Dance Music: talented vocals, quality production...so why isn't it on the air?

Most cities around USA don't play dance music on the radio. the format is (www.billboard.com...dance charts). A very few select clubs play dance music in this genre (and I don't mean hip hop and cookie cutter rap you hear just about everywher you go, and all over the dial) and wherever it's played the crowds have so much fun and rarely if ever fight...in contrast, at any of the upteen million clubs that play hip-hop fights break out on the hour it seems...

My point is, there is an amazing amount of talent and terrific vocals and production on a lot of these records, so where are all the radio stations playing dance?

Why have all the labels pumped millions of dollars into consultants who in turn pay off the radio stations to play hip hop, and "dance" gets nothing?

....

Beats me. I look for lots of guitars in music. Without guitars, I go elsewhere.

Originally posted by skyshow
My point is, there is an amazing amount of talent and terrific vocals and production on a lot of these records, so where are all the radio stations playing dance?

Maybe you should ring one up and ask them, and then post the statement here.

Now, wouldn't that be productive?

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant


I understand what you are saying, but if you are honest, you have to admit the knee jerk reaction in such a post. I happen to work in the industry, I know how the game is played. That said I applaud you on the flippant aire...I've been known to do it on here a time or two...

to flater you, calls on the request line mean absolutely diddly squat.

cheers!

Sky

ps: there really is a conspiracy here for the die hards who bother to dig and tear into it...dig you guys!!!! right a social wrong!

[edit on 3-5-2008 by skyshow]

this is like the chicken and the egg. What came first?

Did people barf at lame synths and boring beats or did dance music suck?

Maybe it comes down to what many things in the broadcasting industry of old. Money.

Record Sales and Music Charts
One mans fart is another mans art.

Do you know why?
JT

You sincerely think i was suggesting i was informing you that you should ring in the request line?

I was talking about just ringing up their office and asking for a statement, not anything grandoise like that.

It's entirely possible they would just avoid answering the question, but at least you would've asked.

p.s; let me guess, they stopped playing it on air because they realised that their dealers would like it very much if they made dance music go underground, where drug dealers are known to frequent.

There's more than one way to look at a side of a coin, friend.

Dance music is boring and is all computerized and because its computerized it is all mathimatically produced because you have to get the correct BPM and everything has to be perfect otherwise it will go out of time further into the song,also it doesn't take alot of talent to crate a dance track! I am a singer / songwriter and i made a dance track within 10mins all sounding perfect with vocals!. Where as Rock! there has to be talent in order to make good music and be sucessfull! Which is why there are hardly any dance tracks being played! Because anyone can do it!

reply to post by JesterTerrestrial


music is subjective you know that...one mans garbage is another's fortress...it's all art...and I don't think we should diss synths and say it's not worthy of being in an art form...and what about the vocals?

if you do research over the past decade and look at quarter hour shares in rateings, dance has done extrodinarily well...certainly well enough to carry it's own...but no, we need 5 christian stations, 5 am conservative talk stations, 2 or 3 or 4 country stations 5 rock stations, 4 more fragmented rock stations, an automated 80's, 90's and now station, 3 adult contemporaries, and if we are lucky, we might just get the lowest power am station for liberal talk (air america or nova radio) maybe...but dance? WHEN HELL FREAZES OVER!

the format sells, and I am saying it's not about rateings or selling, it's about they...listen to this, cause this is the nugget..they don't want people to feel happy and fall in love with being happy...

I know I'm a crack pot, but I swear to god there is some truth to this, I've seen it over and over, and people I know at labels in NYC know it too...I'm not the only one who feels this way about it...

becareful and don't overlook this thread...there is a conspiricy here and if you really dig it goes a hell of a lot deeper even then dance...dig dig digggg!!!! here's a doggie bisquit: John Lennon...

Oh...I've said too much...guess the synths have drove me nuts! you know...you can like guitar and all genres and still enjoy the synths...

reply to post by CoNsPiRaCy PhReAk


I'll go with that too a point. there are a lot of songs however that are "rock" or are of another format that are remixed for the "dance" format...so then can "anyone do that?" also?

anyone can sing btw. it's somewhat unique to the western culture where we place a very small percentage of poeple up on the stage and say "these are our singers" wheras in tribal cultures everyone sings (This is your Brain on Music, Daniel J. Levitin, 2006, Dutton).

Music is music, and vocals are all singing. I didn't tear down the other formats, I just said they get all the attention, and why is this? particularly with Hip-hop in America where it is pushed with millions of dollars vis-a-vis the consultant middle people...you don't see hip-hop in the charts around the world at all in concentration like you have here in USA over the past decade...

Dance on the other hand flourishes in asia and europe, and liberal coastal areas here, but very limited.

I'm partial to rock myself,if you get the sattelite radio they have all sorts of selections,but I can't think of anyone that would listen to dance music,and besides growing up I always tried to avoid anything by the Bee Gees

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant

p.s; let me guess, they stopped playing it on air because they realised that their dealers would like it very much if they made dance music go underground, where drug dealers are known to frequent.

Have you looked at the charts lately? When I say "dance" as a radio format, I'm talking remixes to Mariah Carey, Jordin Sparks, Madonn, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Donna Summer...hardly the poster children of the underground drug culture

Companies like Clear Channel own the airwaves and their stations are only allowed to play five songs or so over and over. I don't know if I'd call it a conspiracy, maybe more like a monopoly. Terrestrial radio is garbage to me, there is nothing there remotely interesting anymore. I'm so tired of the same five Hendrix tunes played over and over or having Led Zeppelin or Springsteen(both make me groan) pounded into my head repeatedly(even on Sirius this happens). That's as far as classic rock goes, it's just the same old tired songs. So much music out there made back then and being made now that gets ignored. I have Sirius and even there I can find little progressive rock. I know prog is a bit of a niche but there are lots of people who do listen to the genre and if the bands could get just a little airplay they might get more popular. I know every time I play music for people the response is usually something like "Why haven't I heard of this band before?". So many bands the public has never heard of, they might actually like them.

