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By
At a business convention held in
a group of businessmen looked to a conventioneer to be our tour guide for the evening. Since we were all "Baby Boomers," she told us she knew a club that specialized in Sixties "Beach Music." An hour passed without any of us recognizing a single song. This business lady began to feel our frustration. Soon, our waitress showed up with a birthday cake. Everyone sang happy birthday to the business lady. We told her that was the only song we recognized that evening. Although the music was unfamiliar, admittedly it was very good. In retrospect, I rationalized that having been overly conditioned to national music, I had had no consideration for the value of good regional music.
The significance of this I grappled with the comments of a struggling black musician/record producer. We chatted at the annual convention of the "Who's Who in Black Radio" that is hosted by Jack "The Rapper" Gibson. Gibson is known as the Dean of Black Radio in
the This musician revealed that he had 25,000 dollars tied up in his promotions. He complained about being in the midst of a cash flow problem. The Black musician said he is a jazz artist. But the stress in his voice acknowledged that jazz is now only a specialty market. He then claimed that one of his songs was rated 17th or 18th in 1988 by a national rating organization. This black musician was frantically looking to meet someone who would promote his music. He also revealed that he had recently been at other similar conventions seeking contacts to promote his music. This black fellow's record was not rated in the top five, so it makes no business sense for a national group to show interest in promoting it. On the other hand, he may be number one in a regional market, if his record is aired regularly. This black businessman's dilemma, therefore, suggests that
we ought to redefine the national, regional, and local markets. a new class of radio stations which are required to air a minimum of 30 percent unknown artists' records in prime time over a week span. This will allow regional record companies to prosper on sales of 250,000 copies per record by targeting only regional audiences with high calibre regional talent. It may even permit small record companies in large cities
such as profits from the sales of 50,000 copies of a record sold solely through local outlets. These new radio stations will produce a host of local and regional celebrities who will become role models for inner-city children. Perhaps these celebrities will displace the "pusher man" as the role model for inner-city poor children. These new radio stations will make it easier for high quality unknown artists to break into nationally focused record companies because their works are being aired. Finally, many new artists will thrive in local and regional markets yet never make a million seller record. Thus, I ask, "Should we not create a new class of radio stations which will be the conduits for many unemployed and under-employed new artists to gain access to the mainstream record industry?" Would not the advertisers flock to these stations if their appeal equals or surpasses the nationally focused stations? |
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