The Country Drop Playlist ProfileCountrytown today launched the first edition of its brand-new Australian artist chart, the AUS50. Ready to Ausify country music algos for Aus Music Month, the chart counts down the 50 biggest Australian country tracks being played on Australian country music radio.
The inaugural chart has Brad Cox taking the flowers ahead of tracks from Hayley Jensen, Lee Kernaghan, James Johnston, and Zac and George.
The cheeky sibling of Countrytown’s respected Hot 50 chart, the initiative is a response to the drop in support for Australian artists on radio over the last few years, which has seen the average number of Australians in that chart drop from over 40% to just 8% today.
“It’s the chart we wish wasn’t necessary if great homegrown artists were getting more support,” said Countrytown publisher Stephen Green. “We can’t change radio, but we can move some of the spotlight just a little to put Aussies back in the frame. The reality is that there are amazing Australian songs that deserve recognition and a beautiful community of artists, publicists and labels that will now benefit from visibility that wasn’t there before.”
As well as the big names of Australian country, the expanded chart welcomes artists that have not previously been recognised in the Hot 50, including Abbie Ferris, Sons of Atticus, The High Street Drifters, Two Tone Pony, Sunny Cowgirls, and many more.
As part of the chart overhaul, Countrytown has worked with data provider Radio Monitor to now include 18 country music radio stations from across Australia into the data feed and launched an Australia / New Zealand Radio Database, giving artists and industry a deeper look into the community behind this important industry as well as the commerce.
“The Australian country market is one of the fastest growing in the world and the AUS50 chart is the opportunity to display more of the talent we’ve got, to lay out to those in our local industry and those looking on from Nashville,” said Stephen Green. “We want to use our platform not just for the artists that are already bashing down the doors, but those that are on their way to join them.”
The Countrytown AUS50 will be published online each Friday alongside the Countrytown Hot 50 and will be featured on Wednesdays in the Countrytown newsletter. Just as the Hot 50 chart is used on 2GB and affiliated stations’ Country Music Countdown, Countrytown will be looking at additional opportunities for the Countrytown AUS50 to increase the profile of our incredible local artists.
The AUS50 and Hot 50 also sit alongside the growing Country Drop playlist which is rapidly gaining followers across the world on Spotify and Apple Music, selecting ten brand new songs every Friday, giving even more opportunities for Australian artists’ new releases to be heard.
