Since radio started in Australia there have been guys and girls who were called announcers. They would mostly play the records that the music library would list for them to play with none or little input into the playlists. This changed with the advent of Rock’n’Roll. A selection of these announcers were allowed to choose some or maybe even all of the records they played during their session. They became known as DJ’s or Disc Jockeys.
If you are one of the millions who dream of stardom, you will also will need radio to play your songs. That in itself is one of the hardest things you’ll have to conquer because without it, you will never get success. It isn’t easy now and it wasn’t easy at the start! In fact, it was harder then because there were less stations and very few who wanted to play Aussie recording stars no matter how good the records were. Today at least there is one savior… Community Radio! You can go to the stations yourself, meet the girls and guys who play the CD’s and ask them to play your CD. Unfortunately not many people will hear it because not many people listen to Community Radio yet. Still, there is a station in every area, so go to them all. Don’t send your CD, go take it to them, meet them, they’d love to meet you too.
In Sydney the first stations to play Rock’n’Roll were 2SM and 2UW and the Top 40 format came to Australia in early 1959 when 2UE was the first station to adopt it. 3UZ did the same in Melbourne. It was later picked up by other stations in other states. Basically this meant that 40 records were chosen by the station to be played over and over, with another few, possibly up to 40 also getting lesser play. Up until this time announcers either chose their music content as they wished or based on requests. The libraries were open to them and the program could be changed ‘on the fly’ simply by running to the library to get the desired record. Recording artists were frequently interviewed and their records were played without having to be promoted by ‘major’ labels or being on a ‘best selling’ list. This allowed listeners to hear new artists or new material by well known artists.