> > - Hiphop and r&b are much more controlled by major labels. They > > probably > > have a marketing strategy in which this lag is purposefully built in. > > The rationale for it is unclear to me though.
I think this is about right. I had a friend who lived in europe last summer and he told me that the commercial dance tracks there are around before the blow up here. He had a few examples of songs you might hear on mtv or commercial crap radio (93.1 in detroit for example) whose names I don't know or care to know but we all would recognize. One that comes to mind is that La Da Dee La Da Da one that you hear all over which he said was like the song of the summer over in germany even though that was a while before it got drilled into skulls of americans. I've been told before that many of the shitty dance pop tunes (you know like in the venga boys, aqua, la bouche vein that get put on the sorrority girl friendly dance mix comps you see advertised on tv which some misguided souls might call techno) are popular in europe months or more before they get radio play in the US. So I've just always figured that the record companies program their hit computers like this. Since dance music has more commercial success in Europe that's like the test market to see if it will be worth releasing in the US. What you've said reaffirms my belief, they probably test hip hop and RnB for success in the states. fuck 'em all _joe
