Should Triple J Play Beyoncé’s “Lemonade”?

The alt-pop debate rages on!

Triple J came under fire last week from traditionalists who felt their noses were put out of joint by the playing of Beyoncé, following the surprise release of her new “visual album” Lemonade.

Beyonce getting played on triple j? What is this world coming to? Now she's at six solo albums, crap. https://t.co/Kjw70vyntW

— Nichole (@oshyhikari) April 28, 2016

(If you put your ear close to Twitter, you can hear their anti-hip-hop rumblings over Drake’s VIEWS too.)

The station didn’t just play her album a little, either. They played it a lot. Daily, even. (“Daddy Issues” is yet to get a guernsey, but probably just because it’s no good.)

Zan Rowe has defended the addition of Lemonade’s tracks to Triple J’s playlist, and certainly most critics and music-lovers are in agreement that having more of Bey’s ground-breaking pop experiment on the radio is a good thing.

Former Triple J presenter Lindsay "The Doctor" McDougall also jumped to Bey's defence, noting that the station even spun Destiny's Child back in the day. The website JPlay also reveals a longish history of Yoncé love.

Still, with memories of JJJ’s Taylor Swift-snubbing fresh in the minds of many (#Tay4Hottest100, anyone?), this does seem like a sudden about-face when it comes to the alternative broadcaster giving a platform to the world’s already popular female singers.

Is it fair that Beyoncé makes the cut, but Taylor doesn’t? Should they leave them both to the commercial broadcasters and focus on fostering more Courtney Barnetts and Meg Macs?

Or, like Kanye West – who, despite his seeming ubiquity, is long gone from commercial radio – does this newly explicit, experimental Beyonce need the support of a broadcaster like Triple J to even get airplay? After all, her Lemonade buddies – Ezra Koenig, Father John Misty, Diplo, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar – are all staples of the Triple J playlist. If a pop star turns alt, can they continue to expect mainstream radio support? Is that precisely when Triple J should step in?

These aren’t hypothetical questions. They’re presumably being actively debated in the halls of Triple J and other radio stations around the country. With more and more records being dropped exclusively on streaming services, and the marketplace becoming ever more fractured and niche, broadcasters need to have a serious think about what they can be to their audiences.

For decades, Triple J has been the home for alternative music fans seeking something beyond the best-selling music; it has given lesser-known, fringe artists a direct line to Australia’s youth; and it has fostered a community of individuals who share something not-insignificant in common: a deep love for music.

It’s easy to see the intrusion of Beyoncé – or Drake, or Taylor – as an assault on what makes Triple J and other alternative stations uniquely special. On the other hand, to not play Lemonade isn’t just stepping aside from the biggest musical event of the year; it's wilfully ignoring a popstar’s official defection from confection to become an unvarnished fire-starter, as she makes a political and feminist statement on the grandest possible scale.

Triple J and stations like it need to approach playlist additions on a case-by-case basis. Some may whinge, but Beyoncé’s Lemonade deserves its place on it, in ways that, say, 1989 didn’t.

But what say you?

Read our review of Lemonade here.

Photo: HBO.