The Power 50: Nick Findlay

Nick Findlay began his radio career at 16, working at various community radio stations including 2RRR and FBi. In 2005, Findlay graduated from the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) and in 2006 he joined triple j, working as a music researcher and producer. Findlay stepped into the Assistant Music Director role in 2009 and took over from Richard Kingsmill as Music Director in March 2017.

Triple j maintained its role as a tastemaker in 2019 with Findlay at the helm. The station supported local artists like Thelma Plum, WAAX, Polish Club, Dean Lewis, Cub Sport and more with coveted Feature Album spots throughout the year, as well as maintaining their commitment to supporting upcoming Australian talent through their Unearthed station (including now record-breaking acts like Tones & I).   

There’s no way you can separate triple j and Billie Eilish in 2019 though. The station supported Eilish with the Feature Album slot on the release of her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and would see the 18-year-old US artist claim the 2019 Hottest 100 #1 with her track Bad Guy, making her the first-ever female solo artist to claim the spot. “2019 had many musical success stories, but in the end the year belongs to Billie Eilish. Her debut album didn’t just prove itself a worldwide heavyweight, its popularity steamrolled over everyone else, and its lead single Bad Guy is the perfect summary to Billie’s success,” said Findlay at the time. “It’s the antithesis to a traditional pop song, an undeniable earworm, and a hugely deserved, record-breaking Hottest 100 #1.”

It was another record-breaking year for the Hottest 100 as well, with a whopping 3,211,596 votes submitted for the countdown, up 16.4% on the previous year. It saw more than 3.25 million people tune in to the Saturday 25 January countdown, with 38% of Australians aged 16 and over getting involved in the 2019 event via listening, voting or checking the countdown results via social media, news coverage or the triple j website.

The station’s much-loved Like A Version series had a stellar year too. Featuring covers from some of the world’s best-known and up-and-coming artists (including Tones & I, Northlane, Alex Lahey and Childish Gambino), the series really showed its influence with Denzel Curry’s cover of Rage Against The Machine’s Bulls On Parade, helping break the US rapper both in Australia and territories around the world. The February performance has since had over 8.3 million views on YouTube.

"As a Music Director, 2019 was one of the biggest years for new releases that I can remember, but looking back on the year our crowning achievement has to be unearthing the global megastar that is Tones & I. When Tones uploaded Johnny Run Away to triplejunearthed.com in February we knew she was on to a good thing, but when I first heard Dance Monkey I knew it was destined for big things. Being able to premiere that track and help grow her story through opportunities like winning the Splendour Unearthed competition was a monumental experience."