Australia has a rich history of political musicians from all genres enjoying commercial success. Starting in the 1970s with rock bands like the Skyhooks and Midnight Oil, using music to raise awareness of political issues gained momentum in the early 1980s with the more mellow styles of Archie Roach and Neil Murray. The 1990s gave us Yothu Yindi and the 2000s saw the John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd and the Hilltop Hoods reach the mainstream with their messages of social injustice. But over the last 5 years, the popularity of this statement-type music has dwindled, and we have Beth King and Martin Hemingway of the Beth King & The Hemingway Collective in the studio to have a chat about why.
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