Melbourne regularly finds itself the subject of songs– here are just a few of our favourites.
While watching the Tokyo Olympics, Sydney singer-songwriter Jack River had a bone to pick about the choice of music and took to Instagram to air out her grievances towards Channel 7 and Australian corporations.
“How great would it be if you played all Australian music in your coverage of the Olympics? These are Australian moments, they deserve Australian music,” wrote River. “How good would it be to hear Aussie music in Coles, Woolies, Aldi, in banks, on hold, in stores and on ads being shown to Australians?”
We’re all well aware of how hard lockdown has hit our small businesses. We've done our bit by ordering delivery and shopping local to show our support. Now it’s time to show some support to the musicians who are just as much a part of our cultural fabric and are struggling with the loss of income from venue closures and tour cancellations.
The Instagram call-out received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, including some from Australian musicians like Peking Duk, Cub Sport, Vera Blue and Lime Cordiale. River even added a template that people could share on their own page and tag their favourite brands and television stations.
The request didn’t fall on deaf ears, and Coles Radio released a statement committing that they will increase the number of songs by Australian and Indigenous artists played on their radio stations and in their supermarkets. Channel 7 has begun playing local music in their coverage of the Tokyo Olympics and we've seen Channel 9 and Brooke Boney playing all Australian music as well.
The surge in support led to River launching the Instagram page and campaign ‘Our Soundtrack, Our Stories’ to encourage Australians to share and consume more homegrown music during these trying times.
Looking for other ways to support Australian musicians? You can make a donation to the Support Act which is working to deliver support to artists, music workers and crews.
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