entertainment

Did Shake It Off just get disqualified from Triple J's Hottest 100?

UPDATE: 

Triple J has officially disqualified Taylor Swift’s song ‘Shake It Off’ from today’s Hottest 100 countdown.

The station posted this to Twitter just before commencing it’s annual countdown at midday:

It appears everyone planning on donning #Tay4Hottest100 shirts today may instead be crying into their Peronis.

Shake It Off by Taylor Swift has been disqualified from the running in Triple J’s Hottest 100.

And we can all blame KFC.

Nice going, KFC.

In an interview on ABC’s The Drum, former Triple J presenter Angela Catterns said the song has been disqualified because KFC began campaigning for the song’s inclusion.

“You probably know that there was a push to get a Taylor Swift song in [the Hottest 100], which has now been disqualified because a fast food chain became involved in the whole process,” she said.

In the official rule book of the Hottest 100, Triple J can disquality artists from the list who benefit from campaigns or competitions that encourages fans to vote.

Triple J has declined to comment.

The campaign, the tweets, the fights… it looks like it was all for nothing. Except to bring awareness to a song that everyone already knows about.

Be honest, are you disappointed?

Mamamia previously wrote… 

Taylor Swift fans are sabotaging an Australian indie music tradition at this very moment. And now it has been made a lot easier.

Taylor Swift fans love only one thing more than the Butterscotch Princess and that’s the internet.

And now the internet has made it a lot easier to vote for Taylor Swift in Triple J’s Hottest 100 by dedicating an entire website to that sole purpose.

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If you go here, you’ll be able to vote in fewer keystrokes than you could possibly imagine. Which, naturally, leaves more time in your day for shaking it off.

Yes, it does seem terribly unsporting. So to shake off your guilty conscience, you should pop down to your local record store and buy some music by an Australian female artist. You will feel much better…

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

Australian radio station Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown isn’t just a list of songs voted for by hipsters that plays on Australia Day, it’s a movement that a lot of people are very passionate about.

Fans of the Swifty are raging that, in a list of 2000 songs that were played on Triple J in 2014, her popular chart topper  ‘Shake It Off‘ is not listed as a voting option for the Hottest 100.

Never mind the fact that the pop song has never been played on the alternative music station. Ever.

Or that Triple J is known for celebrating Australian artists and giving a platform to emerging musicians.

Or that the station is not the place likely to play the latest hit from Taylor Swift, or One Direction, or Selena Gomez, except when their songs are used as the basis for an edgy cover, because the bulk of their music – and most of what makes the Hottest 100 – are of a more alternative genre.

Taylor doesn’t need the recognition. Shake it off.

Swift fans are now desperately trying to get her addictive song added to the countdown by using an option that allows you to add your favourite song for consideration in the final 100 songs.

The movement, dubbed #Tay4Hottest100, was started by Buzzfeed reporter and former Triple J presenter Mark Di Stefano. His article, titled ‘Why isn’t everyone voting for “Shake It Off” in the Hottest 100?‘ has sparked an online revolution.

The article on Buzzfeed.

 

Di Stefano says there’s no difference between other pop music that appear on the countdown and Taylor Swift.

“What is the difference between voting for Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson (“Uptown Funk” which is the number three favourite in the Hottest 100 and the current Billboard number one) and Taylor Swift? Triple J plays US pop music because it’s what people want to hear. Maybe people want to hear Taylor Swift,” he told Mamamia.

1⃣9⃣8⃣9⃣#TripleJ #Hottest100 #TaylorSwift #1989 #OhYesIDid #Australia #YAAASSSSS

A photo posted by Eliza Day (@mselizaday) on

A fan going full-blown-Taylor and voting for every single one of her latest songs. 

Except, as listeners have pointed out, there is a difference. The hit he’s talking about, Uptown Funk, is credited to music producer Mark Ronson – whose songs play on the station frequently – and features Bruno Mars. It’s unlikely a Bruno Mars song on its own would be played so heavily on the station.

The movement has brought out intense feelings from both sides of the debate, which Di Stefano says, “is awesome.”

“It proves beyond doubt that a huge section of Australia is obsessed with Triple and value the Hottest 100. It’s one of the great institutions.

“It’s also just about having some good times online. And Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” is the anthem for 2014.”

It’s not the first time a song that wasn’t listed on the original 2000-song list have been petitioned for inclusion in the countdown, but it is the first of this sort of calibre. Songs by Green Day, Lily Allen and U2 have all been included in past countdowns, relying on outside voters to push them up the list.

Themusic.com.au mentions the Foo Fighter’s hit Wheels made the list in 2009 with no plays on the station, while Fairfax reports Alanis Morisette soared through the countdown in 1995 without any actual airtime.

A female has never actually won the Hottest 100 on her own, so it would be an incredible feat for women, but Triple J’s Hottest 100 is not the place to try to get such a mainstream artist even more airtime. She doesn’t need it.

And her spot, should she end up in the countdown – which is looking more and more likely – will mean taking away the chance to give airtime to an emerging artist, something that Triple J is passionate about showcasing.

In other Taylor Swift news, she’s proven once again why she is the best human being by paying off a fan’s student loans. Taylor sent her exactly $1,989 (blatant promotion of her album) to help with her college debt. Never change, Taylor Swift. Never change.