Music

Here’s How People Are Reacting To Triple J Changing The Date Of The Hottest 100

"The date's changin'"

by Osman Faruqi  27 November 2017
hottest 100

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This afternoon triple j announced that as of next year the Hottest 100 would no longer be held on Australia Day. Instead, the countdown would be held on the fourth weekend in January, which means that in 2018 it will land on the 27th.

The decision is the outcome of a review into Hottest 100 triple j kicked off earlier this year. Over 60,000 people took part in the review process and 60 percent of them backed the date change.

Pressure to change the date has built up in recent years with ex-triple j presenters joining calls for it to be moved. Last year A.B. Original featured in the Hottest 100 at position 16 with their track ‘January 26’, a powerful condemnation of Australia Day and the way it’s currently celebrated. Another A.B. Original track that cracked the Hottest 100, the group’s cover of Paul Kelly’s ‘Dumb Things’, included the line “the date’s changin'”.

Today Briggs, who makes up one half of A.B. Original, reminded everyone that he’d called it:

Greens leader Richard Di Natale tweeted his support for the date change and congratulated triple j:

And plenty of other people were stoked to hear the news:

However, some listeners remained completely oblivious to the news and had other things on their mind:

On triple j’s Facebook page the response was more mixed. A video explaining the change received 6,500 likes but 2,500 angry reacts. There were also plenty of angry commenters.

“So disappointed, probably won’t be listening now,” one commenter wrote.

“This is by far the worst decision made by the team. You can’t make everyone happy, but you truly screwed the pooch on this one. I’m out,” said another.

But despite the negative reaction, the fact is the station held a survey and 60 percent of listeners wanted the change.

Of course the next question is when will the federal government follow suit and actually change the date of Australia Day?