New Spanish station on WNWV-2?

[davideduardo]

Would the term "crossover" (a Colombian interpretation of Top40) fit this?
De dónde viene el nombre ‘crossover’ en la radio colombiana | radioNOTAS

"Crossover", as defined by my friend and colleague Tito López, is a Colombian "interpretation" of a term used in music publications; it means a song which was produce by an artist known in one genre which became popular in one or more other genres.

That is a purely Colombian construct, and I've never heard it used anywhere else in that manner. In Colombia, it means any format that includes music of more than one style or type. For example, a CHR that plays hits in both English and Spanish.

The concept is not new. I had a CHR in Ecuador that I put on the air in 1964 which played Top 40 hits in English, Spanish, French and Italian. It was #1 in upper income level listeners, and top 5 in middle class.

On the air, you can call a station whatever you want. But for sales, it helps to use one of the standardized terms that Nielsen accepts as a format description. The purpose of those names or terms is to let ad buyers and planners at agencies know what each station is in generalized terms.

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

"Crossover", as defined by my friend and colleague Tito López, is a Colombian "interpretation" of a term used in music publications; it means a song which was produce by an artist known in one genre which became popular in one or more other genres.

That is a purely Colombian construct, and I've never heard it used anywhere else in that manner. In Colombia, it means any format that includes music of more than one style or type. For example, a CHR that plays hits in both English and Spanish.

The concept is not new. I had a CHR in Ecuador that I put on the air in 1964 which played Top 40 hits in English, Spanish, French and Italian. It was #1 in upper income level listeners, and top 5 in middle class.

On the air, you can call a station whatever you want. But for sales, it helps to use one of the standardized terms that Nielsen accepts as a format description. The purpose of those names or terms is to let ad buyers and planners at agencies know what each station is in generalized terms.

Would 106.5 The Lake fit this Colombian "crossover" format? They do play some rap, some rock, some 80s/90s pop...etc.

 

[radiofan2023]

I’ve only heard & seen the term “crossover” applied to songs, like “Despacito”.

 

[davideduardo]

I’ve only heard & seen the term “crossover” applied to songs, like “Despacito”.

Yes, that is the correct definition in the US. It is not uncommon in Latin America for English language works to be adopted but with entirely different meanings.

An amusing example: in Puerto Rico the American term of "walk-in closet" was changed to "Walking closet" and that is what they are called still.

Or headlights used to come in boxes labeled "sealed beam". Now, all headlights are frequently called a "silbim" (sill-biim) even if they are LED lights.

 

[davideduardo]

I’ve only heard & seen the term “crossover” applied to songs, like “Despacito”.

Or any of the many Kenny Rogers country hits that made top 10 on the Top 40 charts. Or the dozens and dozens of urban songs that crossed to Top 40 as well.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Or any of the many Kenny Rogers country hits that made top 10 on the Top 40 charts. Or the dozens and dozens of urban songs that crossed to Top 40 as well.

I think that is happening even more so today. The more formats it can be played on, the more ears listening which probably means more sales of the LP, CD, stream, whatever it's being released on. I've heard country tunes on Top 40, AAA, AC and CHR, Soft Hits [and country] formats. Maybe they'd be on a Beautiful Music format if such stations were still around. Only one I think that wouldn't play it would be Classical. I could see WCLV listeners keeling over if Jelly Roll started blaring out of their speakers.

 

[davideduardo]

I think that is happening even more so today. The more formats it can be played on, the more ears listening which probably means more sales of the LP, CD, stream, whatever it's being released on. I've heard country tunes on Top 40, AAA, AC and CHR, Soft Hits [and country] formats. Maybe they'd be on a Beautiful Music format if such stations were still around. Only one I think that wouldn't play it would be Classical. I could see WCLV listeners keeling over if Jelly Roll started blaring out of their speakers.

You make very valid points. Remember when top 40 started in 1951, it mostly played what today we would call MOR music with Sinatra and Doris Day and the like. When rock and roll hit around 1955, top 40 stations started adding some of the hits that were no longer MOR in style. So we had Nat King Cole along with Buddy Holly and Little Richard on the same station. It was not really until into the 60s when those MOR type songs, mostly disappeared; we still had, though, a lot of songs that were traditional ballads that you could call crossovers from the old days .

By the time we got into the late 60s, we started getting true hard rock of the Janis Joplin type on those top 40 stations and yet we still got those ballads like “you light up my life“ along with the rock songs. And through those years, we occasionally had country crossovers, and of course, the whole wave of Motown sounds. And then around 1975 we got disco to mix along with the pop, rock and soul and ballads in the top 40 formats.

But it certainly seems like today. We are seeing more songs being promoted and excepted in more specific formats.