We are on the verge of losing the next generation of Aussie music legends. Not because they lack talent but because Australia has a broken system that refuses to give them a voice.  For decades, radio helped shape our musical icons, but today it has become the single biggest barrier to our next generation of stars.

This isn’t just about music. It’s about identity. Community. Voice. It's about our national culture.

The clock is ticking.

📊 The Facts Are Clear

• Commercial radio stations in Australia are required to play just 10–25% Australian music, depending on format (ACMA, 2024).

• Most Aussie airplay is pushed to off-peak hours, outside 6am–6pm when most listeners are tuned in (ARIA, 2023).

• Only 20–23% of total airplay is Australian with most of those  spins going to legacy acts (AIR & ARIA joint analysis, 2023).

Our Icons of Australian Music aren't  just great, they were heard. They had airplay. They had momentum. They still do. And they  will be the last of their kind, because  Instead of being discovered on-air, emerging musicians compete with algorithms buried beneath global megastars on streaming platforms governed by global companies.

📢 No airplay = no shows. No shows = no future.

If Australian radio won't give Australian artists a voice - who will?

📢 What about emerging artists?

• There is no formal quota for emerging artists

• A parliamentary committee recommended that 25% of all songs played should be new (released in the last 12 months), but this has not been enforced (House of Representatives Standing Committee, 2019).

🎶 The Human and Cultural  Cost

Australian musicians are fighting a losing battle is a system rigged against them

• 83% of musicians work second jobs to survive (I Lost My Gig Australia, 2023).

• 66% report high psychological distress, with 59% experiencing suicidal thoughts (Support Act, 2022).

• Fewer than 30% of registered songwriters are women, and culturally diverse voices remain underrepresented in mainstream airplay  (APRA AMCOS, 2023).