Why College Radio Still Matters: Planetary Group’s Adam Lewis on Breaking Australian Artists in the US via BIGSOUND
As BIGSOUND 2025 approaches, we’re spotlighting insights from key global industry voices attending this year’s conference. Adam Lewis—head of LA-based artist development firm Planetary Group—has played a pivotal role in breaking Australian acts like Courtney Barnett, Spacey Jane, Gordi, and Hiatus Kaiyote into the U.S. market through college and community radio. In this exclusive guest article, Adam shares why college radio remains one of the most powerful tools for Australian artists looking to make their mark in the States—and why BIGSOUND is where that journey often begins.
It’s Big Sound again. To me, Big Sound is one of the best showcase events in the world. The quality of artists performing is high. Excited to get to Australia – since I always find great music when I visit. Planetary has been very lucky to introduce so many great Australian artists to the US market through college radio over the past 15 years – Courtney Barnett, Hiatus Kaiyote, Royal Otis, Rufus Du Sol and Flight Facilities to more recent campaigns with The Babe Rainbow, Vacations, Spacey Jane, Gordi, Civic, and so many more. They all started at college radio.
College radio is still the most important first step for any artist to take when entering the US market. They want to hear from you. This is where early adopters and real fans are. More so than Spotify and socials – these are the folks that really follow artists (as opposed to songs). They are going to shows, buying merch on bandcamp, telling their friends, etc. It’s who you need to build a base in the beginning here. Many Australian artists have tried to skip this step – and go straight to what is called the Non-Commercial radio format. This is a mistake. They often fail due to there not being enough of a story. You always want to do college and the college adjacent non-coms first (KCRW, KEXP). We are happy to take you to Non-Commercial radio format when the time is right, but start at college.
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There are still 300+ college stations across North America that report to the NACC chart. This chart tracks all the college and college adjacent airplay into a Top200 chart – as well as presenting various specialty charts (metal, hip hop. world, electronic, etc). Sounds Australia was very active with the old CMJ chart and festival. When that went away, I think that some Australian managers and labels thought that college radio went away or was lesser. In fact – there are more stations reporting now than there was then – as there is no cost for the stations to report their airplay now.
We have been able to introduce Australia’s diverse styles of music, as the stations are open to all styles. Whether the electronic sounds of Rufus Du Sol and Flight Facilities or the more garage/punk rock of Civic, The Prize, Split System, Dippers or C.O.F.F.I.N. The styles are so varied that we have been able to present Sons of The East, Immy Owusu and OjiAji – all to the same stations. A career highlight was presenting Gurrumul to the format.
This past year we have introduced newer artists like Tamara & The Dreams, Egoism, Betty Taylor, Delivery, Teenage Joans, and Bakers Eddy. We are very excited to be just starting on Radium Dolls, Old Mervs and Radio Free Alice.
With the airplay, we were able to have Delivery, Betty Taylor and Bakers Eddy perform on our stage at SXSW – which allowed them to play in front of many radio station personnel, as well as do recorded interviews.
Gordi, who we have at Non-Commercial right now, has been doing in-studio live appearances all across the country, including at the legendary KEXP. This helps her worldwide. Babe Rainbow is on KEXP next week.
Radio is still very much alive and vibrant here. It’s just important to know how to navigate the process. A successful radio campaign can form the basis of a successful tour and provide a fantastic base to build from. It also can generate content that can be used on your socials or youtube, in the form of live studio appearances. Just look at KEXP online!
Hopefully we can find the next big thing at Big Sound next month. I’ve purchased new sneakers – so ready to put in the steps in the valley to find them!
As Australia’s largest music industry event, BIGSOUND continues to serve as a launchpad for global careers—and voices like Adam Lewis remind us how important strategy, community, and patience are when expanding internationally. With college radio still shaping the foundation of U.S. success for so many acts, there’s never been a better time to revisit the basics. Catch Adam at BIGSOUND 2025 as he shares more insights on navigating the U.S. market and turning radio spins into lasting fanbases.
