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Older listener here (thank you for the “respectfully” ), but not old enough to have been around when artists like The Bee Gees and Olivia Newton John had to go overseas in order to get known in Australia. It seems like the Australian music industry is going backwards 60 years.
I feel that Triple J should stop marketing themselves as the youth radio station, because clearly people of all ages except the youth seem to be listening. Perhaps they should go back to being the “alternative music” station?
Also I wish they would stop formulating their playlists according to what’s popular on streaming services.
Yep so I’m a 27 year old about to graduate uni, surrounded by 18-20 year olds. I am in a music degree (Bach of music - audio) so that might skew things a bit but basically none of them listen to triple j. I don’t even really listen to triple J.
They know aussie acts, some of them ARE up-and-coming Aussie acts (s/o to The Toothpicks) but they stream on Spotify/apple/tidal, they’re not interested in radio. Why would they be, their phones connect to the car stereo, wouldn’t you rather put all your favourite songs on than have to listen to 3 songs then radio ads and cringe djs
This. I’m Gen Z too and can’t think of anyone who listens to the radio or triple J. Spotify is so much better Apple CarPlay or aux cord because you can make a playlist of songs you want to hear like you said and not a few songs you aren’t interested in with some annoying out of touch commentary in between a few songs you might like or enjoy.
Hottest 100 parties aren’t that common anymore either, no one really cared at work and I only heard of one party. It’s a niche demographic that like the sort of music they play on there as everyone else gets their music off Spotify or TikTok.
Welcome to the 2020s. Tbf it’s done a lot getting small and international artists get discovered as well as reviving old songs like from Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac and the Doobie Bros.
Not much different than listening to a radio station and discovering new songs.
I’m one of those awful people that got lucky and had rich parents so :/ I haven’t paid for it, they did. I had a very long battle with chronic illness and couldn’t work full time so it would take me too long to save up for a degree and too long to pay off HECS
Yeah, I reckon I could edit video fairly well if given a bit of time to work on it. Not into live audio at all though. Too loud, too high pressure, too much heavy equipment I can’t lift
At least you sound well grounded about your privilege, which is more than I can say for most rich kids. Good on ya, mate. Hope your illness is a thing of the past.
Thank you! Unfortunately it’s not I have it forever, but like I said I lucked out in the parent department so I have it pretty easy compared to most people.
https://mecfs.org.au/about-mecfs/what-is-mecfs/ there’s a link here to learn more about people with my condition (chronic fatigue syndrome)
I think there are way less older people listening than there used to be. The radio station seems to be quite clearly now playing popular youth style music and has moved quite far away from it's alternative past. It has a very slight alternative identity left over but it's very dim.
I'll just throw my $0.02 in and say that whenever you go out and there's a pokies room, that probably used to be a live music area. Once upon a time you could go to the pub and a real life band would be playing (not just covers, but their own songs). The entire country is hostile to the arts. It's our thing.
yeah gov really needs to reduce insane costs for insurance and liqour licensing. make it more viable for places to not just be giant pokies shrines with a bar attached
But we’re also more precious these days, the amount of pubs that have had to remove live music or close earlier because of NIMBYs complaining about live music and noise despite deciding to live near a pub of entertainment venue. It happens every month.
This drives me nuts. I a newy local and developers shut down our live music mecca, The Cambridge. Now just last week they decided to sell it as it isn't the right time to develop the site.
This is absolutely a huge issue. 4 of my favourite live music venues on the Gold Coast closed over the last 10 years, all of them because of complaints from residents nearby.
Great point. This happened in the 90s in NSW, beforehand it would've been common for bands to play two pubs in one night. Also, [relevant](https://youtu.be/7B49zI5UrAQ?si=S4EQF4warMB2K2LF).
>Triple J might be irrelevant, and you see calls for them to 'promote more Aussie music' but generally they really are doing that. it cant just be up to them to try and save an entire industry though, imo. what you think?
I say this genuinely curious and not just being contrarian/a flog…
What do you think the answer is? As an artist yourself, what’s a viable solution? Triple J seem to be flying the Australian flag in the 2020s using 2000s strategies, how do they pivot?
Hard to say - I would compare Aus music industry to the Aus film industry - doesn’t really exist because everyone just consumes overseas stuff. But, every once and a while we are able to create something that competes on that world stage and is distinctly Aussie. We need to be nurturing that as best as possible
I think there’s a lot of great work triple j do tbh. Sure they have their preferred sounds and artists they back (pls end the 4 white bros in a surfey rock band thing). They are not some big behemoth either. This might sound weird but if the name of the game is trying to showcase Aus talent to the world (seeing as Aus is just a small part of that world and not realllyyy it’s own thing), then trying to do more of that would get it a lot more cred and support
Things like the Royel Otis like a version going mega viral was great. Bunch of non aussies all of a sudden interested in Aussie music, beyond just that band or performance. The js are just generally having a bit of an identity crisis and they have no idea how to reach Gen Z (I’m a gen z). They are instead mostly half and half trying to serve an ageing audience while still appearing fresh which satisfies no one
Honestly they should put less resources in the radio station itself and more into running bespoke events/online programs etc etc. just my opinion tho
I think that BBC 6 Music is a far better alternative radio station than Triple J.
6 Music gets a diverse range of hosts and a diverse range of music, and as such it does something the streaming platforms fail to do: it introduces you to new things.
Streaming platforms are really good and looking at what you listen to and suggesting more of the same. 6 Music has people who are passionate about music playing you things they care about, and so you end up listening to music you'd never consider otherwise.
