The American influence on "Australian folk songs" has never been properly acknowledged. American miners, entertainers and sheet-music publishers had a considerable effect on Australian audiences during the 19th Century. Publishers of sheet-music deliberately targeted Australia as a new and profitable market. The fast American clipper-ships could reach here well before the slower English ships traveling the slower route. People waited on the docks for the very latest music. They were keen to be up-to-date and modern. The songs of Stephen Foster, and other American song-writers, became more popular than the songs that came here with the settlers. Joy