When it comes to format labels, I remember back in the 70's when "Top 40" and "Black" were two distinct formats. The thing was, plenty of whites liked black music and listened to black stations but many advertisers were reluctant to advertise on black stations. By the end of the 70's, the "Urban" format was created to play a mixture of Top 40 and Black music. Black stations, in order to market themselves more broadly to advertisers, began re-labeling themselves as Urban and eventually, all Black stations became Urban. Meanwhile, Top 40 was no longer cool -- too, teeny bopper -- so it was renamed CHR. Now, "Rhythmic" comes along to play a mixture of CHR and Urban music. I think it won't be long before all Urban stations re-label themselves as Rhythmic and the term Urban will go away. Then, there will be a new name for stations that play a mixture of CHR and Rhythmic. And so on...
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AMP and KIIS' urban lean
- Thread starter Jeffrey
- Start date
There are plenty of CHRs found throughout Latin America.
David, I get what you're saying about how English-language Rock music is mainly listened to by upper classes in Latin America and they're (usually) not the ones immigrating to the States. Still, by the time the second or third generation of Latinos comes into play many of them have the same habits as those of most Americans. Most of L.A. Hispanic population has been here for more then just a few years, and the same goes for the large Asian population. As for Russians, they've always enjoyed both Dance and Rock music.
CHR/Pop stations in major markets have oftentimes been more Dance or Rhythmic friendly then those in smaller markets. CHRs, especially in the Northeast and Cali have a tradition of being more Dance and Rhythmic friendly then the rest of the country, but they can all still get away with playing mass appeal Pop/Rock hits. Kevin Weatherly seems to get that, which is why the Ting Tings are being played on Amp Radio.
David, I get what you're saying about how English-language Rock music is mainly listened to by upper classes in Latin America and they're (usually) not the ones immigrating to the States. Still, by the time the second or third generation of Latinos comes into play many of them have the same habits as those of most Americans. Most of L.A. Hispanic population has been here for more then just a few years, and the same goes for the large Asian population. As for Russians, they've always enjoyed both Dance and Rock music.
CHR/Pop stations in major markets have oftentimes been more Dance or Rhythmic friendly then those in smaller markets. CHRs, especially in the Northeast and Cali have a tradition of being more Dance and Rhythmic friendly then the rest of the country, but they can all still get away with playing mass appeal Pop/Rock hits. Kevin Weatherly seems to get that, which is why the Ting Tings are being played on Amp Radio.
CHRles said:
I know that. The first Top 40 in all South America was a station I owned... but most don't play much English language music that is not really pop or rhythmic. Going way back, CCR sold more records in Latin America than the Beatles...
Over 60% of LA Hispanics are Spanish dominant... in other words, first generation. And most came from rural areas of Mexico where there was no opportunity to be exposed to rock at all before coming here.
Music tastes are formed in early adolesence. Most immigrants don't change musical tastes even if they are here many, many years. Using myself as an example, I still listen mostly to vallenato and cumbia and my idea of oldies is Juan & Junior and Camilo Sesto. There is little English music I find appealing unless it was stuff I heard as a teen en Ecuador.
Yet the sort of Russian who emigrated tends, also, to be more rural and less exposed to Western music than others might have been.
My point is that few of those in 18 to 34 who are in the immigrant or ethnic groups will like the real rock songs that might be on a CHR in Fargo or Lansing.
Todd said:
I dunno, but I listen to Sirius Hits 1 all the time and that's exactly what they do- play TI, Hinder, Rhinana, Theory of A Deadman, Lady Gaga, Saving Abel, September, etc... Doesn't sound like a trainwreck to me. Actually sounds good, gives variety, and exposure to songs I'll never hear on the radio here. Even though it's programmed from the east coast, it's meant for all listeners nationwide.
I guess I'll never understand LA Radio and why everyone's just obsessed with hip-hop 24/7.
And KROQ and KYSR don't seem like real rock stations. More like pop- MTV style rock stations.
Neel Mehta said:
LA has not had a mainstream rock station that plays current music since KLOS back in the 90's, before they turned all Classic Rock (oldies) in 2000. KROQ and KYSR are "modern" rockers, which I agree is not "real" rock but more of a pop-rock hybrid with a lot of CHR elements.