Here is something to illustrate how out-of-whack the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is. The recently-passed royalty rate on satellite radio is now 6% of revenues, a sharp increase. Still it is considerable less than the fees charged upon US-based Internet Radio stations, which draw far less revenues than their satellite cousins, but are forced to bear a harder burden. This year Net radio stations owe $.0011 per track, per performance, per listener. That fee goes up 30% next month and another 30% a year after that to $.0018. In the meantime overseas companies, not obligated to follow US rates, enjoy competitive advantage and are pulling the wise investment money. The CBS network's purchase of UK-based Last.FM for $280 million illustrates this.

Source: www.mp3newswire.net...

As for satellite radio, it's taken much longer for the proposed Sirius/XM merger has taken longer than, say, the recent Big Oil mergers. I keep hearing about lawmakers trying to regulate satellite radio but I can't seem to find any recent articles about it, it's all from 2004-05. I pay for uncensored radio and I would be grateful if they would keep their bloody hands out of the mix but I fear that's just ridiculous thinking. Big Brother just can't handle free speech nor free thought, I guess.


Now, I can't dance and wouldn't know the first thing about dance music or clubs or anything of that sort so I can't offer any knowledge there, but it's all controlled by the RIAA/NAB/FCC and they are all corrupt.

I don't know if all that rambling helped, but there it is.

reply to post by Oldtimer2


Dog...it's 2008, dance has evolved...I mean you still have your 4/4 beat... but people are always so quick to dismiss dance... you guys, have your girl's take you out to your nearest really hot gay bar, and after a few drinks...(minds out of the gutter) you might loosten up and forget about the one two three four two two three four, three two three four, four two three four... that's ok, your body is now moving to the beat and you have forgot all about the redundancy there and are now flowing to the rhythm dancing with your baby, drink in hand, disco ball flashing, and completely relaxed enjoying yourself and your night out on the dance floor...the last thing on your mind is wanting to fight because you realise you are in love with your girl, you suddenly realise it's ok to dance to dance music, and Kylie minogue starts sounding really freakin' hot after your fourth rum and coke...

Originally posted by skyshow

1) Have you looked at the charts lately?

2)When I say "dance" as a radio format

1) No.

2) Oh, i thought you were on about things like KernKraft and Funkstar (The ones i'm readily aware of).

Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Infact, i don't think i've ever once taken a serious interest in mainstream musical sensationalism, sorry.

edit: In this instance, "mainstream" refers to all that stuff that people know about.

[edit on 3-5-2008 by Anti-Tyrant]

BE YOUR OWN DJ - The internet is full of music and ways to broadcast your own music, mp3 players are cheap, i even got a couple old 4 track audio cassette machines if you need one

you are right all music is art...the more creative the better and more important the message of the music.

There is lots of conspiracy in music. Research Backmasking. Think its a joke. I doubt it. Everything in the universe is music. Dig Deep.

I posted a letter to anyone here...www.abovetopsecret.com...
Its got some tunes to dance to. That's what gets played on my air.

[edit on 3-5-2008 by JesterTerrestrial]

Sorry about the responses you got up to now.

It only proves that people dont KNOW what real uplifting, brain-expanding, consciousness-raising electronica/dance can sound like.

Why dont they know? Because its not played...AT ALL.

The "dance" played on the radio is mostly the type of junk you can produce within 10 minutes using your friggin laptop.

Real quality electronica tracks take many, many hours or days to produce well....and tons of creativity.

However...its still "underground" because people arent ready for what this type of music does to the brain. And the radio-stations are not helping by suppressing it.

So yeah...I "get" what you mean...sort of.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

The "dance" played on the radio is mostly the type of junk you can produce within 10 minutes using your friggin laptop.

You mean like how that fool made a remix of that daft punk track harder, better, faster, stronger?.

I can't even remember his name - he appeared on the friday night show and i watched him and they said his name and i can't even remember.

Guess that's just how much he sucks, really.

@ Skyshow; Don't worry too much about being a crackpot, i have a certain respect for people willing to exceed that which is socially viable in an attempt to attain something more for their awareness.

Striving for something better is something that should never be repressed, although it takes a sharp mind to realise the difference between 'better' and 'exactly the same'.

reply to post by JesterTerrestrial


well that's what I mean...it's so fragmented now, and people are getting their music in way more places than the radio, and so there is ample room in every market for atleast one dance station on the FM dial everywhere...but do we really need 3 country stations, 3 rock stations, 3 adult contemporary stations, 3 cookie cutter conservative talk radio stations and 5 christian stations? You would think we could have just one dance station...since nobody is listening anyways right? and yet few markets have a dance station.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
It only proves that people dont KNOW what real uplifting, brain-expanding, consciousness-raising electronica/dance can sound like.

Not trying to derail or start an argument but I have no desire to listen to anything electronica/dance. I am a musician and I need to have real musicians playing, not just some tracks thrown together that were created by someone else or a computer. To me, it's not music. Therefore my ears have no desire to listen to it. I don't mind using electronics to enhance things but to create it is a whole other world, at least IMO.

But, whatever. Music is subjective, no persons opinion about how it's made or what substance is used to create it is wrong. You either like it or you don't, plain and simple.