Make 1 in 4 Australian says APRA/AMCOS

A Senate inquiry into Australian Content for radio and streaming has heard that a 25% quota for commercial radio is feasible and achievable.

APRA/AMCOS was the first association to make a submission to the inquiry and used the Canadian model as an example of promoting local talent.

Currently the Canadian quota is 35%.

Commercial radio in Australia moved from a blanket 15% requirement to a sliding scale of local content in 1992, for example

  • Mainstream Rock/Top 40 … minimum of25%
  • Country/Classic Rock … minimum 20%
  • Hits and Memories/Gold …minimum 15%
  • Oldies/Easy Listening/Jazz … minimum 10%

Community broadcasters have long embraced a 25% Australian target as part of their Code of Practice, though Ethnic and Classical Music stations have a minimum 10% target.

In their written submission to the Senate Inquiry, APRA/AMCOS proposed that all music focussed services ought to be subject to the full 25% Australian music quota and before the committee yesterday they labelled the current quotas for commercial services as outdated and arbitrary.

As part of their submission APRA/AMCOS argued “… that broadcasters are able to self-categorise which format they are for the purposes of determining which Australian Music quota applies to their service.”

“For example, if a station categorises itself as falling within the ‘Classic Rock’ format, a minimum quota of 20% Australian Music will apply, whereas if the same station categorised itself as ‘Gold – encompassing Classic Hits’, an Australian music quota of only 15% would apply, and if the category of ‘Easy Gold’ were chosen, the quota would be only 10%.”

As a part of their written submission to the Senate inquiry, Commercial Radio Australia argued that “The average percentage (of Australian Content) across the commercial radio industry is approximately 20%.” and that “The vast majority of commercial radio stations reach – and in many cases exceed – their Australian music quotas.”

The inquiry is also considering submissions for possible quotas for Australian content on streaming services.

The Senate Inquiry began in October last year and was scheduled to report in May, but the closing date for submissions has been extended to October this year.