Does Commercial Radio Hate Anyone Over 40?

Is commercial radio ageist?

Not one Australian woman over the age of 26 got major commercial airplay last week. The Top 100 Airplay Chart featured 14 Australian artists, including five male solo artists and five female solo artists. The oldest man was Guy Sebastian, 32; the oldest local woman was Samantha Jade, 26. The average age of the Aussie artists in the Top 100 was 24.

Overall, the 40 most-played songs included entries from 14 solo men and ten solo women. Not one woman was in her 40s – the oldest was Shakira, 37. Four of the men were in their 40s, with the oldest being French producer David Guetta, 46. The average age of the male artists in the Top 40 was 31.6; the average age of the female artists was 25.8.

Marcia Hines, 60, will release her new album Amazing on 4 April. Overflowing with potential pop hits, it's arguably the finest album of her career. But will radio play it?

Last year, Tina Arena (46), Kate Ceberano (47) and Wendy Matthews (53) all released outstanding pop albums, but failed to find radio play beyond smoothfm. Kylie Minogue, 45, also struggled to get major commercial play for her latest single, Into The Blue.

Jessica Mauboy, 24, has three entries in the Top 100 Airplay chart. If she'd released Into The Blue, would radio be playing the song?

Of course, young, new artists are the lifeblood of the music industry. But radio is obviously not a visual medium, so why should age matter? Shouldn't it all be about the quality of the song? Marcia Hines' new album is too good to ignore.

This opinion piece comes from respected industry commentator Jeff Jenkins' weekly local music column Howzat, published in The Music Melbourne.