Australians Don't Stop Playing FM

[michelej1]

Australian Daily Telegraph

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...012327,00.html

IF you saw red after hearing too much Pink in the past year, it was because she was the most broadcast artist on Australian airwaves.

The American pop star dominated playlists in the past 12 months, with hit after hit from her fourth album I'm Not Dead and a national tour.

The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia's Most Played Artists report for 2007 also featured more Australian artists than ever before, as broadcasters increasingly embrace a diverse offering of local releases.

Eskimo Joe and Evermore made it into the top 10, with Rogue Traders, Shannon Noll, INXS and Pete Murray making the top 20.

Surprisingly Britisher Robbie Williams came in at No.2 despite a lacklustre response to his album Rudebox.

Pink's smash hit U + Ur Hand topped the PPCA's most played recordings, with Black Fingernails, Red Wine from the Eskys and Silverchair's Straight Lines also in the top 10.

"It's so exciting each year to watch the broadcast appeal of our local talent grow,'' said PPCA boss Stephen Peach.

"Australian artists have featured in over 25 per cent of both reports, a strong result for our industry.''
The strongest performing newcomer to both lists was Irish band Snow Patrol, but it was television rather than radio airplay which propelled them onto the airwaves.

Their single Chasing Cars was used by Seven to promote an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

A huge surprise was celebrity TV casualty Nick Lachey, whose music career received a momentary boost with the autobiographical lament, What's Left Of Me. It was the 24th most played song for the year.

And then there was the one-hit wonder that wouldn't leave the top of the charts for weeks - Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) which finished at No.54.

Of course the power of classic hits radio to keep heritage artists in royalty payments could not be denied with Fleetwood Mac, Queen and Elton John making the top 50.
But it was the hot new pop acts and guaranteed hitmakers who owned the airwaves this year.

Nelly Furtado, The Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson proved in-escapable on the commercial pop stations.

Their older and wiser peers _ such as U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay _ satisfied those tuning into rock programs.

The lists are compiled by the PPCA from extensive playlist and broadcast data which they use to distribute royalties to artists and a song's copyright owners.