Australia
Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Dominates Down Under
Mariah Carey isn’t called the queen of Christmas for nothing. The U.S. pop veteran lives up to her nickname as her enduring holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” rings in Christmas as the No. 1 single in Australia. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Carey’s 1994 release bags a second consecutive week at the top Down Under, and a fifth year at No. 1 during the Christmas week, ARIA reports. Although it’s peak summer in Australia, a time when Aussies head to the beach en masse, those wintry yuletide classics dominate playlists in these parts, a fact that’s reflected by both main ARIA Charts. Four of the top 10 singles on the chart published Dec. 23 are Christmas numbers, including Wham’s “Last Christmas” (up 6-3), Michael Bublé’s “It’s Be...
Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Is No. 1 In Australia
The queen of Christmas is crowned on Australia’s chart, while SZA makes her presence felt on both main surveys with her sophomore album and several singles from it. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Nothing can top Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (via Columbia/Sony) at this time of year. The 1994 holiday classic lifts 3-1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, published Dec. 16, ahead of former leaders “Unholy” (Capitol/Universal), by Sam Smith & Kim Petras; and “Anti-Hero” (Universal) by Taylor Swift, respectively. Carey’s seasonal number finally cracked the summit in 2018. It has returned there each December, like clockwork. SZA’s long-anticipated second album SOS (RCA/Sony) has been well-received by Aussie fans, as album track “Kill B...
Sean Warner to Lead Universal Music Australia
BRISBANE, Australia — Universal Music Australia taps Sean Warner for the top job, which will vacated by the incumbent George Ash at year’s end. Announced Tuesday (Dec. 13), Warner is promoted to president, Universal Music Australia & New Zealand, with effect from Jan. 1, 2023. The incoming chief is a UMA stalwart with 15 years’ experience leading the company’s commercial business, both physical and digital. Warner joined UMA in 2007 as national sales manager and has served on its senior management team in recent years, most recently as senior vice president of commercial, with duties for the commercial growth, innovation and digital development for UMA & New Zealand. During his time with Universal, Warner has overseen the commercial strategy in Southeast Asia (SEA), launched...
Paul Kelly’s ‘Christmas Train’ Stops at No. 1 on Australia’s Albums Chart
Paul Kelly scores an early Christmas gift, as the veteran Australian singer, songwriter and wordsmith bags the chart crown with his holiday collection. Kelly’s “2022 Edition” of Christmas Train (GAWD/EMI) stops at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published Dec. 9. That’s one better than Christmas Train’s No. 2 debut and peak position following its original release in 2021, an effort that made it the highest-charting Christmas album of the year in Australia. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Christmas Train collects a batch of classics, and features a new recording of Ron Sexsmith’s “Maybe This Christmas” — recorded with Kelly’s live band at Soundpark Studios in Melbourne — and, of course, Kelly’s own holiday standard, “How to Make Gravy,” a tale o...
ARIA Launches New Australian Dance Charts
BRISBANE, Australia — Australian dance music fans have two new charts to add to their weekly diet. The fresh surveys, the Australian Dance Singles Chart, a countdown of the top 20 dance singles, and the Australian Dance Albums Chart, a tally of the top 10 dance albums, will publish each Friday starting this week. Both charts will sit alongside ARIA’s other Australia-focused albums and singles charts, which include Australian Hip- Hop/R&B, Country, and Top 20 Singles and Albums, and more. “ARIA is determined to find ways to showcase Australian music from all who create it, this is another step in the right direction as we endeavor to provide a transparent scoreboard for our industry and music fans alike to understand how local music is being streamed, purchased and engaged with,”...
ARIA Launches New Australian Dance Charts
BRISBANE, Australia — Australian dance music fans have two new charts to add to their weekly diet. The fresh surveys, the Australian Dance Singles Chart, a countdown of the top 20 dance singles, and the Australian Dance Albums Chart, a tally of the top 10 dance albums, will publish each Friday starting this week. Both charts will sit alongside ARIA’s other Australia-focused albums and singles charts, which include Australian Hip- Hop/R&B, Country, and Top 20 Singles and Albums, and more. “ARIA is determined to find ways to showcase Australian music from all who create it, this is another step in the right direction as we endeavor to provide a transparent scoreboard for our industry and music fans alike to understand how local music is being streamed, purchased and engaged with,”...
