A Parliamentary report into Australia’s music industry has called for commercial radio stations to play at least 25% Australian content during the peak hours of 6am to 6pm.
Identifying various loopholes, confusion and debate surrounding what constitutes as Australian music and varying quotas for different stations, the inquiry aims to regulate the radio landscape more effectively.
A parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s music industry has called for commercial radio stations to play at least 25% Australian music as well as identifying the loopholes and confusion surrounding the quota.
The report also calls for clearer and simpler rules to be put in place to ensure the existing 25% quota is met appropriately by mainstream rock, contemporary hits, top 40 and alternative stations. This was supposed to have been regulated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), however, they found many stations were adhering to the standard, although were playing Aussie music at unpopular late hours.
It was also found that “everyone was working on a different definition” of what Australian music was, unsure if Australian producers, composers and recording artists meant the music being played was Australian. This was clarified by Commercial Radio Australia, the industry body, who came up with a definition; ‘Australian’ applies to an Australian main artist, feature artist or a band with 50% or more Australian members.
In stark contrast, triple j has a self-regulated 40% Australian music quota.
