The gender battle seems to be ever constant in Australian society – from politics to cooking programs, it always seems to always find traction amongst the public – so when only 6 female-fronted outfits made their way into triple J’s Hottest 100 of the last 20 years, it was always going to ruffle feathers. Now, station top dog Chris Scaddan has piped up on the issue, insisting their playlists know nothing of gender discrimination.
After Junkee examined previous triple j playlists with a fine tooth comb, they discovered that out of the 39 artists rotated within the last fortnight, only 5% – just 2 – were female-fronted, but it seems that the sexist label was attached too quickly. In response, Scaddan explained, “Unfortunately the core argument in that article is based on the incorrect summation that triple j plays just above 5% female artists, In reality, triple j’s 2012 playlists contained 29% female lead and co-lead vocals, with 36% of artists we played in 2012 including a female member.”
Diversity has always been a key element of triple j’s mission statement, something Scaddan elaborates on as he discusses the stations desire to support “wide selection of female artists”:
“This means diversity of genres of music, diversity of Australian and indigenous content, diversity of genders and nationalities, diversity of voices on air during talkback and diversity of issues discussed on our youth affairs program Hack.”
The station bosses aren’t too surprised with the response from both media and the public. The final results weren’t even announced before the list started making headlines after more then 200,000 people voted on the final day. Scaddan concludes, “When you have commercial radio stations shamelessly lifting the Hottest 100 brand and countless online music sites analysing triple j and the Hottest 100 list, it’s difficult to think of any other music media event that is scrutinised more heavily. It’s iconic for a reason.”
Something tell us they might need a little more explaining than that to sooth the disgruntled masses.
(Via FL)
Gallery: Hottest 100 ’20 Years’ #100 – #1
