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Businesses of all types are increasingly adapting their marketing strategies to include Hispanics, and with good reason. According to US Census projections, by 2050 a quarter of the US population will be of Hispanic descent. For those in Country radio, the important fact is that a good part of the population of your market is Hispanic, or will be soon. Even at this point, the US is the second largest Hispanic market in the world. Observing the demographic shift, Edison Media Research President Larry Rosin points out that if Country radio does not embrace Hispanic listeners; there will be a growing number of markets in which Country radio will not be viable. That will certainly affect the exposure of songs and music created in, and by artists who live in Nashville.
You may recall that that last year Emmis changed the format of KZLA, their Country station in Los Angeles, to Rhythmic Adult Contemporary, a format that “appeals to Hispanic adult women”, according to Emmis Radio Division President Rick Cummings, as quoted in the LA Times. It seemed that conventional wisdom was that Hispanics would not listen to Country.
Historically it has been expensive and difficult to do research among the Hispanic American population, but earlier this year the Country Radio Broadcasters financed the first study of “The Hispanic American Relationship to Country Radio and Music”. The Edison Media Research study revealed good news for the Country industry which proved conventional wisdom wrong.
On Wednesday, August 1st at 4:00 pm Larry Rosin will again present this study at Massey Performing Arts Center at Belmont University for the benefit of those Country music professionals who did not have the opportunity to see the original presentation at The Country Radio Seminar in March.
After the presentation, we will present the first industry forum to foster dialogue about this issue. I will moderate a panel with Larry Rosin and representatives of representatives of various segments of the Country industry: Mike Dungan, President Capitol/Nashville (Record Industry), Kevin King, Program Director, 95.5 The Wolf WSM-FM (Radio), Gary Overton, Executive VP/GM EMI Music Publishing Nashville (Music Publishing), Bobby Roberts, CEO The Bobby Roberts Company (Talent Agency) and Rick Trevino, Warner Brothers Records (Recording Artist).
Since the original presentation of “The Hispanic American Relationship to Country Radio and Music”, the CRB has been actively providing information in the following ways. The study has been posted on the CRB website, so that anyone in our industry can take advantage of the findings. The CRB created a podcast with representatives from stations who have already begun to market to Hispanics sharing their experiences, last week legendary adman Dale Pon, best known for his “I Want My MTV” campaign that launched that network, shared his ideas on marketing to Hispanics with the CRB Board of Directors. This week Larry Rosin presented the CRB’s Hispanic study to the Country Music Association Board of Directors during their meeting in New York.
There is no more important segment of the American consumer marketplace of tomorrow than Hispanics. It is important not only to Country radio, but to everyone involved in the records industry, talent and touring, music publishing as well as those artists and musicians involved in the creation of the music to understand this opportunity. I urge those of you in Nashville to register as many people as you can from your company.
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