Uploading to Triple J Unearthed Author: Lou James The Push's Music Industry Pathways Coordinator

Q&A with Claire Mooney

Photo: Claire Mooney (Australian Music Producer at Triple J Unearthed)

Q: Can you begin by telling us a little bit about you and your role at Triple J Unearthed?

A: I am a very passionate person who loves music. I started at Triple J Unearthed nearly two years ago now. My role is Australian Music Producer is very music based and that role involves a lot of listening to everything that gets sent through to the website. We get about 500 songs a week, so it’s lots of listening, programming and reviewing.

Q: How important is receiving radio airplay in comparison to other media?

A: That’s a hard question because some artis ts don’t even upload to Triple J Unearthed and do really well. However, uploading is amazing because we do our best to find opportunities for emerging artists that are uploading really great songs, whether that’s a competition, or sending music to a specialist show on Triple J and bring that to the music meetings. Radio brings a different experience to music and you can find a fan for life.

Q: What is the difference between Triple J Unearthed, Triple J and Double J?

A: Definitely the audiences. Triple J Unearthed and Double J are our digital station and Triple J is a normal radio station. Triple J Unearthed is a discovery platform showcasing emerging Australian music and is very community focused, whereas Triple J is live and plays big international artists, more programming and more interviews. Double J is our older sister digital station, that will play music from Kaiit who is up and coming to Paul Kelly who is an Australian icon. Q: What is the best format to upload music to Triple J Unearthed?

A: The best format is a MP3 file

Q: Is it important to understand Triple J’s demographic when uploading music to Triple J Unearthed?

A: Not really. I think Triple J Unearthed is a platform for anyone to create the music you love and to share it with everyone! It’s very open and community focused.

Q: What are the common mistakes artists make with their Triple J Unearthed profiles?

A: The uploading process, it might be a WAV, a minute of silence at the end of the song, or a sample that’s not loud enough. An artist isn’t aloud samples unless they bought it or that it’s been approved and same with remixes, they need to be Australian or approved, no covers and no offensive language.

Q: Is the profile image important to consider for Triple J Unearthed?

A: Not at all! Triple J Unearthed is all about what it sounds like.

Q: I’m an artist, I have an EP worth of songs. Should I upload all of those songs??

A: On Triple J Unearthed you’re only allowed to upload three songs. My advice is to upload one, see how it goes, email the team to listen and leave a review. Best to leave it up there for a bit and create momentum for your next upload. Remember every week we add to rotation 20-30 songs and we’ve already cut that list down, so generally we can’t add more than one song per artist.

Q: Can you upload a demo version of your song?

A: This depends on how the demo sounds. We have uploaded demos before and then when an artist has a mastered version, we’ll switch it over . When you’re thinking about radio, we are going to pick a song that sounds better produced compared to a lo-fi demo in which we can’t hear the vocals but sometimes a low-fi demo can work!

Q: Is an artist able to seek feedback on their music?

A: Absolutely and we encourage it! We’ve got a Triple J Unearthed email, so it’s pretty easy for an artist to email us and ask for feedback and we’ll reply because it’s our job to help develop artists and help them as much as we can! Q: Considering Triple J Unearthed is for emerging artists, how do you decide what to listen to and review?

A: Part of my job is to listen and review everything that comes through. I remember when I listened to Arno Faraji's track for the first time and it was so great, but it had a sample in the track, so I emailed him telling him that I loved the track but needed him to remove the sample. He did and uploaded it again and he won Triple J Unearthed High six month later! We’re always excited about the future of the artist we hear and being part of the journey with them.

I’ll consider anything that sounds good, maybe it’s the chorus and or a riff etc. Rotation really depends on showcasing a variety of music so we probably won’t add 10 hiphop tracks but might add it across the next few weeks.

Q: How does Triple J Unearthed Influence Triple J?

A: There’s a music meeting with Triple j Unearthed and Triple J every week to showcase our favourite tracks of the week with each other and a lot of Triple J presenters will discover some of their favourite tracks on Triple J Unearthed too. We have a feature artist every week and their music will get played on Triple J which is amazing national exposure for them.

For further information or assistance, please contact The Push on (03) 9380 1277 or email [email protected]