Triple J has shared the list of its 50 most-played artists in 2022, revealing some interesting trends around the station’s music tastes this year.
Collectively, the list is composed of 60% Australian artists, with Triple J darlings Spacey Jane, Flume and The Wombats taking out the top three spots. Elsewhere, familiar favourites Gang of Youths, Ball Park Music and Hayden James placed fifth, sixth and eighth overall.
Of the list’s international acts, industry titans Doja Cat, Jack Harlow and Sam Fender were scattered throughout the top 50, alongside equally starry pop stars Charli XCX, The Weeknd and Billie Eilish. Aside from the headliners, a deep dive into statistics around the gender, genre, and queer diversity of the list reveals some telling details about Triple J’s music tastes this year, particularly in regard to the male-dominated entrants.
Of the list’s 29 solo acts, 62% were male, an increase from Triple J’s 2021 cohort which was composed of 56% solo male artists. Meanwhile, of 18 bands or groups represented on the list, 66% are composed of solely male members (JUNGLE, Lime Cordiale), with over 83% containing just one female bandmate. Triple j listed just two all-female band line-ups, with Camp Cope and Wet Leg coming in at number 41 and number 7.
Interestingly, 66% of the 18 band or group acts fall into the alternative, indie or surf rock category, reflecting the station’s taste for those specific genres.
Earlier this year, Australian musician Mallrat called out some of the very same statistics present in this year’s ARIA nominations. She addressed the male-dominated list of nominees, and said that the awards body doesn’t pay credit unless an artist “plays guitar rock music.”
Perhaps anticipating some of this backlash in its most-played list, Triple J added a disclaimer to acknowledge that its featured albums of the year, including those by the likes of Spacey Jane and Ocean Alley, were likely to receive more airplay in 2022. The station’s supposed favouritism of particular bands was this year addressed by The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who said that the station doesn’t “have a monopoly on cool.”
In terms of Indigenous Australian representation, six of the fifty acts are or contain a First Nations artist, which pales in comparison to the ARIAs, which this year recognised a record number of First Nations musicians. Of the 50 most-played artists on the list, only 8% are part of the queer community, with Lil Nas X, G Flip and King Princess among the musicians representing that cohort.
Take a closer look at fellow year-end lists from YouTube, Spotify and TikTok.
