Representatives from the Australian Music Industry Network [AMIN] have admitted that the local industry's approach to commercial radio has to be 'positive', rather than the familiar attacks over local music quotas.
Speaking at the Face The Music conference in Melbourne, the panel, which included representatives from AMIN members Music Victoria, MusicNSW, Music SA, MusicNT and MusicACT as well as APRA|AMCOS, agreed that the “constant” quota arguments didn't necessarily improve the prospects for local music on commercial radio – particularly given it doesn't always take into account the timeslots content was being aired.
Music Victoria's CEO Patrick Donovan suggested an Alan Jones-style social media campaign directed at a station's advertisers given the success of previous campaigns (it was revealed this morning that social media campaigns cost 2GB up to $1.5 million in advertising over the Alan Jones saga). But there was a general consensus that a framework of working with commercial radio – and particularly the brands looking to align themselves with music – should be put forward in future dealings.
Daniel Randall General Manager of Music SA summed it, “Commercial radio is a billion dollar business. We should be telling them, 'With local music, here's how you can make $1.2 billion next year'.”
