Oh FFS, Triple M Is Holding Their Own Version Of The Hottest 100 On Australia Day

Most people were happy to hear that triple j are changing the date of the Hottest 100, moving it away from Australia Day and onto a more inclusive date in the last weekend of January.

Most, but not all. Today Triple M — the radio station of choice for Big M drinking, rock-listening, barbecue-having blokes of Australia — announced they’ll be having their own countdown on Australia Day, triple j be damned. The countdown, dubbed ‘The Ozzest 100’, will “include all the songs that define Australian music”.

“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,” said Triple M, in a statement that can only be interpreted as a personal attack on Our Flume. “At Triple M, we’re going to give you what you’ve asked for. The perfect Australia Day soundtrack.”

Unlike the Hottest 100, The Ozzest 100 isn’t asking audiences to vote on their favourite tracks of the year — the only criteria is that the songs have to be “Aussie”.

Unfortunately, it looks like you won’t be able to head over to the Triple M website and start flooding it with votes for A.B. Original’s ‘January 26’ — voting hasn’t been made public, and is instead reserved for existing Triple M subscribers.

Of course, it’s fine for Triple M to hold their own countdown celebrating Australian music. But deliberately holding a poll on Australia Day ignores the reason why triple j changed the date of the Hottest 100: it’s a day that causes considerable pain for Indigenous Australians, and one that many associate with violence and dispossession.

In response to increasing scrutiny over how and when we celebrate Australia Day, triple j launched a survey this year to find out how strong support was for a date change among its listeners — eventually announcing that 60 percent of respondents were in favour of celebrating on a different date.

Voting in the triple j Hottest 100 is open now with this year’s results set to be announced on Saturday, January 27.