Major Music CEO Warns Aussie Acts Of Triple J Hype: 'It Will Kill Your Career Internationally'

“You are better not to get added to triple j… [It] will kill your career internationally.”

It was the key takeaway from Terry McBride’s keynote speech at BIGSOUND 2019, his first industry presentation in ten years (he claimed he stopped delivering talks after his last one angered so many people).

The CEO and co-founder of Canada’s Nettwerk Music Group warned local artists not to use triple j addition as a measure of success saying the short-term gain meant nothing overseas. 

The station, McBride said, is viewed by foreign industry as only filling local content quotas. However, he did recognise the platform had a lot more impact for international acts breaking in Australia. 

McBride also slammed Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist saying it’s “the worst thing you can do as an artist”. 

“One-week jolt and then you crash,” McBride added saying the popular list can skew an artist’s data, once again, stressing that artists should aim for long-term goals rather than short-term spikes. 

The rest of McBride’s technical presentation spanned everything from Nettwerk’s humble bedroom beginnings ("We didn't know anything about what we were doing") to the use of algorithms. From the figures he produced during the keynote, McBride made what he described as a “conservative estimate” about the future of digital music platforms: “The streaming industry will almost double in the next three years.”  He also stressed that artists should measure their success on those platforms correctly, “Don't focus on the amount of streams, focus on the income.”

McBride is a two-time recipient of the Pollstar Manager Of The Year award for his work with Coldplay, Avril Lavinge and Sarah McLachlan. He also received the Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards for his work advancing the Canadian music industry.