Power 50 - #17: Nick Findlay

Helping shape the Australian music landscape, 2017 was huge was for Nick Findlay, who officially took over from Richard Kingsmill (now the station’s overarching Music Director of triple j, Double J, triple j Unearthed and ABC Local Radio) as the station’s official Music Director.

While he had technically been working in that role for a while, the updated title gave him greater in uence at several music conferences, including BIGSOUND, Face The Music and Primavera Pro as he discussed diversity, women in music, Australian music content and more. With the station committed as ever to frequently breaking new artists, Findlay was named one of Australia’s “most influential people” by Monocle.

He also appeared on the judging panel for the J Awards, which crowned AB Original, Jen Cloher, Stella Donnelly and director Tim White (for his work with Client Liaison) victorious, and he has a say in triple j tour partnerships, a major initiative that often signals an artist stepping up to the next level of their career.

Having worked at triple j for more than 10 years and been in radio since he was 16, Findlay listens to hundreds of new songs a week, giving him an unrivalled perspective on the overall Australian music scene. Already in the first months of 2018, Aussie artists like Tiny Little Houses, Tonight Alive and DZ Deathrays have nabbed feature albums with no doubt more locals to come.

The station’s influence and reach continues to expand each year, as evident by the latest Hottest 100 results. The annual countdown broke all previous record with 2,386,133 votes, an increase of 5.8 percent from the previous year and also saw 65 entries from local artists and 49 by artists with a female presence. Also receiving a bump in listener numbers, the station now reaches approximately two million people per week across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.