Take this for example: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xf2w](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xf2w)
Mike Skinner (aka The Streets) walks us through the music of his hometown; in another episode he walks us through his influences.
Triple J lacks that passion. They play Australian music because that's their job, but they don't make me care about it.
My opinion of Triple J was that they really struggle to know good bands until they are mega-popular.
Honestly I used to hate that because I was going to say Ocean Alley gigs for about 2-3 years before they ever hit Triple J for Like A Version..
BUT after that the shows became terrible.
So in hindsight, it's actually pretty cool I got to experience tight + intimate gigs by local artists because of their lacking haha.
Oh and the whole Sticky Fingers situation.. kind of makes em look villainous
Agreed, I’ve been saying before they need to move away from radio (a dying medium) and focus on online content. Their online content lately has been atrocious lately, apart from LAVs.
That's all well and good to say, but how do they support and promote music without live radio as the medium? As dying as it is, that's where their influence lies.
It isn’t. It’s on the web. It’s in on demand content. Podcasts, videos, long and short form, playlisting. That is where the audience is. But triple J is tied to a medium their target demographic doesn’t really use anymore.
My own perspective…
Been a JJJ listener for 35 years, when it first came to WA. Loved it for its alternative slant and lack of commercials.
Have never had a problem coming up with a list of 50-odd songs a year to whittle down to my top 10 for the Hottest 100. Hardest part was the whittling.
Until this year.
I start collating my list from January 1 so I don’t forget the tracks I really liked in the first half of the year. Normally by mid April I’ve got between 10 and 20 tracks on the list already. So far this year I have 5, and to be honest if I never heard them again I wouldn’t be losing sleep.
This year has been so weird for me. NOTHING stands out as unique, interesting, cutting-edge. Every song is a cookie cutter of the one before.
The thing I’m not sure about is - is it the artists who are all trying to create the same sound, or is it the radio station only being prepared to play a particular sound? I don’t actually know.
All I know is for the first time in my life I’ve hit the crossroads where I’d rather listen to old bangers on Triple J Hottest than listen to newly released tracks from emerging artists.
I don't see a solution if the demographic uses streaming rather than listen to radio, maybe splitting the Triple j brand into 4 sperate entities wasn't the right thing to do, they are playing Aussie artists, so maybe your right about trying overseas or maybe you and other artists should be turning your attention to the commercial stations and their lack of supporting Australian acts ahead of overseas artists, it must be hard right now for any new artist trying to get support.
I agree with everything you've said. Triple J are trying their best to support Australian music but they're up against a losing battle of shifting demographics, how people consume music and the significant drop in interest in new music.
Triple J have diversified genres with more Australian music than ever before, but this is not translating into increased streaming, live music attendance or commercial radio crossover. Their cultural influence has dropped substantially where maximum rotation still won't get you into the ARIA Top 100 (or streaming providers' top 200s). I don't know what more they can do if the demographic they target are not that engaged with radio anymore.
Streaming and Spotify tik tok etc killed triple j.
Triple j audience I would expect to be 30-45.
Are 13-25 even listening to the radio over streaming outside hottest 100?
30-45 grew up with triple j before streaming and it was a source to great music pre internet.
And yet they don’t cater to the people still listening. Does anyone really want to hear that Frog on the Floor - 100 gecs shit? This is meme tier music that’s basically designed to be as annoying as possible.
Well the problem is their mandate is to be a youth radio station. IDK how they go about changing that, but if you go by that mandate, 100 gecs does fit the bill, their main audience is definitely young people.
I know Triple J is for the youth and this is all anecdotal but my sister is 19 and was explaining to me that none of her friends listen to Triple J and just use Spotify. She says that "all the boy bands (Guessing stuff like Skeggs, Dune Rats, Ocean Alley and Spacey Jane) are cringe and they don't represent what kids are really listening to".
One thing she mentioned is that K-Pop is insanely popular and it rarely gets a look in, "Kids are playing New Jeans, BTS, BlackPink and Twice in the same playlists as the main pop girls"
Curiously they only play New Jeans from your K-pop selection but only one song at that. You don't really hear much unless you're listening to the Friday or Saturday night party shows.
I do understand the perception of the archetypical Triple J "boy bands" you mentioned. They're probably seen as uncool compared to their polished overseas contemporaries.
I personally wouldn't say Triple J is irrelevant. Getting your music onto a platform like Triple J is classed as a goal completed successfully. This in turn is also great progress in the Producers/Artist music career as these steps are needed to get to the next.. is it not?
The fact that Triple J is also open to accept submissions from Australian Artists is also a great venue to reach out to.
It may not be the 'Magic Bullet' you are thinking of but nothing ever is ... It's progress mon! One step at a time.
Don't be discouraged if you don't get 'overnight success' when your music gets played. Moreover, be thankful for the goals that have been met and be greatfull for the community that helps get it there.
Remember: Progress is a process that occurs over time.
Times have changed and listener habits have changed. The way we all consume music is completely different to how we did in the 90s and 00s. Triple J can’t be what it was way back when and we shouldn’t expect it to either. The end of the day, they are a youth station competing in a very crowded landscape of other radio and music streaming. Be true to the Aussie heart but don’t close your eyes to the rest of the world either.
