Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station that began broadcasting in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music,[1][2] and plays more Australian content than commercial networks.[3][4]
For the boy band formerly known as Triple J, see Union J.Broadcast area
Australia: FM, DAB, DVB-T Ch-28 & Online
Worldwide: Internet radio
English
- Alternative music
- current affairs
- youth culture
19 January 1975
In his tenure as Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam wanted to create a youth-focused radio station to extend the appeal of the ABC. Originally broadcasting solely to Greater Sydney as 2JJ and later Double J from 19 January 1975, the station quickly set itself apart from commercial networks by playing mainly Australian content as well as songs censored or banned elsewhere. From 1981, the station began broadcasting nationally as 2JJJ or Triple J as FM-only, and continued to expanded regionally throughout the 1990s. From 2014, spin-off digital radio station Double J was launched to appeal to more contemporary audiences. In 2015, Triple J dominated national ratings in the 25–39 demographic, but it has since been losing its audience due to the rise of streaming media.
Triple J has had a significant impact on the national music landscape, being a major supporter of Australian music festivals and tours of domestic and international artists. Every year, they broadcast the Hottest 100, a public music poll known as the "world's greatest music democracy", as well as the J Awards, a listener-voted music awards series.[5] They annually champion Ausmusic Month and founded the nationwide Ausmusic T-Shirt Day initiative in 2013. Further, the network's music discovery platform, Triple J Unearthed, provides pathways for independent artists to be broadcast on the network.[6] However, the station has been criticised for promoting a homogenous Australian music scene.
Music and programming[edit]
Music evolution[edit]
In the station's early years, Triple J primarily played pop rock, but the range of music programmed was far wider than its commercial rivals, encompassing both mainstream and alternative rock and pop, experimental and electronic music, progressive rock, funk, soul, disco, the emerging ambient, punk and New Wave genres of the late 70s and reggae.
The station played an unprecedented level of Australian content, and was a pioneer in its coverage of independent music. Early presenter Gayle Austin reflected in 2006: "At that time Australian music didn’t have much production put into it because there wasn’t much money made out of it."[12] Staff at the station were expected to "provide an alternative to the mainstream, with a heavy emphasis on Australian content".[12] This is because the station has always had a 40% minimum Australian content quota, well above commercial radio's 25%.[38]
In recent decades however, this commitment to Australian music has waned, according to Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian. In 2022, he reflected, saying their music has "more in common now with commercial stations: pop A-listers including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X and the Kid Laroi are all playlist fixtures, with Eilish even winning the Hottest 100 in 2018 – an outcome that would have been unthinkable even a few years earlier."[38][46]
Impact[edit]
Homogenisation of music[edit]
In January 2014, Fairfax newspapers published a report questioning if Triple J could be blamed for the homogenisation of Australian music.[48] Reporters interviewed a number of notable musicians who remained anonymous. One respondent talked of a certain "Triple J sound" that artists require to be played on the station.[49] Music director of Triple J Unearthed, Dave Ruby Howe, acknowledged there were some similar sounds on the discovery platform, but said bands purely chasing airplay will get caught out.[49]
In 2022, these concerns were aired once again with a report from The Guardian.[38] D'Souza interviewed longtime listeners who agreed the station is "dominated by garage-pop bands", particularly referring to the bands "Spacey Jane, Lime Cordiale, Skegss and Ball Park Music" who "are consistently among the most played artists on the station every year." Another respondent said the "station's programming is consistent to a fault."[38]
Effect on mainstream media[edit]
With a more adventurous music catalogue than that of commercial radio, especially throughout the 1980s, Triple J has been responsible for popularising some of Australia's most well-known acts, including Midnight Oil, Nick Cave, Silverchair and the John Butler Trio.[50] They have also been given credit for creating local audiences for overseas acts, like Blondie, Devo, Garbage and the B-52s – Double Jay was the first radio station in the world to play their debut single "Rock Lobster".[51] Reflecting on the station's 30 year anniversary in 2005, former presenter Steve Cannane said "Plenty of musos, comedians, announcers and journos got their start courtesy of the station."[50]
Triple J also had a significant effect on record distribution in its early years. Labels would previously only import recordings that they knew would yield good commercial return, leaving them often unwilling to take risks on local releases from unknown acts. Australian distributors initially refused to offer 801's 1976 live album 801 Live in the country, but constant airplay on Double Jay made the record the highest selling import album of the year. Thus, the label decided to release it locally.
Triple J's programming approach was copied by succeeding commercial stations. Notably, Nova, who had also branded themselves as a competitor youth station, had a "clearly borrowed" catalogue from Triple J, but was slightly more conservative with its song selections.[52]
In 1990, Triple J had been playing N.W.A's protest song "Fuck tha Police" for up to six months, before catching the attention of ABC management who subsequently banned it. As a result, the staff went on strike and put the group's song "Express Yourself" on continuous play for 24 hours, playing it roughly 82 times in a row.[53][54] In 2014, when launching Double J on digital radio, the station played nothing but "Express Yourself" for 48 hours.[55][56]
J Play[edit]
J Play was a B2B resource showcasing and tracking artists and songs played on Triple J. Launched in 2006 by Paul Stipack, J Play created a large archive of statistics of every song played by Triple J over 12 years. It showed an artist's trajectory from their first airing to full rotation. The privately-owned site was acquired by Seventh Street Media (Brag Media) along with music publications Tone Deaf and The Brag, in early 2017.[83][84] Owing to changes in the music industry, J Play's usefulness diminished, and it ceased operation in January 2019. The Brag Media retained the J Play database of 40,000 songs, 11,000 artists, and 15,000 playlists.[85]