Jack River calls out Olympics broadcaster for not pushing Australian music, network responds

Channel 7 is throwing its considerable muscle behind Australia’s athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, but they’re not doing much for our musicians stuck at home. Enter Jack River for the win.

The Australian singer, songwriter and entrepreneur called out the free-to-air network, which paid a King’s ransom for the domestic broadcast and streaming rights to the 2020 Summer Olympics, but isn’t opening the purse strings for Aussie syncs.

In a post to Channel 7 and corporate Australia, Jack (real name Holly Rankin) wrote, “How great would it be if you played all Australian music in your coverage of the Olympics? These are Australian moments, they deserve Australian music.”

Taking her argument another step, River wrote, “And while we’re here, how good would it be to hear Aussie music in Coles, Woolies, Aldi, in banks, on hold, in stores and on ads being shown to Australians for the next few months. We need you more than ever. We wanna be your soundtrack.”

The impassioned plea didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Edwina Bartholomew, a TV journalist for Channel 7’s Sunrise, responded: “Hey Jack River and other Aussie musos, we hear you.”

Bartholomew’s post on Instagram continues, “I can’t speak for Woolies and Aldi et al but we are going to beef up the Aussie music in the arvos on [Channel 7 Olympics]. Send us your requests and tag your favourite Australian musician.”

While Australia’s Olympians are chasing medals, the country’s musicians are bleeding.

And with snap lockdowns wrecking everyone’s best-made touring plans, the live sector is on the brink of collapse.

A new survey member conducted by I Lost My Gig Australia found that nearly $64 million has been lost since July 1, or $16 million each week.

Seven West Media, parent of Channel 7, is at the backend of a deal to air three Olympic Games, struck in 2014 and including the 2014 Rio Games, the 2014 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and now Tokyo.

The deal was reported to be worth $200 million, and almost certainly won’t be recouped.

Broadcasters typical bid for the Olympics as a loss-leader, hedging that the brand exposure and cross-promotion into its other programs will pay off in the long run.

Jack River

Jack River’s powers of persuasion are well known. She’s the founder of Electric Lady festival, which aspires to “amplify the strength of women in music, politics, science, sport” and beyond and was keynote speaker at the inaugural TIO Awards. 

Her debut full-length album Sugar Mountain opened on the ARIA Album Chart at No. 11 in 2018, and scooped three ARIA Award nominations.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.