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Reggaeton Billboard Top Latin Albums
MIAMI (Billboard) By Leila Cobo - The growing force of reggaeton is amplydisplayed on this week‘s Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, with four of the top 10 releases falling under the genre. That sales drive continues to carry over to radio, three major pop stations to a reggaeton / hip-hop format within a week of each other.
In Los Angeles, Spanish Broadcasting System‘s sole popstation, KXOL, is now called "Latino 96.3 FM." The station‘stag line is, "Radio reggaeton y hip-hop too," a nod tolisteners‘ hunger for all things reggaeton- andhip-hop-oriented.
In New York, Univision Radio switched pop/tropical stationWCAA to reggaeton/hip-hop. The station is now called La Kalle("the Street"). And in Puerto Rico, SBS changed pop stationWODA to reggaeton.
"It‘s the format of the future," says SBS executive VP ofprograming Bill Tanner, who initially was skeptical of reggaeton‘s potential in Los Angeles.
"But it was when we began to hear it in the streets of Los Angeles -- basically every car that drives by is playing reggaeton, (and) the reggaeton concerts here are selling outnight after night. Then we started to do our own in-houseresearch, and it just keeps coming out as a big winner."
Latino 96.3 is the first Los Angeles station dedicatedsolely to urban Latin music. Tanner says that although otherlike-minded stations mix some uptempo pop into theirprograming, Latino 96.3 will stick to its format. The mix willinclude urban regional music, which currently does not have aradio home.
The station is on a nationwide hunt to find DJs for its newformat and for a new morning show.
Although Tanner is confident that reggaeton has stayingpower, he says that if the audience‘s taste should change, asit often does, the station will change with it.
"We‘re creating a station that appeals to 18- to 34-year-old Los Angeles listeners," he says. "And we‘ll gowhere they go."
Just where all these new reggaeton stations will go stillisn‘t clear, as Arbitron‘s ratings data will not be availablefor a few months. But early numbers are auspicious.
In Miami, where alternative station KZLA switched toreggaeton/hip-hop WMGE (La Mega) earlier this year, ratingswent up slightly, from a 1.6 share in fall 2004 to 1.9 inwinter 2005.
Clear Channel‘s KLOL Houston, which flipped last Novemberfrom rock to the bilingual "hurban" format that also playsreggaeton and hip-hop, saw its ratings soar, from 2.3 in fallto 3.6 in winter.
The industry is carefully watching the development of LaKalle, as its rival, leading Spanish-language station WSKQ,already plays a healthy dose of reggaeton and hip-hop withinits tropical format.
What is certain is that the rise of the reggaeton/hip-hopformat -- Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems now monitors ninestations nationwide that play reggaeton -- surely will affectthe output of music in those genres.
"This will give even more relevance to an already boominggenre," says Silvestro Perrino, Univision Music Group VP ofEast Coast and Puerto Rico promotion.
It is no secret that labels are hurrying to scoop up reggaeton acts, both new and established, and that mainstreamacts are rushing to deliver reggaeton remixes of their songs.
This has proved particularly useful to pop artists, whofind they simply do not fit into some stations they formerlytook for granted unless there is reggaeton in the mix.
Take Shakira, for example. Not only does her new single "LaTortura" feature subdued reggaeton beats, but a remix of thetrack with a more pronounced reggaeton sound also appears onher new album.
But not everyone is hopping on the bandwagon. As oneexecutive notes, "(There) is simply too much reggaeton radio.Everyone is trying to surf the wave. Let‘s see how long the wave lasts."
Ahorre June 8, 2005 06:47 AM