I can't resist the temptation to say more because there is so much more to say!!!
Just imagine - starting fresh.......
With almost all dance stations completely gone, there is really no choice now but to start a whole new formula, since there is really nothing left to make people think "well this formula must be used because that's what everyone else of "our kind" is doing, and all the other "groups" are also using a formula as well.." This is GOOD, because a refreshment in ideas and thinking was DEFINITELY needed. Now, lets just hope the FIRST person to bounce back with a new formula that everyone else will feel they have to follow, ends up using a formula that will work wonders!
Also, look at the music direction music is headed in, with even the most unexpected artists and people turning towards that sound.. Does anyone still REALLY think that "the end is near" in 2009? I cannot even bring myself to even come remotely close to understanding how someone could feel like all hope is lost when MUSIC, (not a physical building or computers or machines, but) MUSIC ITSELF is CURRENTLY going towards a dance direction AT AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF SPEED!! Oh, and not only that, think about the fact that the other countries surrounding us are ALREADY AHEAD of us! This is like you turning on your air conditioning in your mid level floor apartment when everyone else around you already has their air on - IT ONLY HELPS YOU TO REACH THE GOAL FASTER! Let me clarify - with the air conditioning, your goal is to get your place cool, (possibly just as cool as everyone else surrounding you). When it comes to dance music in the U.S, THE GOAL IS TO GET WHERE EVERYONE ELSE IS AT WHEN IT COMES TO DANCE ACCEPTANCE AND APPRECIATION! So in both situations, being surrounded by people who are ahead of you ONLY HELPS YOU GET THERE FASTER - ESPECIALLY when you yourself are already headed in that direction!!!!!!!
So, with that being said, there is NO WAY POSSIBLE, without a comet strike or some massive event taking place, that dance music stations will forever be history in the U.S. - NO WAY POSSIBLE! As a matter of fact, there are HUNDREDS of future dance music stations in disguise, probably RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE that most people don't even realize because the station hasn't reach that time point in the music evolution process yet where it can begin to sound blatantly obvious. Why do you think so many chr's are popping up coincidentally as more artists are abandoning hip hop and other things and going electronic? It's because they realize SOMETHING IS HAPPENING, but they are either
A. afraid to admit or accept the truth and call it what it is, or
B. have absolutely no idea what's going on, although they do recognize something is obviously changing.
CHR / Top 40 / HITS is ALWAYS the safest way to go when you don't know which way music is going - because obviously whatever is coming, it will most likely become the HITS (at at least some level).
So as you go out for halloween this weekend, people will say all kinds of stuff, dressing up all kinds of ways...etc. but it's the stuff most people are not talking about that will probably fool you!!
DO NOT BE FOOLED!
THERE ARE A LOT OF CHR'S CELEBRATING HALLOWEEN!!
In other words, there are many future dance stations disguised (or dressed up as) top 40 / Rhythmic...etc. but ONLY because we haven't yet gotten to the point where there is a sufficient amount of quality dance material to run an actual "dance station" on. Also, do not forget that we have a lot of dance HITS being labeled as other genres, in addition to many other factors.
We are CURRENTLY in exciting times, where each day we are getting closer and closer to getting (back) where we want to be. The clearing out of all the dance stations... just think of that like SPRING CLEANING, which brings me right back to where I was in the beginning - REFRESHMENT!!!!
People see stations dying, but what people do NOT see is all the future possibilities that have been popping up over the year! I've been talking about the dance music come back for a few years now, and mentioned that 2009 was going to be a BIG year,
BIG
But NOT ONCE did I ever mention that this would mean all sorts of dance stations would suddenly do better or pop up!!!!! You see? Not once. BUT, i DID say that more stations would START to jump on dance.... and this is precisely where we're at right now! Think about how a city is built (or rebuilt after a massive calamity); First, the population must grow and pure in, THEN the buildings and cities start to appear. Well, first we need the amount of quality hit dance material to grow, AND THEN the dance stations will start to appear, and as of right now, WE ARE GROWING.
Welcome to a whole new generation of sound in 2009. AND!!! AND!! IF you think 2009 was a great year of sound? Then.... I don't even know what to tell you about 2010. Events in 2009 (musically) will look so small in comparison that we might need to develop a new type of microscope to see it. Just be ready, and enjoy the excitement NOW, because eventually the excitement will fade as the electronic sound once again just becomes part of the norm here, just like in every other part of the world.
Lets just ASSUME that this entire sound is just a phase; WELL, the trend COULD die, BUT, imagine if this trend is just enough to get dance music BACK UP AND RUNNING again before it dies! Dance was never really the top, big thing, but there was a time it was able to successfully CO-EXIST at a certain level with many other formats. THIS TREND COULD BE WHAT BRINGS US BACK TO THAT POINT, where just like jazz, alternative, r&b, country, (and soon to be hip hop), it may not dominate the charts are be a on going trend, BUT it will still be present amongst other things and manage to have some crossovers into the U.S. top charts.
So in other words,
THERE IS A LOT TO BE EXCITED ABOUT, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!
Get Ready...... I think I've said enough for NOW.