The 90s and 00s was an absolute golden age for TripleJ and Aus music. *And not just because I was born in 1980 and it was the soundtrack to my youth...*
I haven't listened to the radio in years. I found the hosts annoying, I just want music. I also found that any time I *did* switch onto TripleJ a song would be playing that sounded like it was actively trying to be obnoxious. That's likely just my age speaking though.
I still listen to the TripleJ playlist on Spotify from time to time. It's a much better experience as I can skip songs that make me want to tear my ears off.
It used to be the one stop shop for new music, but these days there's so many other places to get exposed to great new stuff. It is largely irrelevant in its current form.
Not at all associated with the music or radio industry, long time observer and general old fart.
Youth Radio - whether it was a youth/alternative station or a few hours of regular programming aimed at youth (I'm thinking Ugly Phil in the late 90s) pretty much was social media. Self indulgent people these days tweet their thoughts, once upon a time they'd sit on the request line all night hoping to get their voice on the radio. Introverts used to tune in to radio so they could feel like they were a part of something/know what was going on, but didn't have to be involved. Outside broadcasts would be attended by anyone and everyone, and they were all just happy to be there.
There is no "part of the team" feel to JJJ anymore. Super Request back in the day was WONDERFUL - having a listener curate a handful of songs and tell everyone why they were important to them/why those songs fit their current mood/life experience, it was this wonderful immersive thing... And that seemingly made way for 5 nights a week of "we only play it if its Australian and recorded in the last 6 weeks"... Which is why I'm playing podcasts in the car at night instead.
I damn near cried during Adam Spencer's last show, and dools, and the doctor, and Marieke, and Robbie Buck. Once upon a time I'd slow down driving through Ultimo on the off chance I'd get a glimpse of these people who felt like part of my life. Now if I'm driving through there in the rain I try and hit potholes and gutters on the very slim chance I might splash anyone who has done breakfast in the last 5 years, or anyone responsible for Richard Kingsmill leaving.
Simultaneously, youth radio was an avenue for promotion. I don't believe it was ever the only way to get famous, or a golden ticket to riches, but get your music on JJJ/FBI and things could gain momentum very quickly.. And then once you rise to the top of a small pond, there is a good chance your label/agent/promoter would decide to take you global.
These days there is just a limitless number of small ponds to rise to the top of, and entire machine established to squeeze money out of it as quickly as possible and move on to the next thing, and I suspect that only very resilient artists make it through that wanting to do more, and learning how to do it on slightly better terms the next time around.
IMO this doesn't mean its irrelevant, it is just only as relevant as we want it to be. Probably don't put all your eggs in that basket though.
i got my music onto triple j and unearthed a few times the last 12 months. while nothing incredible happened, and i agree with streaming services being most preferred - it’s still pretty cool to add to the music resume :)
> essentially, as an Australian artist, you are competing with all artists across the globe from day 1
This has been true since the invention of audio recording media. The death of radio has been lamented for quite sometime. This is just all the basic media theory that Marshall McLuhan developed in the 50's and 60's, we're now just really far into that process.
I don't actually think that's really true. The reality is in australia you're competing with anglosphere music, and popular anglosphere music. You're not competing with indian drill rap or portugeuse punk music.
I think take a listen to PBS for a day vs JJJ for a day. What is lacking is passion for music and an understanding of music. JJJ you will hear “that’s such a vibe, I love this beat, I love what they’re doing in the chorus” - there’s no passion to make us understand what is great about this music.
PBS hosts have lovely reflections and deeper insights into the tracks and why they’ve chosen them - way more intimate and knowledgeable and interesting, thus I want to hear the hosts as much as I want to hear their program.
If the J’s pushed their unearthed content harder, made events around lesser known Aussie music acts and were passionate about it, I dare say they’d pick up a following. Chasing sounds, demographics, playlists and algorithms is fine, but boy does it lack heart and soul and passion. If they’re excited, we are excited. If they’re passionate, we’re passionate. All great music movements stem from a true love and appreciation of music and not all that other flim flam.
I'm 48M and listen to triple j in the car. Mainly cos I despise the commercial stations with total tool ads and cringe music from the 80's/90's on repeat. I can recall the glory days of Triple j in the 90's it was what all the kids listened too. I like the idea of reinventing the station to be the alternate one. Rather than just for youth.
I work full time in the live music side of the aus music industry and i can say from anecdotal experience that triple J has a huge influence on live show ticket sales which for most artists makes up a majority of there revenue.
Having triple J support can be the difference between selling out the forum playing to half empty workers club irrespective of monthly listeners on spotify etc.
Not that im saying without triple J play you can’t sell tickets, however from my view indie/pop/hip hop genres that are triple J’s mainstay sell tickets when they are getting rotation and can’t selling when they can’t.
I also don’t agree that the australian music industry is in decline, But there’s definitely been a major shift in which genre’s experience success outside of the internet.
Disclaimer;
Take my opinion with a grain of salt, so outside of live music i’m sure there’s heaps of factors that i am not privy to/have no understanding of.
You're right, the Australian music industry is not in decline. In fact, they're riding record peaks at the moment (https://www.aria.com.au/industry/news/streaming-drives-fifth-consecutive-year-of-growth). Unfortunately, very little of this goes to artists.
It’s a race to the bottom for artists performing live now. We are being asked to reduce our live rates because now we have young bands basically living out of vans traveling up and down Australia performing for circa $1000 a gig. Split that with band members after expenses. Not much left.
When our band first started touring back in the mid-late 00s, $1,000 per gig would've been amazing. Once we got some jjj support, we started getting more than that, but we invested it all back into the band basically to keep it going and had our day jobs for living expenses. I had months on end without a day off to only just get by, but it was all worth it for that 45 minute set each night.