Interesting thread here.
And you may be surprised to know that at least one group/artist has been played by both AMP and The Sound.... The Ting Tings. Who knew??
And you may be surprised to know that at least one group/artist has been played by both AMP and The Sound.... The Ting Tings. Who knew??
I recall when mtv refused to play michael jckson and they gave in eventually and he was the first black artist they played i was just a kid but i remember when the thriller video came out and they played it every hour but wow has time flied now if you ever see a video on mtv or mtv2 and that is a huge if it is almost always an urban artist. I use to like 120 minutes.
There are lots of songs that were HUGE hits in Latin America and Mexico and KIIS didn't even touch them.
One of them is Hung Up by Madonna in 2005-6. It currently holds the record of reaching the number-one position in the most countries for a single in music history, 45 countries. It was the first english song that topped the latin america top40(which was created in 2004) and only a few english songs have done that since then. It was no1 for 2 months..No other english song has achieved to be no1 for so long... and also no1 in Mexico for many weeks.. Generally, in each and every country in Latin America it was massive. The radio literally played the hell out of it in Central and South America. It was on heavy rotation like forever on the radio in mexico! But, KIIS barely supported it... That's why I'm confused... It doesn't make sense when you say that KIIS is playing what the mexicans would listen on CHR stations in Mexico. Because it's not true!
One of them is Hung Up by Madonna in 2005-6. It currently holds the record of reaching the number-one position in the most countries for a single in music history, 45 countries. It was the first english song that topped the latin america top40(which was created in 2004) and only a few english songs have done that since then. It was no1 for 2 months..No other english song has achieved to be no1 for so long... and also no1 in Mexico for many weeks.. Generally, in each and every country in Latin America it was massive. The radio literally played the hell out of it in Central and South America. It was on heavy rotation like forever on the radio in mexico! But, KIIS barely supported it... That's why I'm confused... It doesn't make sense when you say that KIIS is playing what the mexicans would listen on CHR stations in Mexico. Because it's not true!
jason1589 said:
Just because they chart in Mexico, does not make them big hits with Hispanics. We could say the same thing about songs that chart in England. Just because they are big songs there, and they speak "English" *there* doesn't translate into a big song. In the early 90's the 3 Tenors had the hit "Nessun Dorna" that went to number one on the charts. Here, didn't do a thing.
jason1589 said:
KIIS appeals to second generation bilingual or English domiant Hispanics. These are listeners who did not grow up in Latin America, and whose tastes have an Hispanic influence, but were formed here in the US.
Most stations in Latin America don't test music. I've seen stations just wiped away by a competitor who tests, because 90% of the playlist was made of stiffs... but the main reason the music is different in many cases is that it appeals to listeners who know little if any English and who are living in LAtin America, not the US.
jason1589 said:
Not to get off topic but Hung Up was a huge single in most of the world and was ignored by US radio perhaps because of a biast on CHR stations to literally any artist over say 35 with the exception of Cher's hit Believe. Not to mention US radio is also biast towards dance music of which Hung Up was.
Well, there are millions of examples of worldwide hits that have been ignored by the US radio... And it has every right to ignore them.. Just because a song is no1 around the world doesn't mean anything for KIIS or z100...
But, what happened with Madonna's Hung Up was shocking 3-4 years ago. I don't think we're gonna see such a big hit anytime soon and I don't think that any song in my lifetime will displace it from the Guinness Book for reaching no1 in most countries ever, 45.
I was confused though because the song broke records on the TRL of the American MTV. It even retired at no1. And It hit no1 on Billboard's digital sales, i-tunes, amazon etc... And of course, the people who download songs from i-tunes or watch TRL are the same who are listening to CHR. So it's weird that the song peaked only at 15-16 on the CHR airplay in the US, which is extraordinary for a Disco/Dance song though.
I remember, after all the complaints that Clear Channel received that they are boycotting madonna because she blasted Bush back in 2003 on her album and tour when the Iraq war started, ClearChannel posted that the accusations about madonna are not true, on that special page they have on their site to debunk stories/myths like this one or the one with Dixie CHicks for example. lol We know it's not true though because ClearChannel AC, Rhythmic AC, Hot AC etc.. channels are playing lots of madonna.
