I'm an Anglophone living in the Coachella Valley. My favorite radio station is Cali 93.9. I listen ALL the time. Love cumbia! My question is why does this station consistently rate below a 2 share? Why wouldn't it have numbers closer to KLAX or KSCA?
Is it a question of signal strength? Weak promotion? Or is it simply that cumbia is just not as popular as the genres played on the other Spanish-language stations? Also, in terms of music preference, why would native English speaking teens and twenty somethings not be drawn to cumbia, even if it is in another language? To me, cumbia rhythm is irresistible!
Radio professionals, enlighten me!
I built my first nearly-all-cumbia station in 1965, Canal Tropical in Quito, Ecuador. This was my second station there, the first being Top 40. While the Top 40 station was #1 in upper income listening, Canal Tropical was #1 in lower income and around 4th in middle income listening.
The music is native to Colombia. It is, originally, an Afro-Antillian music form, just like salsa, merengue and other styles are. When it "developed" commercially in Colombia in the 60's, it was adopted by big dance bands... just like the "Big Bands" of the United States. It was originally just played at dances and parties, and then moved into radio as an actual format or a part of a broader one.
The music became, first, very big in the Gran Colombia nations of Venezuela and Colombia and Ecuador, then expanded up as far as Mexico and even to Argentina (where they call it "bailanta" or "dancable").
So it is not native to Mexico at all. And nearly 90% of Hispanics in LA are Mexican or Mexican American. It is, in fact, bigger in Central America. In Mexico there are few all cumbia stations. There are a few more that are cumbia and salsa or cumbia and regional Mexican.
What is driving Cali and KXOL is reggaetón and rhythmic music, not pure cumbia. As was just posted, reggaetón has little appeal in the older demos above age 35 to 40. Cumbia, on the other hand, as a pure genre has its greatest appeal among those over 45... except at dances, where it is easy to dance to and very much loved. In fact, there is a sub-genre of cumbia, cumbia sonidera, that is noted for long versions and aimed at the dance crowd. There is also a cumbia norteña and other derivatives in Mexico.
Cumbia has been around as a commercial music form for about 70 years. Were it to "cross over" it would have happened long ago.
Final note: like much rhythmic music (think "disco") the lyrics are not memorable. Most are just plain simple or stupid. One of my favorites from long ago is "La Burrita" by the Corraleros de Majagual... it sings about putting a donkey's saddle on tight as the road to town is winding and dangerous. Great song, stupid lyrics.
And here is "Festival en Guararé" a song about a town festival... actually in Panamá... as done in a modern version on one of Colombia's music competition shows. The guy on accordion is perhaps the best liked "acordeonero" in Colombia, Alfredo Gutiérrez. Note the excellent production values, typical of Colombian TV.
In the early 60's, the big Mexican dance band brought the cumbia to Mexico with their new singer, Sonia López. Here is a signature song from that era, part of a Mexican movie from the "época de oro" of Mexican cine.
