Over the weekend, Fairfax Media published an article entitled “Calling The Tune” (read it here), which captured this moment in the Australian music industry. A moment that sees the government funded radio station triple j as the leading national voice (musically) for 18-24 year olds. With essentially no competition, no one else has the ability to break artists the way they do, in the genres and demographic they focus on. The article focuses on the criticism that the station has received as a result of all this. In my opinion, while this is an important discussion to have, I’ve grown tired of the negative rhetoric about a station that DOES support Australian music.
triple j didn’t become popular or a “trendsetter” overnight. But once it did, it’s only natural there would be a perceived “sameness” to its formula… and that everyone would complain about it. Listen to every commercial radio station in the world. Now turn back on triple j. Not so bad now is it? Oh hey, they’re playing Australian music! And with Dig and Unearthed, I don’t think there’s any argument that the js aren’t offering a bit of something for everyone, and supporting a lot of amazing Australian music in the process. Not to mention its growing popularity goes against every other trend in the industry. An impressive feat.
It is a pity due to a lack of real competition that artists feel they need to fit a formula rather than follow a musical path that fits their own identity, but there’s nothing new there – triple j or no triple j. Some musicians have always chosen to be followers for the fame/money etc. and as was mentioned in the article, for the most part, people see through that.
That said, there is certainly a gap in our market for many artists who are too indie for commercial radio but too pop/mainstream or “outside the box” for the js. America and UK have more middle ground stations, KROQ I think being a decent example of this (even if every other song is by Sublime or RHCP), which is often why many bands have success abroad before back at home.
There’s NO reason why we couldn’t have something like that here… another voice for the music less supported… especially with the move towards digital formats making the future easier for anyone wishing to be a “trendsetter”.
If the people who have vocalised their concerns are serious about it, then they, and the wider industry, need to invest their faith (both vocally and financially) in the future of alternative media (be it a new digital station, a web format or a streaming device you attach to your retinas) rather than sit on this “well they’re triple j, what can we do about it?” attitude. They’ll always be there (and we’re better off for it), but something out there is one day going give a new, alternative voice for that demographic (and any others the js don’t target) in a big way… and then everyone will start complaining about them (as people do about anything popular) and then the circle of life continues. But it’s only possible if the industry allows something like this to exist and prosper. It’s certainly a lengthy process, as was the rise of the js, but one that can happen if we want it to.
I can bring my own experiences in the marketplace to this discussion. We at the AU certainly cover a lot of the same ground as triple j, but we are by no means governed by it – and more often than not, we get there first, thanks much to our extensive international coverage of events like SXSW, where we’ve grabbed Australia-first coverage of bands like Grouplove and Half Moon Run, to name but a couple. We also allow our writers to cover the music they like, regardless of the genre. If they want to support it, we want to give them an avenue to do that, it’s what we’ve always been about and I’m incredibly proud to still be running the site five and a half years on, with the same directive behind us. But it has been far from a pain free process keeping things afloat with that mantra.
As an independent publication, this sort of approach can be likened to community radio, and like community radio, we are very limited in what we can do financially. We don’t bring in enough revenue to pay people, let alone ourselves. The very fact we exist at all is because a few of us are crazy enough to keep doing this day-to-day, supporting the music we love and, let’s be honest, have a great time doing it.
And you know what, if triple j wasn’t government funded, they would have met the same sort of issues, and would have – quite possibly – never become the station they are today. That’s what has allowed them to be the exception rather than the rule.
Of course the “well, commercial radio needs to support Australian music better” argument can also be made here… and while that goes without saying, let’s face it, it isn’t going to happen with the current people in charge. So the support needs to start from the ground up. The industry needs to stop lining the pockets of the commercial outlets who don’t need the money, and don’t support the music in question anyway, and start finding new ways to champion the independent stations who champion the artists that can’t seem to find a break in return. The only question becomes HOW we do that… and I think the onus is on the media sources as much as the wider industry to find better ways to connect with their audience and make a bigger impact on the national scene. Easier said than done… but certainly possible…
I think anything and anyone supporting Australian music is a good thing, and without the js the industry would be in a much worse off position. I think there needs to be more of it and if you’re going to complain about triple j, then turn off your radio, go down to your local record store – if the general lack of desire to pay for music hasn’t closed it down already – and ask the guy/girl behind the counter to recommend you some new music.
Or you could just change the channel. I hear commercial radio is a pretty cool thing. And you can always see what music we’re talking about our our site, and what our friends in the media are doing of the same. We’re all in this together… let’s all work with the js and with each other to support Australian music. After all, isn’t that the point?
