Fair to say that the general reaction to Triple M‘s announcement of a Ozzest 100 countdown on January 26 – a tone-deaf move done almost purely to spite Triple J for some intensely bizarre reason – has been staggeringly negative.
The commercial station yesterday sent out an email to subscribers that bizarrely trashed Triple J and its decision to move the Hottest 100 to January 27th after a long consultation process that addressed concerns of Indigenous cultural sensitivity.
In part, the supremely weird announcement read:
So, the taxpayer funded FM has decided that there’ll be no soundtrack for Australia Day. Let’s face it, that’s usually full of hipsters or kids making music on a Mac.
At Triple M, we’re going to give you what you’ve asked for. The perfect Australia Day soundtrack.
It did ah… not go down well, with many pointing out the fact that multiple Triple M personalities were in support of Triple J’s move and openly discussed it on air.
https://twitter.com/Briggs/status/943403846012780544
https://twitter.com/cameron_adams/status/943367444411826176
https://twitter.com/Drapht/status/943437916751110146
Very interesting that just a few short weeks ago @dansultan was interviewed by Mick Molloy on Triple M and they both discussed how great it was @triplej changed the hottest 100 date. I remember being pleasantly surprised by the Triple M segment and Molloys stance. And now this 😑
— Polly Maeve (@PollyMaeve) December 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/Wil_Anderson/status/943590823190437888
Today, Triple M doubled down on their decision by issuing an insanely short and pretty thin statement backing themselves, and the Ozzest 100, in.
Head of Content Mike Fitzpatrick issued a short comment via Mumbrella earlier today that reads:
At Triple M we are avid supporters of Aussie music and like we do throughout the year and every Australia Day we will celebrate Aussie artists.
Yeah good one, dumbasses.
It feels like an intensely broken record at this stage, but no one – not a single person – is suggesting that everyone’s right to celebrate on Australia Day should be unilaterally taken away. It’s just that maybe – just fucken maybe – we can do it all with a little more reverence and respect for the history of the ground we walk on. And not just the history as told by white settlers.
But hey, if they absolutely insist on holding the vote and countdown, then there’s absolutely no reason why, say… you shouldn’t vote en masse for January 26 by A.B. Original for the number one spot.
https://twitter.com/Briggs/status/943421689022398464
Seems only appropriate, after all.
