[size=6]Taylor Swift shakes up Triple J's Hottest 100 poll[/size]
January 18, 2015 - 12:15AM

Australian of the Year … Taylor Swift? Not quite, but the online brawl over a campaign to have Swift's smash Shake It Off included in Triple J's Hottest 100 poll has taken a new turn, with favourites for the gong, Canberra duo Peking Duk, posting a video on Saturday admitting they're closet Taylor fans. Reuben Styles and Adam Hyde speak of watching the ebb and flow of the voting as it was hijacked via a campaign to have Swift's hit included in the polling. "Taylor Swift's gonna win … and if she does good on her. I kinda hope she does." That said, Hyde does lament the distortion in the voting. "There's trolls who are voting because it's funny and that's the bit where it gets a bit, 'Oh come on'." The duo say they will spend Australia Day having a barbie, sinking beers and listening to the countdown. "We'll wait for Taylor Swift to take out top spot. I've got love for T. Swift." But can she do it? Latest check of the odds has Swift third favourite, behind Peking Duk and Chet Faker.

[size=6]Taylor Swift for Triple J Hottest 100: Counter campaign emerges[/size]
January 16, 2015
Michael Koziol


Following a grassroots effort to lob Taylor Swift's Shake it Off to the top of the Triple J Hottest 100, a counter-campaign is underway to disallow the song from the annual countdown.
A campaign under the hasthag #Tay4Hottest100 – initiated by Mark Di Stefano, a reporter at the listicle website Buzzfeed – has seen Shake it Off catapult to second-favourite according to a leading online betting agency.

On Friday morning it was paying $4.25 to come in at number one, behind Australian duo Peking Duk and their track High, which was paying $2.20.
But the movement has rattled some Triple J listeners, who see the incursion of Swift's catchy pop hit into the more alternative Hottest 100 as sacrilege.
Perth's Hayden Davies, who describes himself as a lifelong Triple J diehard, has started a change.org petition calling on the station to prevent Shake it Off from appearing on the chart. He argued the song had never been played on Triple J and was more akin to the Top 40 sounds heard on stations such as Nova or Kiis FM.

"I am all for people's opinions and tastes in music, but Taylor Swift's Shake it Off should not be on there," he wrote.
"It would ruin the Hottest 100 and Triple J for a lot of its loyal listeners, plus half the people voting for it have not even a clue what Triple J is."
But as of Friday morning the petition, which had been running for two days, had garnered just 50 supporters.
The backlash has also begun to permeate social media, where debates raged not just about the spirit of the Hottest 100 but the quality and meaning of Swift's music.



The attempted #Tay4Hottest100 putsch, which began only on Tuesday, will need to overcome a significant amount of early votes (polls have been open since December 15) if it is to swing Swift into pole position. It could also face technical difficulties: the rules allow Triple J to exclude a song if it has benefited from "competitions or commercial campaigns".
And there is a strong likelihood that among Swift supporters, the vote could split between Shake it Off and Blank Space, the second single from her album 1989. Both songs reached No.1 in Australia and the US.
Still, the station bills the countdown as "the world's biggest musical democracy" in which the will of the masses must be respected. Voting closes as of midnight Sunday, eastern standard time and the Hottest 100 is revealed live on January 26 – Australia Day – on Triple J.
Many listeners host parties, barbecues and other get-togethers for the annual event. Almost 1500 parties have been registered in 48 countries, according to the Triple J website.
Last year the most popular song was Riptide by Melbourne-based indie singer-songwriter Vance Joy, which ironically was covered by none other than Swift late last year.

[size=6]Delusional Triple J supporter sends death threat to fan voting for Taylor Swift in the Hottest 100[/size]
JANUARY 16, 2015 2:27PM



Haters gonna hate ... Taylor Swift has angered some unstable Triple J fans by existing and making music people like.

THE Taylor Swift for Triple J’s Hottest 100 crusade has turned ugly with a fan of the Shake It Off hit maker receiving death threats.
Deluded Triple J listeners have also compared Swift fans to ISIS, claiming both need to be wiped out.
Melbourne’s Eliza Day, who helped start the Swift campaign two weeks ago, was told “I hope you die a slow, painful death” last night by an Instagram user called dermy.wormy.
“When I first saw those Instagram comments I just shrugged, turned Shake It Off on and danced around my house singing “haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate ...”,” an unscathed Day said this morning.
“I have blocked the people who made the comments. Cyber bullying is never ever OK. Like, ever.”


Cyber bullies ... Instagram users hide behind anonymous profiles to spew venom

However she said the offensive actions have rallied people to react against the Instagram pest.
“I was talking to some friends yesterday and asking if they were going to vote. They said that although they don’t mind Taylor Swift they had no plans to vote. For her or anyone. But following the unpleasant comments left on my Instagram account they said they would absolutely be voting now as a mark of solidarity against cyber bullying.
“Up until now I’ve been in a Swiftie utopia where everyone is on board and being super supportive. I voted for Taylor a few weeks ago, and anyone who knows me or follows me on social media knows I am also a fierce and loyal supporter of many lesser known bands and artists, so I think most people understand that I simply voted for the songs I loved. They just happened to be by someone well known.”
Day said she cannot understand the hate and anger that has surrounded the campaign, which was started in jest by Buzzfeed and has snowballed over the last few days.
“The biggest misconception is that being a Taylor Swift fan and being an avid Triple J listener are mutually exclusive. While it’s true in some cases, I and many other people fall into both categories. I’m passionate about the music I love but I certainly don’t resent anyone for disagreeing with my tastes, nor can I comprehend wishing death upon someone over it.”


