I'll say this...
- Napster launched in 1999
- The iPod in 2001
- The Pirate Bay in 2003
- Spotify in 2006
- Bandcamp in 2008
- Rdio in 2010 (good old Rdio... RIP)
- Apple Music in 2015
... It's amazing that Triple J and/or The Hottest 100 has any cultural relevance in the year 2026.
News! A 28 year old listener of Triple J thinks they have gone too mainstream!
"What’s the point of Triple J’s Hottest 100?
Once an incubator for Australia’s indie music scene, Triple J’s Hottest 100 is now little more than a tired listicle. By Shaad D’Souza."
[Paywall, I think]
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/music/2026/01/28/whats-the-point-triple-js-hottest-100
So they are playing the Hottest 100 from 1995 every morning this week on Double J.
And yes, if I tune in sometime on Friday, I will hear them play 
My thoughts on quite a limited listen to the 2025 #JJJ #Hottest100
For *reasons* I only heard the better part of the top 20 songs in this year’s Hottest 100 after having a real listen from 2000-2009 and skipping those between then and now.
What I heard was a lot of music that was eerily similar to the kind of music that you would find in a 1980’s playlist - it sounded very mainstream compared to past lists from the naughties. I didn’t hear any (c)rap.
I also noted there was a hell of a lot more Australian artists in the countdown (which is a good thing) than in past years and, according to The Guardian, the songs in the Hottest 100 were reflective of the general JJJ playlist during 2025.
My thoughts on why these things have occurred come down to the retirement of Richard Kingsmill. Kingsmill had an outsized influence for a very, very long time on what got played on JJJ. I suspect that a lot of the songs that got played and thus ended up in the 2025 countdown would never have been given airtime while he was still around - they simply would not have been ‘alternative enough’ for Kingsmill.
FTR - I don’t have an issue with Kingsmill, I am just noting the change.
Overall, the change is probably for the benefit of the Australian music industry - more local talent getting air time and more results in the Hottest 100. I am fairly sure promoting Australian music was the reason Gough Whitlam’s government set up (what was then) 2JJ … yes, I was around to the hear the launch.
Dinosaurs like me might wish for a higher number of songs that sound like what I am used to on JJJ, but we are not the JJJ demographic. While we have ‘aged out’ of JJJ, we kept listening anyway.
I would note in passing Number 4: ‘Keith’by PLAYLUNCH … that is an absolute cracker of a song, reminds me of various ‘joke’ songs from the naughties, such as ‘Russel Crowe’s Band’ by Frenzal Rhomb and ‘The Bold And The Beautiful’ by The Drugs. It was good to see it up in the Top Five.
Ugh! What is going on? I know and like a song in the #Hottest100 top 5
RE: https://theblower.au/@Maxton/115694835580849489
With my selection of #Hottest100 I predicted that I would get no more than 3 in the top 100, and have none in the top 30.
Ended up having 5 in the top 100, and none in the top 30.
Dread Pirate (Tom) Roberts
RanaldClouston
Devorppa
crk5
Bloody Hell
Maxton (Sean)
Emma Davidson