Social media giant YouTube has chosen to promote Wollongong and a small selection of other Australian cities through its music streaming platform.
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Music Farmers co-owner Jeb Taylor was one of the “local heroes” selected to curate the melodic flavour of the region, although at first glance some choices may not seem to have an obvious connection
The Sounds of Wollongong playlist has current trending artists like Windang’s Hockey Dad and Stanwell Park’s Bec Sandridge peppered with more obscure inclusions the like of The Saints’ (I’m) Stranded and Ali Barter’s Girlie Bits.
“I picked out what were key artists that came from Wollongong, or based here, or had an influence or a strong connection,” Taylor said.
“It got trimmed down [to 37] but I probably submitted about 60 songs.”
The inclusion of The Saints was due to their film clip which was produced by film/video director Russell Mulcahy, whom Taylor said lived in Corrimal for a period.
Mulcahy is also the mastermind behind the video clip for The Buggles’ Video Killed the Radio Star and most recently worked on the Teen Wolf television series.
“It’s a pretty iconic old punk rock film clip,” Taylor said.
“He’s a pretty well known video clip producer now and has done [clips for] Elton John.”
Triple J favourite Ali Barter was included because of her band member multi-instrumentalist Tyler Milliot.
The former Wollongong resident was often seen around venues, playing in the band, The Green Room, during the mid to late-2000s.
Other artists like Unknown Mortal Orchestra or Totally Unicorn are tied to the region through Illawarra-based record labels like Farmer and the Owl and Spunk Records.
Overall it’s a guitar heavy flavour that wafts from the coast – even from Wollongong’s electronic music group Infusion with their 2005 tune Natural.
The playlist is being promoted by YouTube Music with a collection of sounds from other cities such as Canberra, Alice Springs, Byron Bay, Bondi, Adelaide, Newtown and Brisbane.
Taylor said the recognition by YouTube is an indication the cultural scene in the Illawarra has progressed.
“Just having people like that noticing that there’s stuff going on in Wollongong now is a positive thing,” he said.
“Because we all live here we kind of get used to what it is and don’t really see it as a destination.”
YouTube Music was launched to muscle in on the streaming market which has seen Spotify collect a reported 75 million subscribers at the end of March, and Apple Music 50 million in May.