Rossman shows the diffusion rate of Rhianna's "Umbrella"

USC Annenberg's Media, Economics & Entrepreneurship initiative featured a discussion on the business behind radio play by UCLA Sociology professor Gabriel Rossman on Oct. 2. His presentation, "Genre Distinctions and Diffusion in the Radio Industry," explained the role of peer dynamics and external influence in the frequency of a song's radio play. Rossman demonstrated the way in which the diffusion of a song across radio stations typically follows an "S-curve" from its first radio play to its mass assimilation throughout stations. Radio stations will play songs based on a particular song's genre conventions, said Rossman, and they will only continue to play these songs if they see their rivals playing them. "Genre is the organizing principle of the music industry," said Rossman. Therefore, all of the radio industry's market information is arranged by this central organizing concept. If a new song fits a radio station's genre conventions perfectly, said Rossman, it will get immediate play on that station. When a song doesn't fit typical genre conventions, however, its path to widespread radio exposure is less clear. Rossman used the case study of Reggaeton to show how the influence of rival and peer stations determine a song's radio play. In 2004, Reggaeton was relatively unknown in the U.S., Rossman said, but by 2005 this genre was widely adopted throughout hip-hop stations. Initially, the spanish vocals coupled with Puerto Rican and Jamaican-influenced beats were "too weird" to fit the genre conventions of hip-hop stations, he said. "Radio play is not determined by sales," said Rossman, "it is determined by peers." Stations will only allow inceased air time to songs that are playing on similar stations. Rossman presented the S-curve of the radio play accumulated by Shakira's "La Tortura," a traditional hip-hop song with the Raeggeton element of Spanish vocals, to show how this song helped stir the adoption of Reggaeton on the radio. Once hip-hop stations witnessed the success of "La Tortura," they began to accept more songs with Spanish vocals. Therefore, "Oye Mi Canto," a Reggaeton song by N.O.R.E., started to gain some radio play shortly after the successful assimilation of Shakira's Spanish-language song. By the end of 2004, hip-hop stations in areas with large Puerto Rican populations began to incorporate infrequent plays of Reggaeton songs. With the acceptance of Raggaeton spreading, the song "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee was able to become an instant hit in spite of its Reggaeton beats. The song proved to be largely popular among Latino stations and lead to the birth of "Hurban," or hispanic-urban, stations. "Hurban" stations have playlists that are 50 percent Reggaeton, 25 percent Spanish-speaking hip-hop and 35 percent English-speakng hip-hop. The rise of these stations allowed further adoption of Reggaeton throughout all hip-hop stations and therefore led to the institutionalization and adoption of a new genre. This in-depth look at "Climbing the Charts," a chapter in Rossman's new book was a part of M{2e}, the Media, Economics & Entrepreneurship initiative, which is designed to spark innovation in media industries by increasing our understanding of how economics impacts communication and journalism. The next lunchtime Annenberg Research Seminar features Klaus Krippendorff on Oct 10.