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My take on people who complain about "gay" in dance.

M

mannyworks00

A. Stop being a coward.
B. If you can't "gay" -- step aside.
C. Get out of dance music..seriously just leave the genre, leave room for other open minded people.
D. Learn what circuit music really is.
 
How about stations need to learn how to program the format without sounding too gay? I am not anti gay however a lot of the dance hits music played on stations lean toward they gay sound. Everything from the jocks to the over the top/rupaul/diva circuit sounding music. People wonder why this format fails on terrestrial radio dials. That is the reason.

Why are people considered cowards if they do not like cheesy music?
 
Yeah -- you are being semi-discriminatory and stereotypical. When do you hear people calling up WGCI and telling them to stop programming "too black" or LaLey and telling them their too "Mexican". It DOESNT HAPPEN. I agree with you about Terrestrial radio. Some of us have our work cut-out...I get the sense there's a segment of the dance community trying to "steal" and "define" dance for themselves. I'm here to tell you...it AIN't GONNA HAPPEN.
 
mannyworks00 said:
Yeah -- you are being semi-discriminatory and stereotypical. When do you hear people calling up WGCI and telling them to stop programming "too black" or LaLey and telling them their too "Mexican". It DOESNT HAPPEN. I agree with you about Terrestrial radio. Some of us have our work cut-out...I get the sense there's a segment of the dance community trying to "steal" and "define" dance for themselves. I'm here to tell you...it AIN't GONNA HAPPEN.
Click to expand...

You do not hear about people calling into a black station complaining that they are being too black because that is their format (Urban)

Dance Hits has not found its true format yet. When I visit fusion radio website it is full of gay advertisements like Roscoe's, Chicago Pride, Velvet Rope. When I listen to their webcast it sounds like to me they are targeting the GAY audience. Again, that is not a bad thing if you are gay but I am not gay, neither are lots of others.

I think the two need to be separated: Dance Hits and Gay Dance Hits. Stations need to somewhere in the middle of that and the best one that I have heard is iparty radio.

Does Fusion sound great? Absolutely, but it leans too far into the Gay Dance Hits sector.

I do not understand why you get offensive when someone says that a station sounds gay. It does! I am not a gay hater I just call it like i see it.
 
"You do not hear about people calling into a black station complaining that they are being too black because that is their format (Urban)"
Why do you think they Own it? because they dominate it? well it's not "their" format and if it was -- it's there's as much as dance is to Gay people.

The way I see it, there should be three types of people in dance:
A. The gays
B. The open minded straight.
C. ALL of the above in any race, age or income.

I say people are cowards because -- if you go through lyrics in dance songs, they are just as corny or R&B or pop, love is corny but love gets us all through the day.
I'm not offended, I am gay , this is my fight. We moved our office closer to Halsted to be closer to our demo. Thanks anyway for the back-handed compliment.
 
To put closure to this topic. I think the Chicago sun-times summarized it best. "They can't keep the divas and DJs down". It's so true, in dance you're either a DJ or a Diva. There's truly a role for everyone and the roles are intermittent, whether you are Straight or gay , male or female, dominant or submissive :) -- it's cool to be a DJ/producer, and it's cool to be a dance diva too and it reflects in the making of a dance song; a DJ/producer makes the beats and a diva vocalist sings it and the end result is 1 song generally everyone agrees on (that's the general template). If you dissect the listeners, just about every listener who is "dominant" is a DJ (or wants to be a dj) and is more interested in the beats and mixes and the "submissive" listener is more interested in the vocals. There are also the "dominant" listeners who play the stream while playing video games and completely ignore the lyrics and just listen to the beats.
 
I have to say this, dance music made me, a straight guy, much more tolerant of alternative sexual orientations.

But dance music shouldn't only be marketed towards gays, a la Pride Radio, it should be marketed towards EVERYONE, like 99% of the Internet stations. Marketing only to gays may not turn off the core dance fan (half of Energy 92.7 San Francisco's listeners were straight) but it may be a turn off to the average straight person.
 
I think Manny's station sounds great - a Dance hits station that leans on a lot of circuit anthems. So in that regard, bamatide isn't putting it down - he's not using the word gay in a deragatory manner. He correctly pointed out the station's ads and remotes clearly target a gay audience. Of course it doesn't mean that everyone whose gay likes Dance music, or automatically will prefer this Dance station over other ones, but Fusion is making a concentrated effort to serve the circuit crowd.
Do some of the songs on Fusion also cross over or are played at Dance hits stations that don't just focus on gays? Sure. Are other Dance stations also staffed and programmed by some folks in the LGBT community? Yes, but with Fusion it's clear that gays are the P1 audience.
There's several other online Dance stations that strongly target gays, but none of them are as well executed as Fusion, imo.

My favorite Dance hits station tends to usually be Energy 98.1, or some of the stations from Europe, where the emphasis isn't on circuit anthems, but that's just me.
 
Nick thanks...I'm really glad that Dance music had made you more open minded . I predict a movement in the straight male demo and I don't know what to call them but kind of like a "modern day hippie" but cooler than hippies. People that are tired of the "social war" and will just live to live and for the art of music. I still believe dance music is growing in the U.S -- what we don't have is the money or influence to put it out to the masses yet.
 
Thanks Chrles -- he didn't even call Fusion "gay" -- he said Energy98 was gay and I told him I wasn't offended even if he did call Fusion gay. The reality is -- our listeners are 50/50 gay/straight 60% male. The straight market alone isn't strong enough to sustain a dance station.


