Reggaeton Music: Marketing Reggaeton Music Online

Reggaeton Music: Marketing Reggaeton Music Online - Mercadeando la Musica de Reggaeton - While latin rhythms like salsa and merengue faded away, I saw everybody singing or perreando reggaeton music. They were all listening to the radio or watching videos, while dancing to the latino songs and lyrics (liricas) of Don Omar, Daddy Yankee and Ivy Queen.

Reggaeton Music: It all Started in Puerto Rico

In 1988, before moving from Puerto Rico to Arizona to pursue graduate studies, I heard of local boricua musicians experimenting with rap in Spanish. I heard of similar attempts in the early 80's by Vico C (Luis Armando Lozada) and others but did not follow the trend. Two years later I returned to the Island and heard again of these experiments, only that this time a new generation of young puertorrican artists were seriously combining reggae and rap with hip hop music as a way of expressing themselves in la calle, barrios and caseríos.

The result of that mix was not a mere spanish-translated rap or jamaican reggae translated to español as many may think, but the rise of a formal and richer genre: reggaeton (pronounced "regga-tone"). Yes, this is the same hot and electrifying beat that is making a big splash in Latin America and USA, reaching as far as Europe and Japan. The genre was recognized in the top categories for the first time in 2005 in The 6th annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, celebrated Nov. 3 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles (1), making a killing in Category 8.

Also in 2005 Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc (SBS), the nation's largest Hispanic-owned media entity, rebranded Puerto Rico's Onda 94 FM with a new name: "Reggaeton 94" FM, dedicated 24/7 to the perreo music (la musica del perreo). Due to its success in La Isla del Encanto and worldwide, SBS is incorporating reggaeton into the regular programming of local stations across the Nation. This includes WSKQ-FM in New York City, WXDJ-FM in Miami, and Latino 96.3 in Los Angeles -formerly known as KXOL-FM.

Origins and Evolution of Reggaeton Music

According to an EFE article Boy Wonder (Manuel Alejandro Ruiz) claims in "Pocos Elegidos: El Documental", that reggaeton started in Panama around 1989 as a version of the jamaican reggae (2). Pure non sense. For another equally absurd story about the origins of reggaeton, read Wayne Marshall claims in The Phoenix. Funny how anglos that spell "bachata" as "bachacta" and non puertoricans distort the history and origins of the genre. Like me, many disagree with these stories. Reggaeton incorporates elements from bomba and salsa, rhythms unique from Puerto Rico. Fortunately, according to another article from EFE (July 27, 2005) Daddy Yankee, one of our most famous reggaetoneros (3), is quoted as stating that the spanish reggae from Panama and the reggaeton from Puerto Rico are different things:

"Respecto a las opiniones que sitúan el origen del reggaetón en Panamá, el cantante aseguró que en realidad hay dos géneros diferentes: uno es el reggae en español que se canta en Panamá y otro el reggaetón, que define como un ritmo puertorriqueño que "sin duda bebió" de lo que se hacía en el país centroamericano."

A visit to virtual communities such as Reggaetonline.net should convince anyone of this. Not only that, you will come across the names of true reggaeton pioneers like Vico-C, DJ Playero, DJ Negro y Tempo (David Sanchez Badillo) (4). And for those that are still ignorant about the true origins of reggaeton music, MundoReggaeton.com (5), one of the best reggaeton sites on the Web has a nice recap about its history and quote:

Un poco de la historia del Rap y el Reggae en español. El reggae surgio en Jamaica en los 70's y con el transcurso del tiempo ha sido mezclado con otros ritmos y ha tenido muchos cambios. En Panama fue el primer lugar donde se cantó reggae en español a cargo de "Chicho man" de la ciudad Colón, en 1985..... En Puerto Rico fue el primer lugar que se cantó rap en español a cargo de "Vico C" en 1985...

I remember all that because I heard the music of Vico C. While in "mi islita", his music energized everybody. The article continues and states:

"En (1993 - 1994) todo comenzaba en una discoteca de hip hop y reggae llamada "The Noise" en donde los jovenes que habian crecido escuchando rap de la vieja escuela como el de Vico C se montaban en la tarima y tiraban sus liricas en instrumentales de las mas reconocidas canciones de rap de USA en esa época y de reggae movido de jamaiquino...Entre los primeros exponentes de ese experimento estan Baby Rasta y Gringo, Guanabanas, Maicol y Manuel, Polaco, Don Chezina, y Daddy Yankee (de Playero)."

"Pero lo que hizo que el reggae boricua se quedara marcado en Panama fue "The Noise Live" donde Baby Rasta, Gringo e Ivy Queen fuero los principales protagonistas...La siguiente generación de artistas de reggae panameño fue muy influida por los cambios realizados por los boricuas, Don Chezina y el grupo de Elian Davis (La Rosca 1 y 2). El reggaeton boricua desaparecio en Panama a finales de 1998."

That's right. They got nothing on boricuas. Corillo... Como dice Tego Calderon: "pa' que te lo gozes, pa' que te lo gozes..." ~#!*ño, que pa'ha --estrellitas, caracoles, WTF.

Reggaeton music is not from Panamá but from Puerto Rico. Period. It is not spanish-translated reggae, gringo-translated hip hop, rap or "regional urbana" mexican rap music, either. At the onset of the genre it was referred to by many as reggae boricua since a proper marketable label was not available in those days; but this doesn't mean it was spanish raggae. Reggaeton is a far more richer genre in its own that now artists from other countries are adopting, absorbing, and mixing with their own rhythms for $$$several reasons$$$.

