A initiative to soundtrack Australian lives with Australian music has launched today off the back of a viral Instagram post made by musician Jack River.
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Jack River, whose real name is Holly Rankin, called on Channel 7 to broadcast Australian music during the Olympics coverage to support Australian artists after another wave of lockdowns has impacted the music industry.
The initiative, called Our Soundtrack Our Stories, is an "open invitation from our country's music community to the rest of Australia to discover, champion, share, and consume more local musicians to celebrate Australian music".
It arrives one week after Holly's now viral call-to-arms for Australian media and business to get behind homegrown music as it struggles under the pressure of COVID-19 restrictions - eliminating prospects for live touring for the foreseeable future.
Holly made the original post in a whim of frustration after checking her business figures and hearing American and British music being played over Australian Olympic coverage.
"That night I was filling in my COVID-19 Service NSW grant form and I was looking at the 98 per cent downturn in my business. Which is something I'm aware of, but that night it just really got to me," she said.
"Then I walked out to the loungeroom and heard American and British music playing over the Olympics for these quintessential Australian moments and the athletes that we love so much.
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"Then I went to Coles in Ulladulla (on the NSW South Coast) and once again I heard non-Australian music and just felt this overwhelming feeling of that we're missing an opportunity to support and soundtrack Australian artists and also a diversity of artists, like First Nations artists."
The post gained traction after it was shared by other prominent Australian artists, like Baker Boy, Lime Cordiale and Vera Blue.
In collaboration with 60 companies, the initiative calls for public commitment to increase the inclusion of diverse Australian artists in the commercial and mainstream landscape.
The idea is that Australian music is played in supermarkets, banks, offices, on ads and on hold to increase greater reach for local artists, which Holly said translates to everything from higher streams and new fans to increased royalty revenue.
For more information on how businesses, musicians and consumers can get involved, visit: https://www.aria.com.au/our-soundtrack-our-story.