CHRles said:
I think Manny's station sounds great - a Dance hits station that leans on a lot of circuit anthems. So in that regard, bamatide isn't putting it down - he's not using the word gay in a deragatory manner. He correctly pointed out the station's ads and remotes clearly target a gay audience. Of course it doesn't mean that everyone whose gay likes Dance music, or automatically will prefer this Dance station over other ones, but Fusion is making a concentrated effort to serve the circuit crowd.
Do some of the songs on Fusion also cross over or are played at Dance hits stations that don't just focus on gays? Sure. Are other Dance stations also staffed and programmed by some folks in the LGBT community? Yes, but with Fusion it's clear that gays are the P1 audience.
There's several other online Dance stations that strongly target gays, but none of them are as well executed as Fusion, imo.

My favorite Dance hits station tends to usually be Energy 98.1, or some of the stations from Europe, where the emphasis isn't on circuit anthems, but that's just me.
Click to expand...
 
I'm sure the "Gay" label may exist in some other places, but I'm sure the most of it was created in America. The rest of the world does not shun Dance music, as it is very common (outside U.S.), regardless of sexual preference. American producers like Kaskade or Moby tour overseas, and they are treated like Rock Stars (unlike in their own territory). And they are not selling out gay bars either. Which brings me to my next point. There is Gay Dance, and there is Non-Gay Dance....Circuit Anthems obviously will only appeal to one audience. So perhaps give up the fight on that "niche" crossing over. But if the recent collaborations continue... bringing Electro and Pop together, or using Dance Elements in Urban or even Rock, then the Gay Label may lessen.
 
All of the stations sound great. I think Charles explained it better. I am not saying i dislike Fusion radio in anyway. It does sound great but a lot of the circuit songs I hear on there are too "fluffy" sounding for me. It does not mean I hate gays or what fusion is doing. they are doing a great job. I am sorry if my statement made anyone upset.

The general conception of listeners is that dance hits is music targeted toward the gay community. I really think that is why the format has a hard time catching on because there are so many different dance genres nowadays. A single station cannot get the perfect balance to attract listeners like me.
 
I'm just going to say it like this....

THE ADVERTISERS!

That's the fear right there. They're the ones that have this stereotype of dance music fans as this "gay clubber trippin on e with spiked out hair and tons of Axe on him raising their fists when they dance". Because really, music should not be labeled as "gay" or "straight". Dance music is what it is...DANCE MUSIC.

We have to correct them somehow. Not easy, I know but that right there is the problem, not the programming of such stations.
 
bamatide said:
mannyworks00 said:
Yeah -- you are being semi-discriminatory and stereotypical. When do you hear people calling up WGCI and telling them to stop programming "too black" or LaLey and telling them their too "Mexican". It DOESNT HAPPEN. I agree with you about Terrestrial radio. Some of us have our work cut-out...I get the sense there's a segment of the dance community trying to "steal" and "define" dance for themselves. I'm here to tell you...it AIN't GONNA HAPPEN.
Click to expand...

You do not hear about people calling into a black station complaining that they are being too black because that is their format (Urban)
Click to expand...

I think i've explained the problem with this before in full detail, but don't feel like searching for past posts to cut and paste. I also don't feel like getting too deep into it, so I'll just explain it again in shorter form while still trying to make it clear.

Of course, you will not hear people calling a "black station" to complain because THAT'S WHAT'S IN, NOW! And since this is what's been in for the past couple of years, they can get away with many more stereotypes and labels, positive or negatively viewed, much much more than the people who are struggling with their sound.

Now, to wrap up, I'll just explain the rest with a question: Do you think the dance format, which by the way is still in the "struggling process" despite the current signs of successes to come, is BENEFITING from the "gay" stereotype from a general public point of view? OR Do you think things would be better off for the dance sound WITHOUT the stereotype?

Take a second and think about the answer for a while.

Now lastly, I'll just say I couldn't care less who's gay or not or about the stereotypes (as long as whoever is being stereotyped is NOT doing things to disrupt orderly fashion and peace), but when it comes to a struggling format, where many people will still find any reason to knock it or make fun of it, the less controversial and stereotypical reasoning there is for the general public to reject it or bring it down, the better it is! Now lets say we were in Europe or some other place, then call it gay all you want! I wouldn't care one bit - as long as the sound and music is being recognized, respected, and enjoyed by the masses.

As far as hip hop, I'm sure they hate their stereotypes as well, but I wont get into it - as a matter of fact, these days I don't even get into or bring up certain things anymore - Now I just keep it VERY simple. My motto is ALWAYS: "If you don't like the stereotype, then stop doing the things that create the stereotype".

Simple.

Have a nice day folks :)
 
KDM 7000 said:
My motto is ALWAYS: "If you don't like the stereotype, then stop doing the things that create the stereotype".
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! Stay away from certain remixes, artists, and producers; then these so called dance stations won't get that label.
 
I'm not sure how the club scene is around the nation but in Florida some of the biggest gay nights play a large amount of hip hop and the uptempo rhythmic hits.Even in gay clubs on a sat night, its not uncommon for the DJ to spin sets of uptempo pop hits in between house and electro to pack floors. It's not how it used to be where it will be the four on the floor beat all night long. It's been 20 years of the monotomous beat driving clubs songs.Which is a major reason people outside of the dance world are turned off with "techno".This has been their main argument for years.
 
"I couldn't agree more! Stay away from certain remixes, artists, and producers; then these so called dance stations won't get that label"

I want that label. FUSION IS GAY FRIENDLY. If we are like the Gay-straight alliance ..we try to cater to both. We can't keep all the thugs happy but we try to please everyone. My listeners appreciate the music for what it is and not what other people "think" it represents.
Granted -- not everyone likes the same kind of dance music...and that's what the Iparty radio of the world are for. I'll keep my 10k unique visitors a day and keep things EXACTLY as they are.
 
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