11th November 2024

ABC has sensationally declared Taylor Swift‘s music was never banned from Triple J‘s Hottest 100 – despite the radio station saying the pop star had bought herself a ‘one-way ticket to Bansville’ eight years ago.

Fans of Swift erupted over the absence of her music in this year’s countdown on the youth music station on Saturday, the latest year when the American pop star has been overlooked.

Many argued that if other mainstream artists such as Lizzo and Beyoncé were included in this year’s list, then Swift should have been too.

The exclusion of Swift’s music was widely believed to be the result of a ban that came into effect after a social media campaign for her hit Shake It Off to take out the 2014 Hottest 100 left triple j unimpressed.

‘Their #Tay4Hottest100 campaign bought Taylor a one-way ticket to Bansville,’ ABC wrote in an article revealing the decision to disqualify her.

But in a statement to Daily Mail Australia, triple j insisted Taylor is not actually ‘banned’ from Australia’s biggest annual music competition.

ABC has sensationally declared Taylor Swift’s music was never banned from triple j’s Hottest 100 – despite the radio station saying the pop star had bought herself a ‘one-way ticket to Bansville’ eight years ago

‘Taylor Swift’s music that was released last year received airplay on triple j but not enough for it to be included in our Hottest 100 shortlist for votes,’ the spokesperson said.

‘However, any song released in the eligibility period can be voted for regardless of whether it’s in the Hottest 100 shortlist, as it can be added manually.

‘There has never been a ban on Taylor Swift as an artist appearing in triple j’s Hottest 100, however we were forced to disqualify one of her tracks in the Hottest 100 of 2014 because voting guidelines were breached.’

Swift’s fans had pushed hard for her inclusion in the 2014 poll, with even KFC jumping on board and offering vouchers for those who posted their favourite Swift songs.

At the time KFC’s endorsement breached triple j’s policy of the countdown to ‘remove artists from the list who have benefited from competitions or commercial campaigns that incentivise fans to vote for them’.

Swift's Shake It Off was disqualified from the 2014 Hottest 100 due to a breach of voting guidelines

Swift’s Shake It Off was disqualified from the 2014 Hottest 100 due to a breach of voting guidelines

In the same year Swift’s fans had pushed for Shake It Off to win the countdown, number 9 went to Sia’s Chandelier – despite the commercial artist’s song never being played on the station.

An article on Tone Deaf called ‘A Song Triple J Never Played Made The Hottest 100 Top 10 And Nobody Noticed’ reported that the broadcaster only ever played a cover of Chandelier, not the original song.

Chris Scadden, triple j’s station manager, told the publication at the time the song had been played on the station’s DJ shows House Party and Mix Up.

‘Triple J has been playing Sia for more than 15 years since she was a young artist in Adelaide… we played 4–5 songs from her 1000 Forms Of Fear album on Triple J in 2014,’ he said.

He pointed out that by comparison, none of Swift’s songs had been played on the station that year.

This year’s countdown featured tracks from many mainstream artists.  Lizzo came in at number 7 on the countdown with her track About Damn Time, while Doja Cat took out the 22nd spot with Vegas, and Beyoncé’s Cuff It was voted in at number 24.

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