theedger said:
KDM 7000 said:
A song is not only successful if it's on Top 40 or Rhythmic, BUT, it is more recognized and research by American's if it is, and has much more of an advantage.
I keep forgetting that Americans have to be told what is popular (charts). Look how successful some artists have become on iTunes alone! Pink was a huge seller on iTunes when FM had given up on her. FM was 'forced' into playing Pink again because the masses told them she's still relevant.
Lady Gaga is a prime example of what is commercially good, but it took FM a year to figure out what we already knew.
An airplay chart is made up of what FM thinks Americans want to hear (or what has a lot of promotional $ behind it)
Now that is exactly it! What we want now are other established dance artists to get "the Lady Gaga recognition". Lady Gaga became known to the masses after the media "gave her the spotlight". I never noticed Pink really disappear from fm radio, but regardless, this is also what we are trying to achieve - getting the masses to recognize and make something happen, but with dance. Regardless of how it's done, we just want it done. You can watch the top sales of iTunes and other stores, but when you are out in public talking to "regular" people of the streets and city..etc. about music, I can bet you that a very high percentage of them will know the radio hits that are charting and not the things that radio isn't feeding them. The average person would recognize a David Guetta production more than a Tiesto production, once described or played back to them, and there's a reason why. No one is saying anything NEEDS to be on CHR, but I can guarantee the songs on CHR will always be much more known by even the people who don't care to know about it than the songs that are not. The dance sound being on CHR is exciting SIMPLY BECAUSE it exposes more people to the sound, causing them to be more open and acceptive to things that sound similar if they should come across it. When dance is heard with popular music, not only does it diminish stereotypes about dance and erase the "everything fast must be techno" type thinking, but it also translates in most people's brains as "Well
everybody else is playing it, therefore this sound must be hot!" That is a HUGE BENEFIT because when someone feels something is acceptable and hot, they'll be more willing to accept it and give it a chance because "It's cool and in". Do you realize how many people didn't really care for Chris Brown's "forever" but ONLY listened to it and put it in their Ipods and let it play because
1. It was Chris Brown, and
2. "Everyone else" says it's cool?
This is simply what we're trying to achieve with dance artists as well - getting them to that "hot status", NOW, that we have the chance since music is going in that direction TODAY! The timing is perfect to push dance artists. Think about it.. A lot of the electro-pop / dance artists like Lady Gaga and others are only making it big with their sound today because of their perfect timing. It works NOW. It would've worked in the mid to late 90's as well, however I can bet you that if these same sounds were released around 2003 when hip hop was dominating big time and the reggaeton wave was just about to hit, it would never have made it nearly as big as it is today. Akon's current dance sound would've never worked if he started out that way. Pitbull's current sound would've never worked out as big as it is now if he started out that way. MAYBE, just MAYBE, if they kept the same dance sound all along since their early days, they would've been able to release a few hits, but I bet many of them would've just flopped until around 2007 or 2008, when the electro-pop dance sound started to really pick up in the U.S.
Being all about the money and only caring about the money is nice because you have money to pay bills, buy materialism...etc. and not care too much if you're a household name because you're big on iTunes with nice sales, but... this is not going to help dance as a whole. This is why we are worried about pushing the dance sound to the mainstream a bit more that it currently is. The same way many underground hip hoppers took the opportunity when they saw their chance as hip hop started dominating (even if it meant resulting in only getting a tad more attention), dance fanatics can use the opportunity of this dance trend and sound to bring themselves up. Radio is not a requirement, but it does serve an incredible amount of aid towards achieving this goal. I'm sure David Guetta (like he said himself!!!!!!) is EXTREMELY content with his position on the RADIO charts right now. While many dance fans are good at knowing names like Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto...etc, and can talk about them at the drop of a dime if brought up in a conversation, there will be more people (even non dance fans) who could discuss a David Guetta production. And lastly, if I were to need to describe or provide and example of a dance sound / artist /or production to anyone right now, who's name do you think I will conveniently use to make that example?
If Pink can be pushed back upon radio (regardless of how it was done), then the same can happen with dance artists who do their work correctly. GOOD dance hits can generate money and work, just like any other genre.
