Justin Bieber

History has a way of repeating itself and apparently, it’s repeating itself all over the Triple J Hottest 100 poll. Following on from last year’s Taylor Swift / Shake It Off / Hottest 100 controversy started by the mega trolls over at Buzzfeed (yeah, thanks guys), a campaign to get Justin Bieber to take out the top spot in the Hottest 100 is allegedly well underway.

Aside from ruining one of the most sacred Australian pasttimes, the Taylor Swift campaign last year raised a lot of questions: should pop music be allowed into the countdown? What makes some pop music better than other pop music? Are we only ever going to hear a Taylor Swift song played on Triple J it’s covered by a dude? One thing is certain: there’s something incredibly inauthentic about centering an entire campaign (aimed at people who probably don’t otherwise listen to -let alone know- Triple J) around getting a particular song to the Number One spot. It starts to smell even worse when you learn that this time, it was started by a betting company as this year’s #Bieber4Hottest100 is.

That’s right. While betting on what song will take out Number One isn’t unheard of and part of the fun of the countdown itself is arguing with friends about who it’s going to be, this entire thing is leaving a really bad taste in the mouths of Triple J fans. Perhaps one of the worst parts of the entire thing, however, is that technically Justin Bieber is actually eligible for the poll if you go by the (unwritten) rule that any song aired is fair game.

It’s not the worst because he’s Justin Bieber, I love Justin Bieber. It’s the worst that because of this campaign, anyone who actually cast a serious vote for the Jack Ü track he lent vocals to, Where Are Ü Now – which was played on Triple J and is a certified banger – will probably have their vote discounted.

Songs can either be selected from the voting list, or you can add in ones that don’t appear on the list, just make sure they meet the Hottest 100 eligibility check list (below). If they’re not eligible, votes will not be counted.

Then there are the massive Bieber tracks themselves. What Do You Mean and Sorry have topped Best of 2015 lists the internet over – much in the way that Swifts 1989 did last year, despite not being reviewed prior by many of the critics who cited it as their favourite release. It brings up once again the questions about what makes some pop music worthy of Triple J air time over other pop music.

Case in point: Hotline Bling. That song will no doubt creep into the poll as it’s been on high rotation on Triple J. Hotline Bling has enjoyed very similar commercial success to Sorry and WDYM. Drake is not even a former-Idol contestant who took a turn down Indie Road. He is in fact a former child-star from Canada – much like Justin Bieber.

Drake makes music that falls into a bracket of pop music but is somehow accepted into the Triple J fold where Taylor Swift (and Justin Bieber) is not – and that’s before we even get to talking about the Hottest 100 at all. I’m not saying that Triple J should just add every huge, commercially successful artists to their playlists and then them reign supreme over the Hottest 100. I know that’s not what they’re about. What might be an idea is to make the criteria for selection a little more transparent.

The initial tweet from the betting company that began #Bieber4Hottest100 has been retweeted by Bieber and at the time of writing has over 15,000 retweets. This year, Triple J have added a “don’t troll the poll” clause to the voting guidelines. What follows is a fair call, stating that “We want genuine votes, from genuine listeners.” Adding that “If we feel something’s preventing that from happening, we’ll look into it for you and take appropriate action.”

Speaking to Tone Deaf yesterday, acting manager at Triple J Meagan Loader added that “We want genuine votes from genuine listeners…It isn’t fair to triple j listeners or artists whose songs could be undermined when campaigns try to incentivise votes or troll the poll….We’ll keep an eye on it,” she continued. “If we feel the outcome of the Hottest 100 has been manipulated votes may be disqualified or ignored. You can check out our voting guidelines…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRh_vgS2dFE

A young man wore a band shirt, and the internet got upset. That is about the sum truth of the recent reactions to Justin Bieber wearing band tees by both Metallica and Nirvana. For fans to be protective of their chosen musicians, and the mythical long standing rivalry between rock and pop, are both good reasons why we shouldn’t really be surprised at twitter’s displeasure. But why should something like this cause so many “fans” to be up in arms?

True, Bieber was born only a month before Kurt Cobain’s death. And regardless of his suppositions about Anne Frank(!), it does seem unlikely that Cobain would have been a Bieleber. But oddly enough, I doubt that Kurt Cobain would have been too bothered about it either. Why is it so bad? Nobody cares when I wear a Nirvana shirt. Am I protected by my anonymity, or am I simply a more likely candidate to be a fan of the band?

Justin Bieber may be famed for pop music, and his particular brand may seem like the antithesis of grunge, but is that any reason why he wouldn’t enjoy other genres? Growing up in the backwash of Nirvana’s tragic demise, it’s unlikely that Nevermind at least never reached those lovely ears. If nearly the entire world can sing along to Smells Like Teen Spirit, it seems doubtful that it passed Bieber by, despite his young years. Though to be honest, it doesn’t seem to be that the internet is surprised by Bieber’s choice of artist, more that his pop status somehow precludes his worthiness to associate with an artist like Cobain. One Ben Thompson summed it up via his tweet “Justin Bieber doesn’t have the right to wear a Nirvana shirt.”

So what gives me the right (aside from my right as a consumer to purchase and wear the garments available to me)? Well, I did “discover” Nirvana age 13, through the appropriate medium of an older brother. I played in bands, I listened to acceptable grunge friendly genres like rock and metal. I used to wear too much black eyeliner. My teenage CD collection read like an issue of NME, with Marilyn Manson, The Offspring and Placebo. But I have a confession to make. The first ever CD I bought was… Aqua. It’s true. And I didn’t stop there, I owned 5ive, Madonna, Spice Girls…!

Shockingly, I enjoyed both genres. And it isn’t just me, rock fans the world over are coming to terms with the fact that they enjoy pop music. So why can’t it work the other way? It is a sad fact that the music world is fraught with unfounded prejudice. The days of mods and rockers are gone, yes the origins of genres often grew out of specific cultures and classes – who often were at odds. But surely we should have moved past this by now? For that matter, what’s to say Bieber hasn’t always liked Nirvana? And even if he has only just discovered them, why can’t he where a shirt about it?

Karla Welch, Bieber’s stylist, came to his defence in a recent interview with Esquire. Though you could tell that even she was a little bemused by the need for a “defence”.

“Actually, it’s not the first time he’s worn a Nirvana tee. We just have a nice collection of vintage tees, and then the tee he wore yesterday was actually Jerry Lorenzo’s from Fear of God. Jerry takes vintage tees and re-cuts them. But yeah, of course he’s a fan of Nirvana. I think it’s so funny that all these people are up in arms. I’m sure Kurt Cobain would be like—I mean I can’t speak for him, obviously—but I don’t think he was so snotty or that he would diss anyone who appreciated his music. I think he understood that that is like the antithesis of music appreciation. It’s so funny. But you know, fans are fans!”

Fans are fans, and if you are truly a fan then you should relish the remembrance of your favourite musician. You should want to share their music and everything you love about them. And if you’re still not convinced then there are two entities who support Justin Bieber, who I wouldn’t recommend messing with. Cobain’s widow Courtney Love gave Bieber her blessing via twitter in a message saying “You’re cool in my book @justinbieber xc”. And let’s not forget all those Bielebers. Between Love and an onslaught on teenage girls ready to defend Bieber to the death, I’m not sure which I’d choose.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRh_vgS2dFE&w=560&h=315]