Australia simply was not interested in watching the ARIA Awards last night. The broadcast was a complete failure for Network 10 with the ARIA Red Carpet pre-show out-rating the awards show and the awards failing to make the Top 20.
The ARIA Red Carpet generated 602,000 viewers nationally with only 177,000 tuning in in hometown Sydney.
The question is does the ARIA Awards have any relevance today? The answer is probably not.
The great thing about the ARIA Awards is that it does manage to focus the nation’s attention onto music for a moment in time. The worse thing is that it promotes such a small sector of the music industry achievements that it is generally of no value to the broader music business and, as mostly a pop show, of no interest to anyone other than teenage fans.
You only need to visit the ARIA Jazz chart to see how confused the industry is about categories outside Pop. According to ARIA the biggest jazz acts in the country right now include Russell Morris, The Black Sorrows, Annie Lennox and Barry Manilow.
The Grammy Awards have no trouble representing the entire American music industry. The ARIAs fail to do so.
Lets call the ARIA Awards show what they really are … a reality fashion show with Pop music awards attached.
To further understand the failure of the ARIA Awards you only need look at what A.R.I.A. stands for – The Australian Recording Industry Association. The association of various record companies represents the majority of labels and all music genres. The ARIA Awards represent ‘the fast food’ sector of the business, not quality and longevity. As a television event the show was more focused on glamour than what recording artists actually do to make a living.
Also why are artists like Keith Urban, Sia and Iggy Azalea eligible for the Australian Recording Industry Awards? So what if they were born here. They no longer reside here and they do not record here. The AUSTRALIAN RECORDING Industry Association should be honouring AUSTRALIAN RECORDINGS. It shouldn’t matter if you reside in Australia and record elsewhere or live overseas but record in Australia. At least award based on local relevance.
The music industry is coming off the back of one of the lowest selling years in decades and what is the most asked questions on the ARIA reality show? A. Who are you wearing!
The king of Australian music awards show is the totally credible APRA Awards. At the APRA’s you get a true sense of the pulse of the business. The Independent Music Awards, the recent The Age Music Victoria Awards and the Jazz Bell Awards award on merit and credibility.
We do have some great awards shows in Australia providing that curated filter of public taste. The ARIAs is not one of them.
At the very first ARIA Awards in 1988 the host Elton John said, “The only reason I agreed to do this is because it’s not on television. If, in future years, you keep it like that, I think it means something more because it’s much more personal”.
If the ARIA Awards could forget about television, all genres would be equal. Jazz and Blues could have the same amount of stage time as Pop. There would be no need to ask dumb Red Carpet product placement questions like ‘who are you wearing’. There would be no need to import Charli XCX or Katy Perry and the awards could be about the year’s achievements. Until then, enjoy the fashion show.
Head here for the complete ARIA Awards winners list.
