Aussie star blitzes charts after TikTok success

Australian DJ and producer Luude has cracked the UK charts for the second time this year with a stunning remix. 

AUSTRALIAN DJ and producer Luude has cracked the UK charts for the second time this year with his remix of the 2005 hit Big City Life by English duo Mattafix.

Despite the song generating more than 14 million streams on Spotify alone and one of the top 10 tracks played on radio last week, the Aussie's club hit has yet to breach the ARIA top 50 singles.

It's the second track from the DJ, who is currently touring in Europe, to land on the UK charts this year, with his Down Under drum & bass remix peaking at No.5 in England but only reaching No.10 in Australia. Down Under has generated more than 150 million streams across platforms, and more than 150,000 TikTok videos.

It comes after it emerged only a handful of Australian artists have landed in ARIA singles charts in the first half of 2022, led by The Kid Laroi who has been a constant presence with his 2021 hits Stay (featuring Justin Bieber) and Without You (featuring Miley Cyrus) and recent release Thousand Miles.

The other artists to figure in the top 50 this year with new music include Flume, Vance Joy, Dean Lewis, Rufus Du Sol and Shouse while Luude broke into the chart with his Down Under remix and Havana Brown returned with a 10th anniversary remake of We Run The Night.

Vance Joy’s hit Clarity has bounced in an out of the ARIA Top 50. Picture: David Clark

An investigation of the charts, which count streams, downloads and physical sales, has exposed the dire state of the Australian music ecosystem, where dominant streaming platforms and commercial radio stations give priority to American and British releases on their playlists.

There was not one Australian single on the Radio Monitor mid-year report of the top 20 most played tracks on radio in 2022.

5 Seconds of Summer’s Me, Myself, I single has been surprisingly absent from the top 50. Picture: Justin Lloyd

While viral TikTok videos and cult television shows and films are having an impact on what lands on the charts now, if Australian singles aren’t given prominence on the most popular streaming playlists or radio station programs, it reduces their chances of being discovered and loved by music fans.

“If Spotify don’t put a new Australian release into their Hot Hits playlist, you will never land on the ARIA charts,” an industry insider said.

“Radio won’t add a song unless it’s doing well on streaming and streaming won’t add a song if radio isn’t playing it. and it’s disgusting when they are all making millions in Australia from playing music but not investing in supporting local talent.”

Amy Shark is expected to crack the top 50 with her R3HAB collab Sway My Way. Picture: Supplied.

In January and February this year, there were six to eight Australian entries on the singles charts but the count has plummeted to just three or four local songs a week since April.

This is despite new releases by Amy Shark (Sway My Way, with producer R3HAB), Ed Sheeran feat First Nations artist Budjerah on 2Step, Luude and Mattafix’s Big City Life and 5 Seconds Of Summer’s Me, Myself and I generating millions of streams on Spotify alone.

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said she was as frustrated as the local labels and artists about the lack of Australian songs and albums being represented on the top 50 charts.

Music producer Luude was in the top 50 earlier this year with his Down Under remix. Picture: Instagram

But she said it’s not about how the charts are counted – streams are weighted against the value of a physical or download sale – but the decades-long battle with Australian broadcast gatekeepers to play more homegrown music.

“We want our artists to do well here and overseas. And there are clearly some barriers to that happening, and those barriers aren’t going to go away,” Herd said.

“We’re talking about it with the government in terms of the cultural policy review because we are all about getting more exposure for Australian artists and to create more opportunities for them to be heard.”

ARIA added YouTube plays into their chart calculations in March and introduced the New Music Singles in June to showcase emerging hits over a four-month period.

Japanese-Australian artist Joji, who is based in the US, has topped the New Music chart in recent weeks, with Laroi’s Thousand Miles and Vance Joy’s Clarity also landing in its top 20.

The full ARIA singles, albums and new music charts are https://www.aria.com.au/charts/