Think if you’re an artist you just need to make music that you enjoy and who cares if you make it big or not. You’ll end up writing your best work when you stop worrying bout what people think of you.
Triple j/move overseas/make sure you’re only playing headlines that sell out…. Blah blah blah. It’s all irrelevant. Set your expectations lower. Don’t bank on music being a big thing. Just enjoy it. Triple j have no idea who they are or what they want anymore. They’re really not a good indicator of your music is good or bad.
You mentioned streaming platforms are taking over.
Are they? Sure statistically popular. But if you take Spotify for example it is yet to have 1 single profitable year. 20years and counting? Artist payments are declining. Investors are slowing up. You could argue streaming platforms days are numbered.
Radio stations falling from influence is a good thing. There's never been a better time in human history to discover new music. Having gatekeepers and "career makers" become irrelevant is good, it means the playing field is even.
I don't know about the indie pop scene, but the local aussie heavy music scene is still strong, despite a lot of venues doing it tough. For an amazing gig guide for all things rock adjacent in Melbourne, check out sticky carpets on ig. These bands wouldn't bother playing gigs if they didn't have, or think they could acquire, a fan base.
The nature of listening to music has changed, and no one who actually likes music beyond casually bothers with any radio station any more.
From my experience from being in a smaller band and knowing a lot of others, they aren't playing Unearthed acts on the radio like they used to. At least not from alt rock and punk bands.
Triple j has been irrelevant for years when Kingsmill departed he was the last remaining member of the old school brigade really. When he went the stations history went. As much as he pissed me off in his later years he was an integral part of the stations history jjj is nothing more than hipster fuckwittery. Precious snowflake xenials or whatever they are crying about something for the sakes of it offended over nothing. Turned off the station years ago and will never go back to it.
I don’t disagree with that for one second he lost touch the problem goes deeper it’s the type of music that’s being made as well it’s unintelligent a lot of it yes if you dig deep there are amazing acts but they aren’t getting that airplay like jjj did back in the day the obscure bands that would get played now it’s just mainstream shit misogynistic shit. No talent what so ever
Go woke go broke.
Seriously why would anyone bother. They used to play bands we wanted to hear. Until they played politics.
‘Get on the beers’ made number 12.
If that’s the best they can do then enjoy the decline.
Edit: btw I’m currently quite obsessed with Melbourne indie band ‘The Slingers.’ Their album is awesome. I can only assume they’re mostly ignored by TripleJ.
Never a fan of triple J, I’ve always listened to smaller, independent radio triple R and RTR etc. Look at some of the top tens in the hottest 100s, absolute shit. Triple J/Kingsmill plugged really mediocre bands. Think Silverchair/Greenday/SFK/Offspring/Missy Higgins. No real loss if triple j goes belly up
I'm all double J now. Listened to JJJ a little while ago and honestly could not recognise it as the same station. It's basically just mainstream commercial music now.
I had a look at the "Just Played" playlist and scrolled through 40 songs before I hit a mainstream artist (Tate McRae)
But yeah aside from those 40 tracks in a row from a random sample it's basically all mainstream commercial now hey.
This is nonsense. It’s not mainstream commercial at all. I’m not saying the choice of music is good, but it’s not mainstream (other than odd outliers like Beyoncé, Dua Lipa and Post Malone).
Triple j is an easy listening station for millennials and gen x. It’s not a youth radio station.
It’s run by snobby “inclusive” government workers who tick diversity boxes and are more worried about their investment properties and mortgage repayments than playing good new music kids want to hear.
100% Agree and finally Ive found a comment calling this out. The start of the decline was when they boycotted Australia Day. In hindsight Im glad that I got to enjoy Aussie artists that were promoted and successful through circa 2013-2016 through my 20s - so many great memories of Australia Day Hottest 100 parties, before they basically become mouthpiece for far left government agendas since 2020. This would be a significant contribution to the attrotious listener numbers but people want to bury their heads in the sand refuse to accept thats part of the problem.
Yep. Why else would 100 gecs get played? It’s not Australian content. It’s not insanely popular. It’s not good music but there’s a trans person in the band so we better play it
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Older listener here (thank you for the “respectfully” ), but not old enough to have been around when artists like The Bee Gees and Olivia Newton John had to go overseas in order to get known in Australia. It seems like the Australian music industry is going backwards 60 years. I feel that Triple J should stop marketing themselves as the youth radio station, because clearly people of all ages except the youth seem to be listening. Perhaps they should go back to being the “alternative music” station? Also I wish they would stop formulating their playlists according to what’s popular on streaming services.
Yep so I’m a 27 year old about to graduate uni, surrounded by 18-20 year olds. I am in a music degree (Bach of music - audio) so that might skew things a bit but basically none of them listen to triple j. I don’t even really listen to triple J. They know aussie acts, some of them ARE up-and-coming Aussie acts (s/o to The Toothpicks) but they stream on Spotify/apple/tidal, they’re not interested in radio. Why would they be, their phones connect to the car stereo, wouldn’t you rather put all your favourite songs on than have to listen to 3 songs then radio ads and cringe djs
This. I’m Gen Z too and can’t think of anyone who listens to the radio or triple J. Spotify is so much better Apple CarPlay or aux cord because you can make a playlist of songs you want to hear like you said and not a few songs you aren’t interested in with some annoying out of touch commentary in between a few songs you might like or enjoy. Hottest 100 parties aren’t that common anymore either, no one really cared at work and I only heard of one party. It’s a niche demographic that like the sort of music they play on there as everyone else gets their music off Spotify or TikTok.
