While I was at home sipping black coffee and playing my collection of rare, bootlegged Fugazi demo tapes and C-sides, apparently there was a nationwide youth music countdown, and it was extremely popular!
According to stats released today by ABC Audience Data and Insights – which collected the numbers between 31 January and 6 February 2022 – the 2022 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown reeled in 3.6 million listeners over the age of 16 around Australia. This was a new record for the youth broadcasters.
The countdown ultimately saw The Wiggles win the top spot for their Like A Version cover of Tame Impala’s “Elephant”, making them the first cover to win music’s biggest democracy (and yet, not a single mention of My Bloody Valentine’s universally under-appreciated post-1993 basement tapes. Hmmm…).
The new figures also showed 50 per cent of Aussies aged 16 and over engaged with the 2022 countdown in some way, including listening, voting, engaging with it via their social feeds or in the media. That’s roughly 9.5 million folks.
This includes 74 per cent of 18-24-year-olds who engaged with the Hottest 100 in some way, up from 55 per cent in the past two years.
In fact, 14 per cent of listeners said 2022 was their first time listening to the highly anticipated countdown, and most were found to be aged 16-17 years old.
A reported 75 per cent of live listeners tuned in to the countdown surrounded my mates, “homies”, chums, well-wishers and accomplices, while only 25 per cent reported listening with their spouse – a drop from 47 per cent last year.
However, an impressive $1.2 million was raised for triple j’s charity partner, Lifeline.
“We were overwhelmed by triple j listeners’ generosity and we’re so proud that our audience has helped Lifeline answer over 31,000 more lifesaving calls in 2022,” said acting head of music and creative development, Meagan Loader.
“From all of us at triple j, thank you to everyone who listened, voted, donated, bought a t-shirt or got involved with this year’s Hottest 100.”
