Country Airplay #1s on co-writes with breakthrough star Nate Smith’s ‘World on Fire’ and ‘Whiskey on You’.
- In partnership with Creative Victoria, the Melbourne to Nashville SongHubs (curated by Rimes) took place in the Mornington Peninsula and then Nashville.
- Jordan Dozzi (Warner Chappell Music) tops charts with ‘Man Made A Bar’, Morgan Wallen’s US Country Airplay and Billboard Canada Country #1 and US Platinum single.
- Dozzi cemented a place as an in-demand Nashville writer on Post Malone and Blake Shelton’s ‘Pour Me A Drink’.
- Not long after relocating to Nashville, Kaylee Bell was honoured with the 2023 CMA Jeff Walker Global Artist Award.
Clockwise from top left: SongHubs Melbourne to Nashville (Photo: Evan Michaels), Kaylee Bell in Times Square (photo: Kaylee Bell Facebook), Nate Smith and Lindsay Rimes (Photo: supplied).
Pop
- Queen Kylie (Mushroom Music) won her second Grammy for the irresistible dancefloor single ‘Padam Padam’ in the Best Pop Dance Recording category.
- GQ Australia’s 2023 Man of the Year aka Troye Sivan (Universal/ MCA Music Publishing) won a slew of ARIAs (and gave a shout out to Pride SongHubs from the podium!), nabbed two Grammy nominations and won the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year for ‘Rush,’ co-written with Styalz Fuego (Universal Music Publishing).
- Kevin Parker (Sony Music Publishing) was a collaborator on Dua Lipa’s hit album, Radical Optimism, and joined her onstage for her Glastonbury headline set. He also featured prominently on Justice’s long-awaited LP, Hyperdrama.
- Parker and The Kid LAROI (Sony Music Publishing) both featured on the Grammy-winning Barbie the Album (‘Journey To The Real World’ and ‘Forever & Again’, respectively).
- Stan Walker’s (Sony Music Publishing) epic ‘I Am’ in director Ava DuVernay’s film, Origin introduced him to a global audience. Walker co-wrote the piece with fellow APRA writers Michael Fatkin (Universal Music Publishing) and Charles Harder.
- Tones and I (Warner Chappell Music) was crowned the first woman to reach three billion streams on Spotify with ‘Dance Monkey.’
- Melbourne hip-hop artist, Lithe (Concord Music Publishing) topped Spotify Australia’s Global Impact List thanks to his viral hit ‘Fall Back’. He co-wrote the track with Omid Khasrawy.
Photo: Kylie Minogue took home her second Grammys win (Photo: Getty Images Alberto E Rodrigez)
Composers and creators
- Art Music Fund alum, Liza Lim (Universal Music Publishing) was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK 2024 Composer of the Year and received a prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.
- Michael Lira’s (Universal/ MCA Music Publishing) score helped take Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp to #1 on Netflix.
- Bryn Evans’ work 'ggbg', co-written with Mz BURN was featured in the Cannes Palme d'Or-winning film, ANORA.
- Also at Cannes, Karl Sölve Steven was selected for Marche Du Film's Spot The Composer program.
- Composer Ayda Akbal, a Screen SongHubs 2022 participant, was awarded the American Australian Association’s 2023 APRA AMCOS Global Professional Development Scholarship and composed the theme music for The Official Marvel Podcast.
L-R: Liza Lim (Photo Ricordi Harald-Hoffman), Ayda Akbal (Photo: supplied)
Story of a hit song
Who: JKING
Song: ‘Cinderella’
What: Winner, Most Performed R&B Work at the 2024 APRA Music Awards
The Samoan-Australian songwriter and producer JKING’s ‘Cinderella’ connected with fans digitally in a major way and went viral across the #polytok community with short-form video and remixes and an open verse challenge.
From there - airlines, commercial radio in NZ,
nightclubs and background music suppliers used the track widely.
UGC and STREAMING discoveries
Who are the rising stars making waves on streaming services and platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts? These new members are building dedicated fanbases and accumulating impressive streaming numbers and featuring in countless short-form videos created by fans.
The data shows that what connects on the platforms is not often heard in the mainstream.
Many are from diverse backgrounds and getting discovered by local audiences, hungry for local content ranging from Joel Sunny’s cinematic 'Luminary' to That Gurl Bella’s collab 'Why' with SkuX, Myshaan’s breezy 'Sway', Teo Glacier’s major label debut 'close with desires (right person wrong timing)' and Thelma Costolo's co-release with Alex Yurkiv 'Take Me To The River (I Will Swim)', co-written with Konstantin Kersting (Concord Music Publishing).
Clockwise upper left: Myshaan, Thelma Costolo, Joel Sunny, Teo Glacier, That Gurl Bella. (source: official artist socials)
Sounds Australia took Australian music to the world, here is their Year in Review by the numbers.
Activity in:
- 33 Cities
- 20 Countries
- 14 Showcase Events
- 146 Unique Performance Opportunities
- 117 Acts Showcased
- 2799 Dedicated Meeting Opportunities
- 23 B2B Networking Events
- 21 Speaking Opportunities Facilitated
- 3 Trade Stands
- 12 Panel Presentations
Photos: Sounds Australia
