AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS ARE BEING SILENCED
By Elly Hanlon
For decades, radio was the kingmaker. A song on Triple J or Nova could catapult an artist from local gig to national tour.
Airplay led to real-world audiences
Audiences bought tickets, merch, and albums
Careers were built on exposure and momentum
Australian legends like INXS, Yothu Yindi, Powderfinger, Missy Higgins, and Paul Kelly weren’t discovered through luck they were heard. Often for the first time on the radio.
Radio was a direct pipeline:
Hear a song → Like it → Buy a ticket → Become a fan
Australia’s music industry contributes billions to the national economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs but the actual artists are barely surviving. The reasons are systemic: And unless we speak up now, the next generation, especially those from regional, remote, and underrepresented communities won’t just struggle to break through. They’ll vanish entirely.
Commercial radio stations are required to play between 10%–25% Australian music, depending on their format. And yes, they get to choose their own category. Only formats A–C must play 25%, 20%, or 15% local content, and even then, just 25% of that quota must be “new” (meaning released in the past 12 months). That’s only 6% of overall airplay at best: and “new” doesn’t mean “emerging.”
Legacy acts like INXS or Cold Chisel releasing a remastered track count. Regional, First Nations, or independent artists trying to break in? - 0% allocation. They’re not even on the radar.
“Technically, stations are complying. But the code is outdated and undermines the intent of making space for Australian music.”
— Dean Ormston, CEO, APRA AMCOS
Airplay decisions aren’t just about “what listeners want.” They’re shaped by the global music giants Universal, Sony, and Warner who flood playlists with international content backed by major promo budgets. Meanwhile:
In 2024, only 5% of ARIA’s Top 100 Singles were by Australian artists
On the Albums chart? Just 3 local releases made it into the Top 100
(Source: The Music Network, Jan 2025)
Radio stations claim they’re supporting Aussie music, but the numbers don’t lie. Australian artists aren’t being left behind because they lack talent. They’re being locked out by an airplay system built on outdated rules, vague quotas, and global industry bias.And while there are many moving pieces to this travesty, the one system that could single handedly do most of the saving save our cultural heritage actively chooses not to, actually fights against measures desinged to save our cultutal legacy.
Then: When Radio Was the Launchpad
For decades, radio was the kingmaker. A song on Triple J or Nova could catapult an artist from local gig to national tour.
• Airplay led to real-world audiences
• Audiences bought tickets, merch, and albums
• Careers were built on exposure and momentum
Australian legends like INXS, Yothu Yindi, Powderfinger, Missy Higgins, and Paul Kelly weren’t discovered through luck — they were heard. Often for the first time on the radio.
Radio was a direct pipeline:
Hear a song → Like it → Buy a ticket → Become a fan
Commercial Radio Plays It Safe. And Global
Airplay decisions aren’t just about “what listeners want.” They’re shaped by the global music giants — Universal, Sony, and Warner — who flood playlists with international content backed by major promo budgets. Meanwhile:
• In 2024, only 5% of ARIA’s Top 100 Singles were by Australian artists
• On the Albums chart? Just 3 local releases made it into the Top 100
(Source: The Music Network, Jan 2025)
Radio stations claim they’re supporting Aussie music — but the numbers don’t lie. And emerging artists from outside the major label ecosystem are invisible.
CRA (Commercial Radio & Audio) argues that increasing quotas would hurt their bottom line. But here’s the truth:
• Radio already pays blanket licenses for music — to APRA AMCOS (songwriting) and PPCA (recordings).
• There’s a 1% cap on what stations have to pay in recording royalties — a cap that’s been frozen since 1968.
• Removing that cap would give artists a fairer share, but CRA says that would force them to cut Aussie airplay.
Stations are already paying for music — they just choose to give most of that value to global acts and legacy artists. If more Aussie artists were played, the same royalty pool would be spread more fairly.
Yes, radio stations already pay for the music they play — but where that money goes is the real issue.
• Commercial radio earns over $1 billion in annual ad revenue, yet only pays around $4.4 million in recording royalties through PPCA.
• A huge portion of those royalties go to multinational record labels, because they own the master rights to most of the songs in rotation.
• That means even when stations do play music with Australian voices — if those voices are signed to a global major, the money still flows offshore.
Stations could support local artists without spending more. They just choose not to. Major labels maintain close relationships with commercial networks through “soft” incentives making international acts the low cost high reward option.
• Exclusive interviews
• Co-branded events
• Sponsored competitions and promotional partnerships
• First-look access to international artists or tours
And without exposure?
• There’s no audience
• Without an audience, there’s no tour demand
• No shows = no merch sales, no income, no career
No beers and bands at the pub.