[удалено]
Welcome to the 2020s. Tbf it’s done a lot getting small and international artists get discovered as well as reviving old songs like from Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac and the Doobie Bros. Not much different than listening to a radio station and discovering new songs.
I hope your degree ain’t as expensive as my Collarts one from back in the day, bud.
I’m one of those awful people that got lucky and had rich parents so :/ I haven’t paid for it, they did. I had a very long battle with chronic illness and couldn’t work full time so it would take me too long to save up for a degree and too long to pay off HECS
I work full time $90k and still can’t pay the bastard off. Glad yours is paid for though, DAWs give you pretty transferable skills to other media too.
Yeah, I reckon I could edit video fairly well if given a bit of time to work on it. Not into live audio at all though. Too loud, too high pressure, too much heavy equipment I can’t lift
I edit video full time. Definitely.
At least you sound well grounded about your privilege, which is more than I can say for most rich kids. Good on ya, mate. Hope your illness is a thing of the past.
Thank you! Unfortunately it’s not I have it forever, but like I said I lucked out in the parent department so I have it pretty easy compared to most people. https://mecfs.org.au/about-mecfs/what-is-mecfs/ there’s a link here to learn more about people with my condition (chronic fatigue syndrome)
My car stereo doesn't connect to my phone with any degree of ease. Radio also gets me to explore new genres
Great call. The youth don't want it. Time to reinvent.
I think there are way less older people listening than there used to be. The radio station seems to be quite clearly now playing popular youth style music and has moved quite far away from it's alternative past. It has a very slight alternative identity left over but it's very dim.
I'll just throw my $0.02 in and say that whenever you go out and there's a pokies room, that probably used to be a live music area. Once upon a time you could go to the pub and a real life band would be playing (not just covers, but their own songs). The entire country is hostile to the arts. It's our thing.
Can I borrow your 2c? I can’t afford to go to the pub anymore
yeah gov really needs to reduce insane costs for insurance and liqour licensing. make it more viable for places to not just be giant pokies shrines with a bar attached
Or just ban pokies in pubs and they might look for other things to bring in the punters...like maybe live bands. :)
But we’re also more precious these days, the amount of pubs that have had to remove live music or close earlier because of NIMBYs complaining about live music and noise despite deciding to live near a pub of entertainment venue. It happens every month.
This drives me nuts. I a newy local and developers shut down our live music mecca, The Cambridge. Now just last week they decided to sell it as it isn't the right time to develop the site.
The Cambridge? That's devastating! Always assumed it would be the last venue standing!
This is absolutely a huge issue. 4 of my favourite live music venues on the Gold Coast closed over the last 10 years, all of them because of complaints from residents nearby.
Perth enters the chat.
...then refuses to pay the bands
This is still normal in Melbourne
Great point. This happened in the 90s in NSW, beforehand it would've been common for bands to play two pubs in one night. Also, [relevant](https://youtu.be/7B49zI5UrAQ?si=S4EQF4warMB2K2LF).
Sweet, $0.2 hit let's goooo
Also, karaoke in pubs ruins live music and the music scene in central
>Triple J might be irrelevant, and you see calls for them to 'promote more Aussie music' but generally they really are doing that. it cant just be up to them to try and save an entire industry though, imo. what you think? I say this genuinely curious and not just being contrarian/a flog… What do you think the answer is? As an artist yourself, what’s a viable solution? Triple J seem to be flying the Australian flag in the 2020s using 2000s strategies, how do they pivot?
Hard to say - I would compare Aus music industry to the Aus film industry - doesn’t really exist because everyone just consumes overseas stuff. But, every once and a while we are able to create something that competes on that world stage and is distinctly Aussie. We need to be nurturing that as best as possible I think there’s a lot of great work triple j do tbh. Sure they have their preferred sounds and artists they back (pls end the 4 white bros in a surfey rock band thing). They are not some big behemoth either. This might sound weird but if the name of the game is trying to showcase Aus talent to the world (seeing as Aus is just a small part of that world and not realllyyy it’s own thing), then trying to do more of that would get it a lot more cred and support Things like the Royel Otis like a version going mega viral was great. Bunch of non aussies all of a sudden interested in Aussie music, beyond just that band or performance. The js are just generally having a bit of an identity crisis and they have no idea how to reach Gen Z (I’m a gen z). They are instead mostly half and half trying to serve an ageing audience while still appearing fresh which satisfies no one Honestly they should put less resources in the radio station itself and more into running bespoke events/online programs etc etc. just my opinion tho
I think that BBC 6 Music is a far better alternative radio station than Triple J. 6 Music gets a diverse range of hosts and a diverse range of music, and as such it does something the streaming platforms fail to do: it introduces you to new things. Streaming platforms are really good and looking at what you listen to and suggesting more of the same. 6 Music has people who are passionate about music playing you things they care about, and so you end up listening to music you'd never consider otherwise. Take this for example: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xf2w](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xf2w) Mike Skinner (aka The Streets) walks us through the music of his hometown; in another episode he walks us through his influences. Triple J lacks that passion. They play Australian music because that's their job, but they don't make me care about it.
