Australian musicians send SOS to business and media to play more local songs on hold lines, in stores

With millions either stuck on hold or watching the Olympics, Aussie artists want banks, supermarkets and TV stations to play more local tunes to keep them in jobs.

Indie pop powerhouse Jack River may have just saved Australia from the torture of bad hold music thanks to her passionate social media plea to corporations and broadcasters to play more homegrown artists.

Her now viral post has marshalled the Australian music industry into action with the Our Soundtrack Our Stories campaign to encourage companies to play more homegrown music to support artists who have lost more than 90 per cent of their income since Covid hit.

The artist and activist got the ball rolling with her viral post. Picture: Daphne Nguyen

Jack River, or Holly Rankin on her passport, gave the “We wanna be your soundtrack” shout out last week after a trifecta of frustrating reminders about the lack of support for homegrown artists, despite the omnipresence of music in everyday life from the hours spent on hold to the supermarket trip.

“Last year when lookdown happened, I was on the phone to one of the government services thinking ‘Why can’t we have Australian music on these government lines?’” she said.

“Then last Wednesday, I was filling out my Service NSW Covid relief form, just staring at the 98 per cent downturn in my business compared to 2019.

“I walked into the lounge room and American and British artists are being played over these really beautiful Australian moments at the Olympics, and it would be so simple to program Australian music over these moments.

“And then I drove to Coles and the same thing happened.”

When she got home she posted a simple plea.

“Dear Channel 7 and Corporate Aus, How great would it be if you played all Australian music in your coverage of the Olympics?”

“And while we’re here, 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 for the next few months?!”

Seven, Coles, Bank Australia, 7Eleven and Nine responded positively with commitments to play more Australian-made and fans have been flooding social media with call outs to other supermarket chains and banks and playlist suggestions.

Alex The Astronaut suggests her song “I Think You’re Great” is excellent Olympics material. Picture: Jess Gleeson / Supplied.

Artists who have supported the viral post include Lime Cordiale, Vera Blue, Peking Duk, Baker Boy and Alex The Astronaut, who cheekily suggested Seven play her song I Think You’re Great during the Olympics regardless of whether an Australian athlete won or lost to “make them feel better.”

The campaign coincided with a change.org petition called #HoldAussieMusic, launched by media professional Karen Eck this week after several hours on hold to Qantas.

“The idea behind #HoldAussieMusic is to embrace local music in our hands and hearts.

Everyone wins. Hearing more Aussie music will lift up our artists’ spirits and hopefully their wallets,” she wrote.

“I’m repeatedly told that making this work is a complicated process and that previous attempts have failed. So, we clearly need a creative solution, one that brings big business, philanthropists and entrepreneurs together.”

Lime Cordiale have joined the chorus asking business to play more Aussie-made music. Picture: Supplied.

The emotional SOS from the industry comes as 2000 respondents to the latest ilostmygig survey reported $64 million in lost revenue since July 1.

More local songs on sporting broadcasts, hold music and in stores would significantly boost royalties for artists who can’t tour or play full capacity shows because of the ongoing pandemic restrictions.

“Greater support from corporate Australia means greater reach for our artists, which

translates to everything from higher streams, new fans and increased royalty revenue,” the Our Soundtrack Our Stories campaign announcement stated.

While the economic boost from increased plays of homegrown music is desperately needed with touring off the table, Jack River sees the initiative as being an opportunity for Australians to discover new music.

Imagine not listening to bad hold music ever again? Jack River dares to dream. Picture: Supplied.

“I absolutely think we should be more ambitious,” she said.

“I think it’s just assumed the commercial space belongs to a golden one per cent of Australian artists, and living on an island with such rich diversity of artists and really important stories, particularly First Nations stories, there’s an opportunity here to support a lot more of it.”

Music fans – and companies – can get involved in the campaign via @OurSoundtrackOurStories on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Originally published as Australian musicians send SOS to business and media to play more local songs on hold lines, in stores