Seems a bit strong ... One of the offensive death threats.

Voting for the Hottest 100 closes this Sunday at midnight, with the results aired on Australia Day.
Ironically while the thought of Swift infiltrating the Hottest 100 has alarmed many ardent Triple J listeners, Melbourne’s Vance Joy, who won the Hottest 100 with Riptide last year, will open for Swift in concerts across the US, UK and Australia this year.
Swift’s best friend, Lorde, was No. 2 on last year’s Hottest 100 and Milky Chance, who are tipped to poll well with Stolen Dance, covered Shake It Off for Triple J’s Like a Version last week.

While Shake It Off was not played on Triple J last year it, like any other song released last year, can be voted for if entered manually.
Station manager Chris Scadden said on Wednesday: “We supply a list of over 2000 songs that have been played on Triple J in 2014. People are welcome to add songs manually to their voting shortlist and those votes count exactly the same as anything voted from the Triple J list.”
Some fans on Twitter were curious if one of the rules — “Triple J reserves the right to remove artists from the list who have benefited from competitions or commercial campaigns that incentivise fans to vote for them” would make Swift ineligible.
One fan has started an online petition titled “Do not allow Taylor Swift to feature in the annual triple j Hottest 100” which cites the above rule and adds Swift’s songs being heard on Triple J would “ruin the pure essence of triple j, sure we have had songs like Thrift Shop and Pretty Fly For A White Guy win, however this (sic) were at least played on triple j at least once and were listenable before it became overplayed to death” and “If wanted to listen to this song, I would not be listening to triple j. I would listen to NOVA or a TODAYFM program.”
Triple J’s publicist declined to comment on the potential impact of the voting clause and said the station has no more comments to make on the Taylor Swift story.

The reaction to the voting for Shake It Off (as well as Blank Space and other Swift songs) highlights how passionate Triple J listeners are towards the station — a loyalty commercial radio spends millions each year trying to foster.
Swift dominated commercial radio last year, with Shake It Off the year’s third highest selling single.
Another favourite this year is Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk. Some have questioned whether if it was a solo Bruno Mars song, not including Triple J favourite Ronson, the national station would playlist it.
In the past both Madonna and Kylie Minogue have lodged songs in the Hottest 100, while ‘cool’ mainstream acts such as Beyonce and Drake have never had a song chart in the poll.

Even betting agencies are trying to make money out of the campaign now.
Shake It Off has gone from $251 to be the favourite to win the Hottest 100 for Sportsbet today.
The company have been following the campaign on Twitter and claim they stand to lose $50,000 if Swift somehow became the first woman to ever win the Hottest 100.
“We have a novelty trader who specialises in this type of thing,” Sportsbet’s Shaun Anderson said. “A lot of research is done at the beginning including looking at charts etc to set the initial market. But the punters really play a big part and we respond to where the money goes. Hence Taylor has been so well backed we have had to cut her price.”

The standard of death threat has really decreased over the years.

The standard of death threat has really decreased over the years.

Triple J have excluded her now. Kind of ruins the countdown for me. Most votes should win. That simple. I love jjj but seeing hipsters lose their mind has been great.

They have?

Yup, snowflakes have ruined a good death threat.

-PB

Triple J have excluded her now. Kind of ruins the countdown for me. Most votes should win. That simple. I love jjj but seeing hipsters lose their mind has been great.

To be fair though I'm pretty sure there is a clause that they can exclude a particular song or artist in the event of a public campaign or movement to compromise the countdown.

I resent the notion that jjj is just for hipsters and it's only hipsters being pissed off by this. Australia Day is arguably the best drinking day of the year and the hottest 100 countdown is a huge part of that, personally I just don't see the point in compromising a good thing that many enjoy because people think it will be funny to piss of some hipsters. Also, I think Taylor Swift is a c*nt so I'd probably be a tad less bothered if it were anyone else.

To be fair though I'm pretty sure there is a clause that they can exclude a particular song or artist in the event of a public campaign or movement to compromise the countdown.

I resent the notion that jjj is just for hipsters and it's only hipsters being pissed off by this. Australia Day is arguably the best drinking day of the year and the hottest 100 countdown is a huge part of that, personally I just don't see the point in compromising a good thing that many enjoy because people think it will be funny to piss off some hipsters. Also, I think Taylor Swift is a c*nt so I'd probably be a tad less bothered if it were anyone else.

Edited by fredsta: 18/1/2015 04:23:27 PM

Fucking hardest poll seen on 442 in years.

-PB

Now more than ever its so easy to see how appaling Joffa's are in comparison

Just read those articles, gotta be a slap in the face to her real life friends by saying Lorde is her best mate. Celebrities, ey?

To be fair though I'm pretty sure there is a clause that they can exclude a particular song or artist in the event of a public campaign or movement to compromise the countdown.

the rules allow Triple J to exclude a song if it has benefited from "competitions or commercial campaigns".

But doesn't the song have to have been played on the station throughout the year? I thought her song had never been played and that's why she's ineligible.

According to one of the articles I posted:

Seeing as the online campaign was clearly not itself commercial in nature then that rule won't wash.



Other songs, can't bother finding which, have made the Hottest 100 without being played, so there is a precedent. They really don't have a leg to stand on.