Louis Rogers, National Marketing Manager for Triple J, has responded to yesterday's Undercover story to assure Triple J listeners is that the Triple J Hottest 100 is 100% voted by the public.
"I was quite shocked to see your article about the outcome of this year's Triple J Hottest 100," he writes. "It would appear that you are misguided in thinking that a) the Hottest 100 poll is rigged, and b) triple j imposes some kind of preference for Australian bands just because the countdown takes place on Australia Day".Yes, yesterday I did write, "The manually placed top spot has traditional been given to an Australian act to mark Australia Day."
Louis has pointed out that the statement is incorrect. "Triple J is without doubt Australia's greatest supporter of Australian music. But Triple J goes to great lengths to ensure that the Hottest 100 chart is legitimate. Warts and all", he says.
While the Hottest 100 has favoured Australia acts since 1996, Louis says that there have been other occasions where an international act has topped the countdown. "Since the Hottest 100 began in 1989, there have been 10 overseas number one bands, and nine Australian number one bands," he says.
He says there is a very good reason why Aussies have been regularly topping the countdown. "As Australian music has gained in popularity, it has become more common for an Australian band to get the number one spot," he says. "This year Silverchair's "Straight Lines" was pipped by Muse by a mere 13 votes. An incredible outcome considering a record 700000+ votes were received and easily the closest margin in Hottest 100 history".
While Triple J insists on the honesty of its countdown, the 'honesty is the best policy' strategy is not upheld by some of the commercial radio stations. The numerous Classic Rock Countdowns and nightly shows are hand-placed to create an illusion for the audience.
When commercial radio wants to promote a new format or add new songs to its "Gold Universe", the common programming tactic is to play the songs as "a countdown" so that people perceive that the repetitive airplay later is because of popularity. It rarely is. The name of the game is perception for the core demographic.