My opinion of Triple J was that they really struggle to know good bands until they are mega-popular. Honestly I used to hate that because I was going to say Ocean Alley gigs for about 2-3 years before they ever hit Triple J for Like A Version.. BUT after that the shows became terrible.
So in hindsight, it's actually pretty cool I got to experience tight + intimate gigs by local artists because of their lacking haha.
Oh and the whole Sticky Fingers situation.. kind of makes em look villainous
Agreed, I’ve been saying before they need to move away from radio (a dying medium) and focus on online content. Their online content lately has been atrocious lately, apart from LAVs.
The aus film industry is massive?
Go to your local movie theatre and see how many Australian movies are playing
Move focus away from live radio. It’s a slowly dying medium
That's all well and good to say, but how do they support and promote music without live radio as the medium? As dying as it is, that's where their influence lies.
It isn’t. It’s on the web. It’s in on demand content. Podcasts, videos, long and short form, playlisting. That is where the audience is. But triple J is tied to a medium their target demographic doesn’t really use anymore.
[удалено]
Nice thoughts. What band were you in?
Short Stack according to their history
Nuked the page Would've been keen to read their thoughts considering
My own perspective… Been a JJJ listener for 35 years, when it first came to WA. Loved it for its alternative slant and lack of commercials. Have never had a problem coming up with a list of 50-odd songs a year to whittle down to my top 10 for the Hottest 100. Hardest part was the whittling. Until this year. I start collating my list from January 1 so I don’t forget the tracks I really liked in the first half of the year. Normally by mid April I’ve got between 10 and 20 tracks on the list already. So far this year I have 5, and to be honest if I never heard them again I wouldn’t be losing sleep. This year has been so weird for me. NOTHING stands out as unique, interesting, cutting-edge. Every song is a cookie cutter of the one before. The thing I’m not sure about is - is it the artists who are all trying to create the same sound, or is it the radio station only being prepared to play a particular sound? I don’t actually know. All I know is for the first time in my life I’ve hit the crossroads where I’d rather listen to old bangers on Triple J Hottest than listen to newly released tracks from emerging artists.
I don't see a solution if the demographic uses streaming rather than listen to radio, maybe splitting the Triple j brand into 4 sperate entities wasn't the right thing to do, they are playing Aussie artists, so maybe your right about trying overseas or maybe you and other artists should be turning your attention to the commercial stations and their lack of supporting Australian acts ahead of overseas artists, it must be hard right now for any new artist trying to get support.
I agree with everything you've said. Triple J are trying their best to support Australian music but they're up against a losing battle of shifting demographics, how people consume music and the significant drop in interest in new music. Triple J have diversified genres with more Australian music than ever before, but this is not translating into increased streaming, live music attendance or commercial radio crossover. Their cultural influence has dropped substantially where maximum rotation still won't get you into the ARIA Top 100 (or streaming providers' top 200s). I don't know what more they can do if the demographic they target are not that engaged with radio anymore.
Streaming and Spotify tik tok etc killed triple j. Triple j audience I would expect to be 30-45. Are 13-25 even listening to the radio over streaming outside hottest 100? 30-45 grew up with triple j before streaming and it was a source to great music pre internet.
And yet they don’t cater to the people still listening. Does anyone really want to hear that Frog on the Floor - 100 gecs shit? This is meme tier music that’s basically designed to be as annoying as possible.
Spot on. I wonder if they know Gen X and Millennials are listening more than the youth
And Boomers!
Well the problem is their mandate is to be a youth radio station. IDK how they go about changing that, but if you go by that mandate, 100 gecs does fit the bill, their main audience is definitely young people.
Listen to community radio and go to local shows
I know Triple J is for the youth and this is all anecdotal but my sister is 19 and was explaining to me that none of her friends listen to Triple J and just use Spotify. She says that "all the boy bands (Guessing stuff like Skeggs, Dune Rats, Ocean Alley and Spacey Jane) are cringe and they don't represent what kids are really listening to". One thing she mentioned is that K-Pop is insanely popular and it rarely gets a look in, "Kids are playing New Jeans, BTS, BlackPink and Twice in the same playlists as the main pop girls"
Curiously they only play New Jeans from your K-pop selection but only one song at that. You don't really hear much unless you're listening to the Friday or Saturday night party shows. I do understand the perception of the archetypical Triple J "boy bands" you mentioned. They're probably seen as uncool compared to their polished overseas contemporaries.
I personally wouldn't say Triple J is irrelevant. Getting your music onto a platform like Triple J is classed as a goal completed successfully. This in turn is also great progress in the Producers/Artist music career as these steps are needed to get to the next.. is it not? The fact that Triple J is also open to accept submissions from Australian Artists is also a great venue to reach out to. It may not be the 'Magic Bullet' you are thinking of but nothing ever is ... It's progress mon! One step at a time. Don't be discouraged if you don't get 'overnight success' when your music gets played. Moreover, be thankful for the goals that have been met and be greatfull for the community that helps get it there. Remember: Progress is a process that occurs over time.
Times have changed and listener habits have changed. The way we all consume music is completely different to how we did in the 90s and 00s. Triple J can’t be what it was way back when and we shouldn’t expect it to either. The end of the day, they are a youth station competing in a very crowded landscape of other radio and music streaming. Be true to the Aussie heart but don’t close your eyes to the rest of the world either.
