Want Aussie Tunes To Replace Annoying On-hold Music? Here’s What You Can Do

How many hours of your life have you wasted sitting on the phone, listening to generic and annoying on-hold music while you wait for a customer service rep to get to your call?

The good news is, there’s a movement underway, rallying for big businesses to replace those monotonous tunes with Aussie music.

As the campaign begins to pick up traction across the industry, we’re here to answer all your questions about the #HoldAussieMusic initiative.

How did all this start?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, forcing the music industry to shut down, artists have been desperately searching for other means of income as Government support continues to fall short.

One way for local acts to get a bit of extra income would be if businesses across Australia opted to use their music instead of the repetitive and often annoying on-hold music you usually hear.

Who started the Aussies for on-hold music campaign?

A petition was launched earlier this month by NSW publicist, strategist and talent manager Karen Eck, calling on business to “play and pay for Aussie music instead of annoying ‘on hold’ tunes”.

Eck launched the campaign after being left on hold with Qantas for over seven hours and being forced to listen to the “same 15-second tune on repeat”.

The petition is directed towards Qantas with the hope that other major companies will also come on board, while urging support from APRA AMCOS, who handles the licensing of Australian music.

“It’s only fair that musicians are compensated via royalty fees, particularly as many have lost their livelihoods over the past 18 months with COVID decimating the industry,” the petition said.

“We need a creative philanthropic solution. Let’s keep Aussie music alive!”

How’s it all going so far?

The campaign has received support from ARIA, who incorporated it into its Our Soundtrack Our Stories initiative earlier this month, while the petition itself is nearing its goal of 7,500 signatures, sitting at just over 7,000 at the time of publication.

That’s awesome! But is it even possible for companies to use Aussie acts for their on-hold music?

Yep, it sure is! We reached out to APRA AMCOS, who told us that OneMusic Australia, which is a joint licencing initiative between APRA AMCOS and PPCA, offers a licence that includes workplace on-hold music.

“Under this licence, businesses can choose to play any music from our vast repertoire, which includes a huge choice of music from our local creators,” APRA AMCOS told The Music.

“Companies can also opt to license music directly from an Australian music creator – sometimes this is a preferred option if they want to use just one song, or one artist.”

More details on the OneMusic Australia offering here!

Would it be worth a company’s time and money setting all that up?

Absolutely! APRA AMCOS also noted that “research shows the right telephone on-hold music can make consumers not only more patient but creates a better feeling about the company”.

And in reality, some Aussie companies might already be working with local acts, despite their on-hold music sounding like the same old instrumental tunes you’re used to.

“Some of the music we hear when we are on hold could have been written by Australian composers under a direct deal with that company, so although it may not be to your taste, that music use is still helping Australian songwriters,” APRA AMCOS said.

“For other on-hold music in the marketplace, APRA AMCOS pays (distributes) royalties by a method that ‘estimates’ very accurately what would likely have been playing based on music data we receive regularly from radio and digital music (streaming) services.”

How can music fans get involved?

You can sign and share the petition, promote the #HoldAussieMusic hashtag via your socials, encourage companies to commission a composer to create their on-hold music and change your regular listening habits in the digital world by playing more homegrown music.

APRA AMCOS added: “Push for more Aussie content on radio to flow through to music on hold fees being shared to more Australian music creators. Around 0.3 per cent of royalties collected each year are collected from telephone on hold fees but for APRA AMCOS' 108,000 members every cent counts.

“We encourage the use of more local music across all mediums and channels, whether they be television, radio, streaming services, advertising, in shops, supermarkets, bars, cafes and restaurants.”