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kiddy rock
There are a couple of interesting articles in the local paper about the
music business. Here's one on TV and the conservatism of radio. Also, an
interesting look at kiddie rock, which we recently discussed here.
STEP ASIDE RADIO -- TV IS MAKING THE BANDS THESE DAYS
Radio, historically the 800-pound gorilla in music marketing, isn't the top
banana for some teen-pop success stories. In the past six months, three
hot-to-tots names in the mega-genre have enjoyed commercial triumphs without
much assistance from radio programmers, who collectively are resisting
adding new teen-pop acts to their play lists. Thanks to generous exposure
on TV, especially the kid-geared Disney, Nickelodeon and Fox Family
channels, this bubblegum triumvirate scaled the charts without saturating
the airwaves:
Aaron Carter (photo--looks to be maybe eleven or twelve), the kid brother of
Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, built a sizable following through adolescent TV
programming and a starring role in Broadway musical "Seussical." His second
ablum, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" has sold 1.9 million copies and is No.
45 in Billboard after 36 weeks on the chart. It peaked at No. 4 in April,
with one-week sales of 105,000 after heavy Disney Channel exposure. His
summer tour, kicking off June 15 in Phoenix, is sponsored by Nickelodeon.
O-Town, the prefab groups spawned by ABC's "Making the Band" series <snip>
etc.
Eden's Crush (which we know from recent My Generation fame), the girl group
left standing after elimination rounds on the WB reality series "Popstars,"
arrive on the charts <snip> etc.
Circumventing radio is nobody's idea of a winning game plan, but when
programmers began spurning new waves of teen dreams, labels found a backdoor
to fame through the tube.
TV is not exactly a new kid on the block. It was pivotal in launching
everyone from The Beatles toTthe Monkees to the Archies. MTV, launched in
1981 with the prophetic Buggles clip for "Video Killed the Radio Star,"
revolutionized the industry. More recently Sting's "Brand New Day" got a
second wind when single "Desert Rose" cropped up in a car ad, a reflection
of Madison Avenue's switch form oldies to current hits. Paula Cole's
profile spiked when "Dawson's Creek" adopted "I Don't Want to Wait" as its
theme. And Vonda Shepard owes her career to "Ally McBeal."
Still, until today's adolescent armies invaded, TV always played second
fiddle to radio. The power balance shifted with Carter, O-Town and Eden's
Crush, and is evident in the rise of Samantha Mumba and video-genic boy band
BBMak, scheduled to appear this summer on Disney's "Even Stevens" and ABC
soap "All My Children."
But those examples "are anomalies," says Sean Ross, editor of radio magazine
Airplay Monitor. <snip> A smart marketer will use TV as part of a larger
arsenal, he says. Grabbing the consumer's ear is a worthy goal. Grabbing
radio's ear is better. <snip>
TV has proved invaluable in cracking open a door to radio, which shut out
latecomers in the kiddie-pop parade. "There was a feeling in radio that
"NSync and the Backstreet Boys were the real thing, and nobody wanted to
play what they characterized as a string of imitators," Ross says.
"Starting in late 1998, even before Britney Spears and Christin Aguilera,
some stations resolved to stick with acts already on the playlist unless a
record was undeniable. O-Town would not have gotten the amount of radio
without the TV show."
TV's expanded clout hasn't tranformed radio, which still neglects some
sales-driven hits. "Should someone have played Aaron Carter?" Ross muses.
"You'd think so. You'd think by dint of having a remake ("I Want Candy") on
his album, stations could have passed it off as an adult-access record. If
radio continues to draw the line in the sandbox, they'll probably sit out
some real hits."
Edna Gunderson
Gannett News Service
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