By the way, nice surprise to see AMP is playing that song by the Ting Tings!
But, what happened with Madonna's Hung Up was shocking 3-4 years ago. I don't think we're gonna see such a big hit anytime soon and I don't think that any song in my lifetime will displace it from the Guinness Book for reaching no1 in most countries ever, 45.
I was confused though because the song broke records on the TRL of the American MTV. It even retired at no1. And It hit no1 on Billboard's digital sales, i-tunes, amazon etc... And of course, the people who download songs from i-tunes or watch TRL are the same who are listening to CHR. So it's weird that the song peaked only at 15-16 on the CHR airplay in the US, which is extraordinary for a Disco/Dance song though.
I remember, after all the complaints that Clear Channel received that they are boycotting madonna because she blasted Bush back in 2003 on her album and tour when the Iraq war started, ClearChannel posted that the accusations about madonna are not true, on that special page they have on their site to debunk stories/myths like this one or the one with Dixie CHicks for example. lol We know it's not true though because ClearChannel AC, Rhythmic AC, Hot AC etc.. channels are playing lots of madonna.
By the way, nice surprise to see AMP is playing that song by the Ting Tings!
CHRles said:And yet CHR radio was very receptive towards Madonna's "4 Minutes", which came out after the dreadful "Hung Up" :
It was only receptive because of Justin Timberlake.
None of the other singles from the album Sticky and Sweet had any CHR airplay.
Seriously....over 35 in this country and no matter how big a hit is abroad or how well it charts here, as far as CHR radio play...you're done!
So... this means that Stevie B's new single is probably going to be ignored since he's just about Madonna's age, despite the fact that he told me he paid for 99 markets to play it.. (The new song is already on the latest funkymix release, and I have the entire unreleased album... The auto-tune modernized dance style has really become a new sound of it's own these days...) and I guess eventually Snoop, Dre, LL Cool J and all of them will disappear because they are approaching those higher ages as well... I used to always tell many people how smart it was for Madonna to team up with the younger Justin Timberlake.. but that's a different story I wont get into now.
Well, as odd as it may be, I am African American, but would rather listen to LA radio than Atlanta radio because the way the top 40's and rhythmics are ran in LA are much better to me. Also, I thank god for the hispanic influence in music and that we have a Latin Rhythm station here in Arizona because at least they will play dance hits with their rhythmic latin hits, including sometimes Bob Sinclair, David Guetta...etc. Anything dance influenced, they seem to get it all, many times first, regardless of whether or not it's in spanish. I'm not sure if Latino 96.3 is the same, but judging by some of the Latino 96.3 dj's, that station is probably better than our KVIB.
But getting back to the rhythmic and top 40 west coast radio sound, I love it. For some reason, all of Atlanta's top 40 stations went towards an alternative/rock lean, then their rhythmic went urban, so there's still a gap, despite the fact that they FINALLY got more stations around early 2000. I strongly emphasize the word FINALLY. I remember back when I had to record cassettes when I visited Az and sometimes LA in the summer to carry me through another school year in Atlanta. All we (or all I had) was Star*94 WSTR which was as close to top 40 as we could get (every other song was alternative). Everyone else didn't care because they had both of their hip hop stations to listen to, so they were content. Flash forward a few years later, Atlanta finally picks up the formats I yearned for (after I leave of course) and what happens? One goes rock leaning like Star*94 and the other leans urban, similar to the two real urbans they already have. Well, on a positive note, AT LEAST they did get more stations, and starting to play Planet Soul and Jocelyn Enriquez and Stevie B spring love around the same time Alice Deejay, Amber "sexual" and all that - exposing people to this "new unheard of sound" in 2001 was better than never. You could forget about Angelina, Rockell, or Lil Suzy being heard there (probably got a snippet during the Rick Dees show on Star*94)... Then of course Star*94 waits until the other stations pop up to feature dance mix shows before they think "hmmm ok, maybe we should do the same" and BAM! you get two hours on Sat. night of pop/rock remixes.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back on the west coast or west side of things for the past 10 years, where I can even hear more than just one Pitbull song be played as a hit. I could understand why Atlanta is a bit slow on Pitbull, because he typically uses elements from or re-does songs that never made it in Atlanta to begin with. "Krazy" shockingly just happened to make it there though.. And how does a city discriminate against their own Danity Kane "damaged"? ...then have only ONE station pick up LATE? This is Atlanta radio for you...