As other genres, this one is evolving. For the past 16 years we have seen the evolution of reggaeton; from songs with gang-related themes to social discourses; from letters with sexual content to songs with religious messages. Some of these changes were driven by artistic innovation. Others were the result of offer-demand pressures. In this sense reggaeton is not any different from rock, jazz, hip hop, country or gospel --mainstream genres that evolved and adapted to social and marketing needs.

Marketing Reggaeton Music

Musical experiments are as valid and important as scientific experiments or technology breakthroughs. These often impact consumers behaviors and preferences, creating a new offer-demand playground for other products and services.

To illustrate, in 2001 I returned to Puerto Rico and rediscovered reggaeton, only that this time the rhythm dominated the radio and tv waves by a long shot. Indeed, while latin rhythms like salsa and merengue faded away, I saw everybody singing or perreando reggaeton music. They were all listening to the radio or watching videos, while dancing to the latino songs and lyrics (liricas) of super estrellas or show stoppers like Don Omar (William Omar Landron), Daddy Yankee (Raymond Ayala), and Ivy Queen (Martha Ivelisse Pesante, the queen of reggaeton). From little kids and teens to adults and grandmas, they were all singing: "Hasta abajo, hasta abajo, hasta bajo." , "Dale. Dale Don, dale.", "A ella le gusta la gasolina.", and "Quiero Bailar."

I saw everybody embracing reggaeton for one reason or the other. Fast food chains, religious organizations, tv commercials, soft drink companies, and the list goes on. Even during the 2004 elections in Puerto Rico almost all candidates incorporated the beat in their political campaigns and rallies. Some exponent of the genre have become smart businessmen, branching out and promoting things like clothing lines, jewerly or their own labels.

What about other artists? Well, the trend is to crossover or combine the genre with other rhythms. By 2005, singers like mexican Pilar Montenegro and puertorrican salsa vocalist Victor Manuelle were all doing just that. Even Ricky Martin has done some reggaeton.

Search Results and On-Topic Analysis

Query Google News or Google Searches for reggaeton and convince yourself. Figure 1 and 2 shows search results for the term in Google News and Google Searches. Resistance is futile (6, 7).

On-topic analysis (8) for the top 100 results from these two Google databases reveals that the keyword is associated with the following terms:

• Broader Terms: puerto rico, music, musica, videos, latin, latino, artists, etc.
• Narrower Terms: don, omar, daddy, yankee, club, radio, perreo, etc

As of December 27, 2005 these are the terms used the most by the top 100 web pages relevant to a search for reggaeton. The total count listed in Google Searches was over 2 million. That's a lot of competition from sites trying to be associated to a single term. Similar results were obtained by analyzing the top 20 web pages. Marketing research companies and interesed parties can order updated brand association and on-topic analysis studies from us for a fee.

If you have a reggaeton site you will probably need an online search engine marketing strategy to promote the site. You may want to make it more relevant before the "eyes" of search engines than all those 2 million plus competitors out there. If your site is not in the top 10 search results for the keyword reggaeton probably 80% of reggaeton searchers will not know or visit your web property. That's a lot of traffic ignoring your site.

If you are concerned about this, we can help you by reoptimizing the semantics of your site. Note that this is not about the design of your site or its merits. The problem here is not design or programming but a marketing and optimization issue driven by semantics. After all, semantics is what makes a site relevant to keyword searches.

Marketing Strategies

Considering that 8 in 10 search engine users do not visit pages listed after the first 10 or 20 positions, designing a fancy site about music with a lot of flashy animations or great content is not enough. It is not all about paying for link ads or buying the pay-per-click illusion of being #1 either. One needs to understand how search engines assign semantic importance and value to web sites.

After all, search engines like Google are the top traffic generators on the Web. You want to gain visibility and be relevant where the traffic is or coming from. It doesn't make sense trying to be visible in an "electronic desert".

If I want to optimize a web site so that it will rank high when Google users search for reggaeton, I would probably reinforce the content of the site with terms discovered through on-topic analysis. The analysis gives me a representative sample of which terms are used the most by the top relevant sites. In most cases, a comprehensive semantic analysis of search results and search volume results (what users are searching for) discovers more specific terms.

Yep. Marketing a new trend offline is one thing. Doing it online is something different. Soon or later you realize that you are competing for the semantic attention that search engines assign to keywords relevant to specific products or services. If someone searches for your products or services, will they find you or your competition? Will they associate search terms to your business or brand?

If you want to be found, on-topic analysis can help you. Want to take a test drive?

Check this page rankings in Google for marketing reggaeton, marketing reggaeton music and for other popular combinations. Don't be happy with a page that -in the search results- ranks just down there, down there... (hasta abajo, hasta abajo...).

References

1. The 6th annual Latin GRAMMY Awards; Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles; Nov. 3 (2005).
2. La verdadera historia del reggaetón; EFE article.
3. Daddy Yankee abre gira en Madison Square Garden con Carlos Vives; EFE article.
4. Reggaeton; Google News Results.
5. MundoReggaeton.com; Historia del Reggaeton.
6. Reggaeton; Google Search Results.
7. Tempo; Andrea Hildalgo, Reggaetonline.net.
8. On-Topic Analysis: Online Discovery of On-Topic Terms; E. Garcia (2004).

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