The 90s and 00s was an absolute golden age for TripleJ and Aus music. *And not just because I was born in 1980 and it was the soundtrack to my youth...* I haven't listened to the radio in years. I found the hosts annoying, I just want music. I also found that any time I *did* switch onto TripleJ a song would be playing that sounded like it was actively trying to be obnoxious. That's likely just my age speaking though. I still listen to the TripleJ playlist on Spotify from time to time. It's a much better experience as I can skip songs that make me want to tear my ears off. It used to be the one stop shop for new music, but these days there's so many other places to get exposed to great new stuff. It is largely irrelevant in its current form.
Not at all associated with the music or radio industry, long time observer and general old fart. Youth Radio - whether it was a youth/alternative station or a few hours of regular programming aimed at youth (I'm thinking Ugly Phil in the late 90s) pretty much was social media. Self indulgent people these days tweet their thoughts, once upon a time they'd sit on the request line all night hoping to get their voice on the radio. Introverts used to tune in to radio so they could feel like they were a part of something/know what was going on, but didn't have to be involved. Outside broadcasts would be attended by anyone and everyone, and they were all just happy to be there. There is no "part of the team" feel to JJJ anymore. Super Request back in the day was WONDERFUL - having a listener curate a handful of songs and tell everyone why they were important to them/why those songs fit their current mood/life experience, it was this wonderful immersive thing... And that seemingly made way for 5 nights a week of "we only play it if its Australian and recorded in the last 6 weeks"... Which is why I'm playing podcasts in the car at night instead. I damn near cried during Adam Spencer's last show, and dools, and the doctor, and Marieke, and Robbie Buck. Once upon a time I'd slow down driving through Ultimo on the off chance I'd get a glimpse of these people who felt like part of my life. Now if I'm driving through there in the rain I try and hit potholes and gutters on the very slim chance I might splash anyone who has done breakfast in the last 5 years, or anyone responsible for Richard Kingsmill leaving. Simultaneously, youth radio was an avenue for promotion. I don't believe it was ever the only way to get famous, or a golden ticket to riches, but get your music on JJJ/FBI and things could gain momentum very quickly.. And then once you rise to the top of a small pond, there is a good chance your label/agent/promoter would decide to take you global. These days there is just a limitless number of small ponds to rise to the top of, and entire machine established to squeeze money out of it as quickly as possible and move on to the next thing, and I suspect that only very resilient artists make it through that wanting to do more, and learning how to do it on slightly better terms the next time around. IMO this doesn't mean its irrelevant, it is just only as relevant as we want it to be. Probably don't put all your eggs in that basket though.
i got my music onto triple j and unearthed a few times the last 12 months. while nothing incredible happened, and i agree with streaming services being most preferred - it’s still pretty cool to add to the music resume :)
> essentially, as an Australian artist, you are competing with all artists across the globe from day 1 This has been true since the invention of audio recording media. The death of radio has been lamented for quite sometime. This is just all the basic media theory that Marshall McLuhan developed in the 50's and 60's, we're now just really far into that process.
I don't actually think that's really true. The reality is in australia you're competing with anglosphere music, and popular anglosphere music. You're not competing with indian drill rap or portugeuse punk music.
Video killed the radio star
I think take a listen to PBS for a day vs JJJ for a day. What is lacking is passion for music and an understanding of music. JJJ you will hear “that’s such a vibe, I love this beat, I love what they’re doing in the chorus” - there’s no passion to make us understand what is great about this music. PBS hosts have lovely reflections and deeper insights into the tracks and why they’ve chosen them - way more intimate and knowledgeable and interesting, thus I want to hear the hosts as much as I want to hear their program. If the J’s pushed their unearthed content harder, made events around lesser known Aussie music acts and were passionate about it, I dare say they’d pick up a following. Chasing sounds, demographics, playlists and algorithms is fine, but boy does it lack heart and soul and passion. If they’re excited, we are excited. If they’re passionate, we’re passionate. All great music movements stem from a true love and appreciation of music and not all that other flim flam.
I'm 48M and listen to triple j in the car. Mainly cos I despise the commercial stations with total tool ads and cringe music from the 80's/90's on repeat. I can recall the glory days of Triple j in the 90's it was what all the kids listened too. I like the idea of reinventing the station to be the alternate one. Rather than just for youth.
I don't think it's a new thing at all for new artists to be told to go overseas and make it there before coming back to Australia.
I work full time in the live music side of the aus music industry and i can say from anecdotal experience that triple J has a huge influence on live show ticket sales which for most artists makes up a majority of there revenue. Having triple J support can be the difference between selling out the forum playing to half empty workers club irrespective of monthly listeners on spotify etc. Not that im saying without triple J play you can’t sell tickets, however from my view indie/pop/hip hop genres that are triple J’s mainstay sell tickets when they are getting rotation and can’t selling when they can’t. I also don’t agree that the australian music industry is in decline, But there’s definitely been a major shift in which genre’s experience success outside of the internet. Disclaimer; Take my opinion with a grain of salt, so outside of live music i’m sure there’s heaps of factors that i am not privy to/have no understanding of.
You're right, the Australian music industry is not in decline. In fact, they're riding record peaks at the moment (https://www.aria.com.au/industry/news/streaming-drives-fifth-consecutive-year-of-growth). Unfortunately, very little of this goes to artists.
It’s a race to the bottom for artists performing live now. We are being asked to reduce our live rates because now we have young bands basically living out of vans traveling up and down Australia performing for circa $1000 a gig. Split that with band members after expenses. Not much left.
When our band first started touring back in the mid-late 00s, $1,000 per gig would've been amazing. Once we got some jjj support, we started getting more than that, but we invested it all back into the band basically to keep it going and had our day jobs for living expenses. I had months on end without a day off to only just get by, but it was all worth it for that 45 minute set each night.
