Ahead of the official start of the Paris Olympics, the Greens are urging broadcaster Nine to only use Australian music for winning moments in their television and social media coverage.
The Greens’ call follows the successful campaign by Australian musician Jack River during the Tokyo Olympics which saw Seven add more local tunes to their coverage, as well as the establishment of Our Soundtrack Our Stories group alongside ARIA, which lobbies broadcasters, ad agencies and businesses to play more Aussie music.
Greens Spokesperson for the Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Greens are urging Nine: Go for gold with Australian music.
“It’s great to see tracks by Jessica Mauboy and Tones and I selected for the team song and Nine’s promo video for the games, but Nine has an opportunity to go much further and give airtime to only Australian artists.
“Tones and I’s new track has already had more than one million streams demonstrating how significant the inclusion of Australian music is in these nationally significant moments for our homegrown artists.
“At a time when our artists are struggling after Covid lockdowns, festival cancellations and venue closures, and the cost-of-living crisis, all of our television and radio broadcasters can be doing so much more to support Australian music. But the Olympics is a big moment that shouldn’t go to waste.”
Australian Musician, Singer and Songwriter Jack River (Holly Rankin) said:
“Iconic Australian moments deserve to be tracked to iconic homegrown songs. Songs written by and for the next generation of Australians who are representing our country here and abroad.
“There are few moments where we stop to celebrate Australia and our people. I hope Nine can answer the call at this moment and soundtrack the Paris Olympics with great homegrown music.
“We have some of the best talent in the world; lets showcase it.”