Seasons Greetings/It's Never Too Late

Season’s Greetings


As we approach the holidays, we can expect that the holiday music will be in abundance. I can remember growing up as a kid, listening to the same Jackson 5 Christmas CD each year, until I discovered Motown’s compilation Christmas CD which included several of its major artists all jammed packed in a 4 disc set. I couldn’t wait to hear the different artists cover some of my favorite tracks. Over the years, we’ve seen Motown repackage their holiday music and often times, include a bonus track. Although it’s been two years since a new Motown release, the latest Motown holiday 2 CD set contains special holiday greetings from various artists.

As we know, over the last decade, the music industry continues to struggle with revenue, we can bank on the fact that Christmas music helps increase sales every year. As a consumer, we have a wide variety to choose from, whether Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw, to Elvis and Bing. I personally love all holiday music as it provides that sentimental feeling of joy and comfort. I believe the music is arranged with a captivating touch that always pulls you in from the very beginning of the song. My all-time favorite as always has been “The Little Drummer Boy”.

The trend in releasing holiday music couldn’t be more planned than a regular non-seasonal release. I would assume as we approach the holidays, record executives have already decided what is going to be released, when it’s going to be released and which artists’ music will be released. According to The Tennessean, “Since, 2007, while album sales have declined overall each year, holiday album sales have grown to be among the season’s best-selling items”. In addition to assisting holiday album sales, many radio stations have switched their format to holiday music 24/7.

I wonder what would happen if record labels started releasing music with themes in preparation for (i.e. Spring Break, the last day of school, filing taxes, election day, etc.)

Wadhwani, A (2011) Retrieved on Sunday, December 11, 2011 from http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111211/BUSINESS06/312110021/2047/BUSINESS





It’s Never Too Late


As we listen to evolving music and catch the wave of what’s new, it’s interesting to know that the popularity of R&B music is being filtered into hip-hop radio stations that want to evolve with the changing industry. I can remember when hip-hop first came on the scene and the radio stations played one record, Sugarhill Gang’s “Rappers Delight”. As a young boy, to hear this new sound during a time when soul music rode the wave of the disco era and out of disco, rap was birthed. It was quite odd to hear your favorite soul record and the next song was a rap record with an infectious beat and lyrically funny.

Today, we have an eclectic vibe going on in the music industry. Many artists are crossing over into the Pop genre to stay relevant and pop artists are enjoying this! As mentioned in the Valley News Dispatch, “A lot of today's urban music crosses over to other formats, especially Top 40 and even adult contemporary," says Tim Martz, CEO of Martz Communications Group, which owns WAMO. I believe that the crossover is a good way to market an artist, show his/her diversified talent and a great way for the record labels to keep the money rolling. I wonder if we’ll ever see hip-hop artist cross heavily into country music?

Overall, the music industry will continue to evolve as long as we have artists and labels willing to push the envelope. We know the bottom line for an artist is to sell as many records as they can. We can say that hip-hop and R&B have become quite the team when helping each other reach new heights. Radio stations and record labels have a responsibility for one another in order to continue surviving during the ebb and flow in the industry.

Rutkoski, R (2011) Retrieved on Sunday, December 11, 2011 from href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/music/s_771321.html">