The CHR's here in Phx in LA are way better in my opinion... but that's just me. I've always favored the hispanic influenced format and sound the most. There was a time when I was into that rock leaning top 40 sound, but not anymore, especially now that electro-pop and dance are beginning to take over and decent lyrics are beginning to resurface in the hip hop that still manages to top the charts today. I wouldn't mind having an additional equally alternative rock playing or leaning top 40 around, but these days I've been stuck on the rhythmic sound BIG time. Amp, Power, and KIIS would probably be my fav's in Cali right now, along with KGGI, but if I had a Wild 94.9 or Wild 106.1, or something similar to NY's Party 105.3, those would be my absolute first choices.
Well, as odd as it may be, I am African American, but would rather listen to LA radio than Atlanta radio because the way the top 40's and rhythmics are ran in LA are much better to me. Also, I thank god for the hispanic influence in music and that we have a Latin Rhythm station here in Arizona because at least they will play dance hits with their rhythmic latin hits, including sometimes Bob Sinclair, David Guetta...etc. Anything dance influenced, they seem to get it all, many times first, regardless of whether or not it's in spanish. I'm not sure if Latino 96.3 is the same, but judging by some of the Latino 96.3 dj's, that station is probably better than our KVIB.
But getting back to the rhythmic and top 40 west coast radio sound, I love it. For some reason, all of Atlanta's top 40 stations went towards an alternative/rock lean, then their rhythmic went urban, so there's still a gap, despite the fact that they FINALLY got more stations around early 2000. I strongly emphasize the word FINALLY. I remember back when I had to record cassettes when I visited Az and sometimes LA in the summer to carry me through another school year in Atlanta. All we (or all I had) was Star*94 WSTR which was as close to top 40 as we could get (every other song was alternative). Everyone else didn't care because they had both of their hip hop stations to listen to, so they were content. Flash forward a few years later, Atlanta finally picks up the formats I yearned for (after I leave of course) and what happens? One goes rock leaning like Star*94 and the other leans urban, similar to the two real urbans they already have. Well, on a positive note, AT LEAST they did get more stations, and starting to play Planet Soul and Jocelyn Enriquez and Stevie B spring love around the same time Alice Deejay, Amber "sexual" and all that - exposing people to this "new unheard of sound" in 2001 was better than never. You could forget about Angelina, Rockell, or Lil Suzy being heard there (probably got a snippet during the Rick Dees show on Star*94)... Then of course Star*94 waits until the other stations pop up to feature dance mix shows before they think "hmmm ok, maybe we should do the same" and BAM! you get two hours on Sat. night of pop/rock remixes.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back on the west coast or west side of things for the past 10 years, where I can even hear more than just one Pitbull song be played as a hit. I could understand why Atlanta is a bit slow on Pitbull, because he typically uses elements from or re-does songs that never made it in Atlanta to begin with. "Krazy" shockingly just happened to make it there though.. And how does a city discriminate against their own Danity Kane "damaged"? ...then have only ONE station pick up LATE? This is Atlanta radio for you...
The CHR's here in Phx in LA are way better in my opinion... but that's just me. I've always favored the hispanic influenced format and sound the most. There was a time when I was into that rock leaning top 40 sound, but not anymore, especially now that electro-pop and dance are beginning to take over and decent lyrics are beginning to resurface in the hip hop that still manages to top the charts today. I wouldn't mind having an additional equally alternative rock playing or leaning top 40 around, but these days I've been stuck on the rhythmic sound BIG time. Amp, Power, and KIIS would probably be my fav's in Cali right now, along with KGGI, but if I had a Wild 94.9 or Wild 106.1, or something similar to NY's Party 105.3, those would be my absolute first choices.
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