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: We watched Erin Molan’s new show so you don’t have to. Words by Daanyal Sayed. Source: Crikey.
🎵 Music: Amyl and the Sniffers, Dom Dolla & Thelma Plum lead 2025 Rolling Stone Australia Awards shortlist. Words by Conor Lochrie. Source: Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
📰 Media: Seb Costello exits Nine amid review into bathroom incident. Words by Calum Jaspan. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.
💰 Advertising: XXXX ad discontinued for health and safety breach. Words by Ashley Regan. Source: AdNews.
📲 Tech: WeAre8, the social network that pays users to watch ads, has laid off its Australian team. Words by Hal Crawford. Source: Mumbrella.
📜 Government: Soft questions, angry comments: Albanese and Dutton hit the podcast campaign. Words by Nick Bonyhady, Calum Jaspan, Olivia Ireland & Paul Sakkal. Source: The Age.
🌶️ Spicy: Dave Hughes addresses viral video of booting audience members from Fringe Show. Words by Rhea Nath. Source: Pedestrian.
Strength: Aussie Music Gets More Spins
Some game-changing news for Australian artists looking to get more plays on radio this week – but could it also give the medium back its power of breaking new artists?
👉 A big scoop on The Music this week revealed that triple j has been trialling a dramatic overhaul of its rotation system.
👉 High-rotation tracks (those which are played the most frequently on the station), are now receiving in excess of 30 spins per week, up significantly from 12 months ago, when those deemed 'high rotation' had just 14 to 17 plays. Could this mean triple j reasserts its power in breaking artists? After all, more spins means more chance of being heard…
👉 ABC Head of Music, Emily Copeland, certainly thinks so, telling The Music: “Understanding that increased familiarity can increase the likability of a track, we are hoping for this change to have a positive impact on Australian artists, driving more cut through with audiences, regardless of where they land over the long term.”
👉 And SCA’s 1041 2Day FM also had major news this week, announcing a completely refreshed and re-energised station. It has a new sound, and a new promise: the hits, before they hit.
👉 SCA said 1041 2Day FM guarantees it will play more new music than any other commercial radio station in Sydney, and offered up a commitment to support and showcase more Australian artists.
👉 SCA’s Chief Content Officer, Dave Cameron, said: “Sydney is craving something fresh and relevant and that’s exactly what we’re delivering. In a city saturated by old shows with old voices, all doing the same old dirty gear, and playing the same old songs day after day — without supporting new music and new artists — 1041 2Day FM is stepping up with a format that’s forward-thinking, energetic, and focussed on bringing exciting new music to listeners, alongside exciting new voices at breakfast.”
👉 He added: “Younger music lovers and creators have been left behind, but that changes today with our guarantee to play more new music than our competitors. Take a listen to 1041 2Day FM from today, and you’ll hear something unlike any other Sydney station.”
Weakness: Media in the Firing Line Over Election Ads
The Australian Federal Election hasn’t even been officially announced, and already it seems we’re hitting some new lows.
👉 Serial pest/ Australian mining identity/ political provocateur/ one of Australia’s biggest spenders on outdoor advertising Clive Palmer is back with his hard-to-miss political adverts.
👉 This time around, however, rather than just being annoying/ yellow on nearly every street corner, they’re also hurting minorities and causing staff protests at media companies.
👉 He's already vowed to spend upwards of $100 million in the lead up to the Federal Election, and ran 14 front-page advertisements across various newspapers this week.
👉 ACM’s The Newcastle Herald has since pulled the ad from online rotation, and told distressed staff and readers the advertisement “offended many of our readers and did not meet our values as a company. It should not have appeared”.
👉 A spokesperson for Nine said political advertising must adhere to all relevant laws, codes and regulations. “Nine does not align itself to any political party or messaging,” but journalists from The Age have written a formal letter of complaint to management.
Opportunity: A Different Kind of Television Programming?
Australian television networks are often criticised for not being particularly inventive, innovative or risk-taking with their programming efforts, but Network 10 is trying something different.
👉 On Monday night, at 8:40pm, Channel 10 and 10Play, Sam Pang tonight will premiere.
👉 The show is billed as "a brand-new tonight show, packed with sharp monologues, great guests, and plenty of laughs, all filmed in front of a live crowd".
👉 As The Sydney Morning Herald points out, the nighttime talk show is “one of the most recently cursed formats on Australian television”, and “the history of recent nighttime chat shows on Australian TV has been embarrassing at best, disastrous at worst”.
👉 Pang is already joking about the show potentially ending up on a less-glamorous multichannel, but there’s an opportunity here for Australian television to try something different, so let’s see what happens…
Threat: No Music On A Dead Planet
Aussie musicians are throwing their weight behind one of the most severe threats facing humanity: the climate catastrophe.
👉 Hundreds of musicians have joined Green Music Australia's No Music On A Dead Planet campaign, which urges fans to ask local candidates and political parties ahead of the election if they will make the climate crisis a priority at the polls by “supporting 100 per cent renewable energy, saying no to nuclear, and ending government support for fossil fuels”.
👉 Acts including Midnight Oil, Jimmy Barnes, Missy Higgins, Tame Impala, Lime Cordiale, Amyl and the Sniffers, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, and Angie McMahon are already on board.
👉 Green Music Australia CEO, Berish Bilander, said: “We’re proud to be elevating and supporting the voices of artists who are demanding strong climate action. Without a healthy planet, we can’t have a healthy and thriving music scene. Musicians, as powerful storytellers, are uniquely placed to connect with people and shift public consciousness, creating a groundswell that politicians can’t ignore.”
👉 Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers said: “The No Music On A Dead Planet message is a powerful reminder that without a healthy planet, there’s no future for any of us – or for music. For us, it’s about ensuring that the art we create isn’t at the expense of the world we all share.”
The Fun Stuff
Quote of the Week: “It’s like, ‘We’re just simple folks in comfortable clothes who eat burritos for lunch!’ Then they hop on a plane to go yacht-hopping in the Mediterranean. Just admit you’re rich. Stop pretending.” – Tech industry journalist and commentator, Kara Swisher, speaking to B&T about how tech business leaders love to ‘cosplay’ simplicity.
🗞️ Read of the Week: And if you want more hot takes like the one above, why not give the full piece a read: ‘Kara Swisher On Big Tech’s ‘Careless People’, Her New ‘Burn Book’ & Why She’s Had It With Silicon Valley’ is available on B&T.
⚽ Team Tidbit: Zanda Wilson is one our Sydney-based team members, and a massive football fan! He represented Sound Story at the recent music industry charity tournament, Musica Copa, playing on team Spotify. Fellow Sound Story clients Untitled Group and UNIFIED Music Group also put in some strong performances, and have already expressed interest in signing Zanda to a long-term deal for 2026 and beyond!
