Australian music mogul Michael Chugg has slammed mainstream radio for what he believes is a distinct lack of airplay for local music.
Speaking at the Australasian World Music Expo on Friday, Chugg believes that a minimum 25 per cent of the music on major commercial radio stations should be current Australian music.
“Mainstream radio will not fucking play Australian music until they have to. It’s awful,” he said.
“I’m sure eventually it will change, but it’s very frustrating the short playlists and the domination international music has on commercial radio stations.”
“With mainstream radio, it would be good to see out of the 60 to 70 records they play, 25 per cent of that be current Australian content… instead of the greatest hits shit they play between midnight and 6am to fill the quota.”
“The Commerical Radio Association will tell you that I’m full of shit, but just stay up one night and have a listen. You’ll be surprised.”
Chugg said that he raised the issue with Federal Minister for the Arts Simon Crean while they were in India recently as part of an Australian music showcase.
“I told him it was all very well talking about how many Australian bands we’re breaking overseas, but did he realise that they had to go overseas to break it because we can’t get any airplay on our own radio stations?”
“He was a bit pissed off with me about that, but that’s the reality of it.”
“He said ‘You’ve got to talk to the Communications Minister because it’s not in my portfolio’, and I thought, ‘give me a break… you’re either united or you’re not’.”
While on the topic of India, Chugg mentioned that the trip had opened his eyes to a new market of musical talent, and he was keen to bring a few Indian acts down to Australia in the future.
“It was a great eye-opener for me (the Indian music industry) because the production levels, the crew, the marketing, the promotions, and most importantly, the kids, were all switched on.”
“The other thing that blew me away was the Indian bands, they rock out. There’s a big metal scene but a great musical scene as well, and some of the bands I was dancing and whooping and yeah-ing to could fit in anywhere in the world.”
“We’re definitely looking at doing some crossover and bringing some of the Indian acts down here. You might not be able to understand the lyrics, but you certainly get the vibe of what they’re singing about… there’s no doubt about that.”