Nicki Minaj Is Queen of Australia’s Singles Chart
Nicki Minaj is the queen of Australia’s singles chart, while Yungblud cuts his first national chart crown with his self-titled third studio LP. Yungblud (via Interscope/Universal) blasts to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, the followup to the British alternative rock star’s 2020 sophomore effort Weird, which peaked at No. 6. Yungblud does enough to deny Megadeth a week in the spotlight, as the U.S. thrash metal legends’ 16th studio album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead (USM/Universal) arrives at No. 2. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Also new to the ARIA Chart this week is The Butterfly Effect, which spreads its wings for a No. 4 debut with IV (Ditto Music), the homegrown indie act’s long-awaited fourth studio album. IV is the band’s first new...
Australia’s Music Industry Issues Apology as Review Into Abuse, Discrimination is Published
BRISBANE, Australia — A united Australian music industry has apologized to the many women and men who’ve been subjected to abuse in the workplace, details of which are exposed in a damning new report. Following a months-long consultation process, Raising Their Voices, a review into sexual harm, harassment, and systemic discrimination across the contemporary music industry, was made publicly available Thursday (Sept. 1) for the first time. It makes for uncomfortable reading. Based on the contributions of 1,600 victims, witnesses and advocates, the document paints a picture of widespread sexual harassment, sexual harm and bullying, with the vast majority of those incidents going unreported. Among the key report figures, 55% of respondents experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment ...
Watch Eliminate Produce a Track With Samples Recorded From Australian Wildlife
For his latest music production masterclass, Eliminate turned to Australia’s vast nature and wildlife for inspiration. While out on tour, the EDM.com Class of 2021 star visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Australia to record sounds from a number of their animals. He then got to work in his Airbnb, sampling them to create an electro and breakbeat banger. The animal sounds Eliminate sampled include the calls of kookaburras, snoring of koalas, drinking of kangaroos and warbles of various birds. The track builds with some Virtual Riot drum loop samples before unleashing a ferocious drop that stomps harder than the kangaroos it samples. Eliminate then introduces a half-time trap section to bring the arrangement home. Give Eliminate&#...
Sydney Nightclub Expands Harassment Policy to Include “Staring” Without Consent
A nightclub in Australia is taking a series of new steps in an effort to strengthen its culture of consent. Sydney’s Club 77 is expanding its zero-tolerance harassment policy to ban unwanted staring, according to a statement issued by the venue. “As a nightclub, we encourage you to interact with strangers, however any engagement MUST begin with verbal consent,” reads a post shared on Club 77’s Instagram page. “This also applies if you are, for example, staring at someone from afar. If the attention you are giving someone is unwanted, that is considered harassment.” Elsewhere in the statement, Club 77 states the venue is not solely a place for “pick up,” and reiterates that giving fellow club-goers any unwanted attention is in violation ...
The Wiggles Make History With Two Australian Arena Tours In 2023
The Wiggles continue their golden run with the announcement of another arena tour of Australia, a run that places the childen’s entertainers in the history books. With The Wiggles Holiday Party Big Show, announced Tuesday (Aug. 30), the Wiggles become the first band in Australian history to perform two national arena tours in a single year. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The “Hot Potato” singers will hit the road for 15 end-of-year dates, wrapping Dec. 17 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena — the country’s biggest arena, with a 21,000 capacity. Bruce Springsteen did the double with his Wrecking Ball tour in 2013 and with the High Hopes jaunt in 2014. The Boss’ visits were separated by twelve months, but weren’t in the same calendar year. The ...
Australian regulators rattle their saber as adoption takes a major leap: Law Decoded, Aug. 22–29
Australia’s financial regulator, the Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has pledged to put crypto assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) firmly in its sights over the next four years. The regulator intends to focus on “digitally enabled misconducts” and to protect investors “from harms posed by crypto-assets.” Given the ASIC’s history of anti-crypto sentiments, such an announcement could be perceived as hostile, but at least it contains a promise to implement some regulatory framework that is still absent. And it is hardly a coincidence that the announcement came only days after Australia’s new ruling government announced plans to move forward with regulation of the crypto sector by conducting a “token mapping” exercise by the end of the year. At the same time, Australia’...
