Is triple j holding back the Oz music scene?

In The Music Network today they have spoken to 4 music industry professionals regarding triple j. They wanted to know if they believed the network are holding back the Australian music scene.

Below are some excerpts from the responses given to TMN :-

Mike Taylor – GM of A&R at UMA and Head of Island Records Australia said:

"triple J “high rotation” is about 17-18 spins a week. This level of exposure isn’t breaking new Australian artists in the way triple J has in the past. Go back ten years, when “high rotation” was 35-40 spins a week. This created real “star” Australian artists, who had big careers off triple J's support."

Colin Daniels – Managing Director, Inertia said:

"triple J is not holding back the Australian music scene. What’s holding back the music scene is that there are no alternatives to triple J. Community radio is a godsend – we are lucky to have stations like Triple R and FBI — and many others."

Stephen Wade – CEO Select Music said:

"Whether the model is 100% right or not, triple J is the biggest and almost only supporter of new Australian talent. If it stopped broadcasting tomorrow imagine what the Australian music scene would look like?…..

If anything, it’s the Australian radio industry that I see as holding back the scene, far worse than triple J ever could."

Anonymous said:

"I will say that there’s several things wrong with triple J’s “modus operandi”: Firstly there’s far too many songs on their playlist so “high rotation” means fuck all for an artist these days unless you’re Gotye with a hit single…..

They can argue all they want that they play x amount of Australian music and they have the Unearthed project – but the sad truth is triple J is an abomination to listen to. It’s a station that has very much lost its way with the industry and the listeners."

triple j breakfast host Tom Ballard took to Twitter and, tongue firmly planted in cheek, said:

Their full responses plus reader reaction can be viewed at The Music Network here.