Welcome to SWOT by Sound Story, your inside track on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats looming for the creative industries.
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⚡ Trending: TikToker finds Scott Morrison’s family photo album at Sydney op shop, and the pics are bonkers. Words by Laura Masia. Source: Pedestrian.
🎵 Music: First NSW music festival to allow pill testing revealed. Words by Michael McGowan. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.
📰 Media: Inside News Corp’s backfired ‘UNDERCOVERJEW’ operation. Words by Daanyal Saeed. Source: Crikey.
💰 Advertising: ‘Let’s not focus on that’: Stan acting CEO Dan Taylor stays silent on ads and cost increases. Words by Natasha Lee. Source: Mediaweek.
📲 Tech: The chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI says it is "not for sale" after a US$97.4bn takeover bid from a consortium of investors led by Elon Musk. Words by Michael Race & Imran Rahman-Jones. Source: BBC.
📜 Government: The arts minister, Tony Burke, has said he contacted the chief executive of Creative Australia before a board meeting at which the body decided to withdraw its selection of Khaled Sabsabi for the 61st Venice Biennale. Words by Nour Haydar & Kelly Burke. Source: The Guardian.
🌶️ Spicy: Turns out there’s a lot of hardcore p*rn on Australian government websites. Words by Cam Wilson. Source: Crikey.
Strength: Aussie and Aotearoa Music Making an Impact
This week we found out which artists hailing from Australia and New Zealand are finding the most streaming success beyond our borders.
👉 Darwin-based CYRIL dominated Spotify’s Australian Music Global Impact List for 2024.
👉 The list charts the Top 30 tracks by Australian artists which had the most significant global impact on an international scale on the streaming service.
👉 Over in Aotearoa, Kimbra was atop the list, with Lorde, BENEE and Balu Brigada also getting a look in.
👉 You can see the full Australian list, including the likes of Lithe, The Kid LAROI, Royel Otis, Kylie Minogue and Dom Dolla, here.
Weakness: Losing Grip on Reality
Australian free-to-air television networks now rely on ‘reality’ formats to bulk up their schedules – but they weren’t doing themselves any favours this week.
👉 Channel 9 removed a house hunting show you may never have heard of, Find My Beach House, after it was revealed on Media Watch that some of the purported prospective ‘buyers’ actually already owned the properties.
👉 It didn’t really get better from there for Channel 9, with its ‘reality’ staple Married At First Sight delivering scathing headline after scathing headline for its ‘Intimacy Week’ initiative.
👉 Don’t believe us? Here’s a sample: ‘MAFS participant ‘incredibly uncomfortable’ after racy ‘intimacy week’ episode airs’, and ‘Stars, viewers complain after G-string scenes air on Married At First Sight’. Or how about: ‘You don’t need to watch MAFS to agree these moments display textbook misogyny’?
👉 And according to the Herald Sun, the media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, is now investigating the program following viewer complaints.
Opportunity: Pollies on Podcasts
It’s (unofficial) election season, so gear up to start seeing (and hearing) more from the nation’s top (and let’s face it, probably bottom) politicians.
👉 Not all headlines pointed to success for pollies jumping at the opportunity to appear on podcasts, with The Sydney Morning Herald pointing out that Peter Dutton’s rare podcast pop-in “bombed”.
👉 Apparently it’s not wracked up many views yet, but there’s still plenty of time and opportunity out there.
👉 Dutton certainly isn’t alone in (trying to) capitalise on the audio opportunity, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hoping people will hear what he has to say.
👉 Albanese has been on Straight Talk with Mark Bouris and The Squiz’s News Club in recent weeks.
Threat: Not Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
👉 Things kicked off for outdoor advertising operator oOh!media this week, first on LinkedIn, and then, as often follows, the trade press.
👉 People’s primary objection to oOh!’s operation was that it’s a founding member of Ad Net Zero, the advertising industry’s response to and plan to help with the climate emergency.
👉 Why then, people asked, did it accept business from an advertiser who wanted to declare ‘Renewables Cost the Earth – Dollars & Destruction’? (Which, by the way, was a paid political message by a conservative lobby group funded by the likes of the mining and fossil fuel industries.
👉 oOh! has now responded to the backlash, claiming the billboards ran in error, and that internal creative review processes were missed. It said additional checks have now been implemented.
The Fun Stuff
Quote of the Week: “The rapturous crowd proves that there is still a huge appetite in Australia for the festival experience, particularly among the younger generation who are hungry for the community and euphoria that only live music can bring. Let’s hope this is a sign of better things to come,” The Guardian after attending this year’s Laneway Festival.
🗞️ Read of the Week: If you need some good news, mixed with some motivation and inspiration, look no further than this piece on 96-year-old Joy Davis who still swims laps five days a week. “You just hop in and do it,” she tells ABC News.
📻 Team Tidbit: Sound Story is hiring! We’re looking for a Sydney-based entertainment Publicist (Hybrid) and a Comms Assistant (Remote) to join our growing brains trust of comms strategists, journalists and future-focused storytellers. Find out more here!