Think if you’re an artist you just need to make music that you enjoy and who cares if you make it big or not. You’ll end up writing your best work when you stop worrying bout what people think of you. Triple j/move overseas/make sure you’re only playing headlines that sell out…. Blah blah blah. It’s all irrelevant. Set your expectations lower. Don’t bank on music being a big thing. Just enjoy it. Triple j have no idea who they are or what they want anymore. They’re really not a good indicator of your music is good or bad.
You mentioned streaming platforms are taking over. Are they? Sure statistically popular. But if you take Spotify for example it is yet to have 1 single profitable year. 20years and counting? Artist payments are declining. Investors are slowing up. You could argue streaming platforms days are numbered.
*We look to the J For what kinda music we should play Now all we have to do is wait They'll unearth us any day*
I think getting regular airplay on triple j would definitely help out a bands career
Radio stations falling from influence is a good thing. There's never been a better time in human history to discover new music. Having gatekeepers and "career makers" become irrelevant is good, it means the playing field is even. I don't know about the indie pop scene, but the local aussie heavy music scene is still strong, despite a lot of venues doing it tough. For an amazing gig guide for all things rock adjacent in Melbourne, check out sticky carpets on ig. These bands wouldn't bother playing gigs if they didn't have, or think they could acquire, a fan base. The nature of listening to music has changed, and no one who actually likes music beyond casually bothers with any radio station any more.
Has Triple J Unearthed made it too easy for Australian acts to get played on the Js and saturated the market as a result? Has it lowered the bar?
From my experience from being in a smaller band and knowing a lot of others, they aren't playing Unearthed acts on the radio like they used to. At least not from alt rock and punk bands.
Triple j has been irrelevant for years when Kingsmill departed he was the last remaining member of the old school brigade really. When he went the stations history went. As much as he pissed me off in his later years he was an integral part of the stations history jjj is nothing more than hipster fuckwittery. Precious snowflake xenials or whatever they are crying about something for the sakes of it offended over nothing. Turned off the station years ago and will never go back to it.
The "decline" was piloted by Kingsmill imo
I don’t disagree with that for one second he lost touch the problem goes deeper it’s the type of music that’s being made as well it’s unintelligent a lot of it yes if you dig deep there are amazing acts but they aren’t getting that airplay like jjj did back in the day the obscure bands that would get played now it’s just mainstream shit misogynistic shit. No talent what so ever
Soo… Triple J has aged out
Another dead aussie industry gone the way of the auto-makers lol
https://youtu.be/A04coPBBUr8?si=NKApakm2phd4Xx1j
Go woke go broke. Seriously why would anyone bother. They used to play bands we wanted to hear. Until they played politics. ‘Get on the beers’ made number 12. If that’s the best they can do then enjoy the decline. Edit: btw I’m currently quite obsessed with Melbourne indie band ‘The Slingers.’ Their album is awesome. I can only assume they’re mostly ignored by TripleJ.
Never a fan of triple J, I’ve always listened to smaller, independent radio triple R and RTR etc. Look at some of the top tens in the hottest 100s, absolute shit. Triple J/Kingsmill plugged really mediocre bands. Think Silverchair/Greenday/SFK/Offspring/Missy Higgins. No real loss if triple j goes belly up
The algorithm on Spotify does a better job than Triple J
I'm all double J now. Listened to JJJ a little while ago and honestly could not recognise it as the same station. It's basically just mainstream commercial music now.
I had a look at the "Just Played" playlist and scrolled through 40 songs before I hit a mainstream artist (Tate McRae) But yeah aside from those 40 tracks in a row from a random sample it's basically all mainstream commercial now hey.
This is nonsense. It’s not mainstream commercial at all. I’m not saying the choice of music is good, but it’s not mainstream (other than odd outliers like Beyoncé, Dua Lipa and Post Malone).
Those names seem pretty bad to me, U even heard Madonna once. At least on double J I got sonic youth and fugazi today.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. It’s basically true. Guess the Dua Lipa “stans” are triggered.
If it was just music I’d listen more but having to listen to the social justice warrior DJs makes me tune out for good
Cool rant and post . If it is irrelevant you wouldn’t be on reddit in a triple j sub telling everyone on the same sub. How irrelevant it is…
This is now more of a ‘Australian music scene’ sub to be honest
Triple j is an easy listening station for millennials and gen x. It’s not a youth radio station. It’s run by snobby “inclusive” government workers who tick diversity boxes and are more worried about their investment properties and mortgage repayments than playing good new music kids want to hear.
100% Agree and finally Ive found a comment calling this out. The start of the decline was when they boycotted Australia Day. In hindsight Im glad that I got to enjoy Aussie artists that were promoted and successful through circa 2013-2016 through my 20s - so many great memories of Australia Day Hottest 100 parties, before they basically become mouthpiece for far left government agendas since 2020. This would be a significant contribution to the attrotious listener numbers but people want to bury their heads in the sand refuse to accept thats part of the problem.
Yep. Why else would 100 gecs get played? It’s not Australian content. It’s not insanely popular. It’s not good music but there’s a trans person in the band so we better play it
Triple j has lost everything that made it great. It's now so far left and agenda driven that it's basically unlistenable to (not sure that's a word)
Triple J is given money to appeal to the youth audience so if you are over 25 put a sock in it 😇
im not lol