Donde esta los pop artists?

June 17, 2006 11:46 PM

Why can't I find "modern" Spanish music on the radio?

Where I live, there are several Spanish-language radio stations. However, they only see to play what i would call traditional-style Mexican music.

So I was thinking about it, and I've never heard anything like, say, Juanes or Shakira on the radio. I *know* Spanish pop exists because I own some of it. So why isn't it on the radio? Does anyone have this kind of station or does it just not exist?

posted by Amanda B to media & arts (8 comments total)

It does exist. Certainly in California (Palo Alto area) there are stations that play the stuff. Just the other day my friend had Juanes playing on the radio. I've heard from friends in LA that there is a glut of Mariachi music.

In Austin, last I was there, there was a lot of reggaeton playing on the radio. Though it isn't very pop-like, it's pretty modern.

Also, note, that traditional style Mexican music can actually be quite modern. The style of singing/playing might be old, but the lyrics can be new. Stuff like Banda, Cumbia, and Colombiano style music have roots in old styles of playing, but there are a lot of people composing new lyrics and experimenting with changes.

So in short: it exists on the radio, but not everywhere.
posted by Mister Cheese at 12:42 AM on June 18, 2006

40 Principales was the Top 40 station of choice when I was a kid growing up in Spain; of course, they only play about half local Spanish music. Groovy Castillian accent, though. (You can find a stream somewhere on their site.)
posted by msittig at 1:54 AM on June 18, 2006

Try here
posted by caddis at 6:20 AM on June 18, 2006

Los Angeles is literally packed with stations like that. You can't turn the dial without hitting one. Of course, Latinos are the majority there.
posted by wackybrit at 7:38 AM on June 18, 2006

Austin has at least one Spanish language pop station and I think there are two in San Antonio that I get over the air in Austin.

Then there are the "traditional" and Tejano stations. Like their Anglo counterpart, there are a few "mix" stations that play both the pop, the traditional and Tejano, Norteño, etc. Some will even mix in English-language pop with the Spanish. A few San Antonio stations do the announcements and ads in both English and Spanish.

If >30% or your city's population is of Latino origin, you will get a variety of Latino music on the radio. In smaller towns, it might only show up on low power AM stations that sound like shit.

If you are jonesing for Latin music and there isn't any found locally, you can there are several channels on XM that will allow to get your fix -- ¡sin anuncios!
posted by birdherder at 8:02 AM on June 18, 2006

Why can't I find "modern" Spanish music on the radio?

I would guess that it's because many Mexican immigrants prefer the traditional music.

I own a small business. My shop workers are all from various regions of Mexico. They rotate control of the radio, so that each person gets to choose music from time-to-time. One guy will bring "modern" Mexican music (Los Tigres del Norte, Kumbia Kings, etc.) to play on the CD Player. Sometimes one of the guys will choose an English station. (It cracks me up when they play the oldies station, but that only happens about once a year.) But mostly what they want to listen to is the traditional oom-pah Mexican music.

What's sad (or not) is that I've actually come to like this music. I know very little Spanish, but on a warm spring day, driving through Portland, I'll have the window down and traditional Mexican music blaring on my radio...
posted by jdroth at 12:48 PM on June 18, 2006

You should write a letter to Clear Channel Communications, since they own the radio.
posted by billtron at 1:09 PM on June 18, 2006

On WLUW, an independent community station in Chicago, there is a show on Wednesday nights called Rock Sin Anestesia (scroll down -- it's in alpha order). They play a lot of rock en espanol, punk, etc.; I think it's a lot of stuff coming out of Monterrey. This is the only nontraditional Mexican stuff I've ever heard broadcast on the radio -- despite the fact that Chicago has a very large Spanish-speaking population, from many different countries, and has quite a few Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations. WLUW has a pretty reliable online simulcast, if you're interested.
posted by penchant at 9:31 PM on June 18, 2006