Cahill: "We'd be better off seeing music used in other ways" than for on-hold music

Music journalists Mikey Cahill and Sosefina Fuamoli discuss with Courtney Barnett the pro's and con's of Australian music's latest push to gain more recognition.

Hit Different host Mikey Cahill believes the recent hashtag Hold Australian Music campaign isn’t as influential for Aussie artists compared to actually streaming their music on services.

“Hold music only takes up 0.03 per cent of actual streaming, so it’s definitely a good thing but I think we can all agree that financially it’s not so great,” Cahill said.

“We’d be better off seeing music used in other ways – people streaming it would be obviously better financially.”

The hashtag Hold Australian Music campaign, originally started by Australian music groups and championed by performer Jack River, pushed for more Australian songs to be played as on hold music. Led by entertainment industry publicist Karen Eck, the petition willed companies to prioritise Australian songs for their ‘hold music’ and in other situations like at shopping centres. It was further backed by the successful campaign to have Channel 7’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics supported by Australian-only music.

Despite there being little to no financial gain for Australian artists for having their music used as on hold sounds, singer Courtney Barnett believes artists allowing their music to be used is now a valuable way forward for developing popularity.

“I think in my early learning about the music industry years it was this softly spoken idea that it was a bit of a sell-out move,” Barnett said.

“I feel like that’s so old fashioned now – lots of non-music industry people don’t realise that a lot of musicians’ incomes come from syncs and film and television.”

“I can be kind of picky at where my music ends up, but I always try to support independent film, and I have my own kind of personal checklist of things I do and don’t want to be involved with.”

The Hit Different crew discussed the various ways Australian music can be used for good, including Tones and I’s latest soundtrack for Qantas’ vaccine ad and Barnett’s involvement with a same sex marriage plebiscite movement.

“I was asked to do a cover of an INXS song for an iPhone ad that was promoting around the time of the same sex marriage plebiscite,” Barnett recalled.

“I think it was maybe celebrating the outcome – that’s one thing that I normally maybe would not jump at doing but I just thought it was a positive.”

“Tones and I’s song ‘Fly Away’ on the Qantas ad has been massive and good on Qantas for reading the room – that’s a really huge thing for Tones and I,” Cahill said.

Hear the full story on Hit Different, a free weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.