Finding the Rhythm

Dance music can be clever

March 18, 2009 at 12:21 pm Leave a comment

Late last week, I mentioned in a blog post, that, “I know [Kelly Clarkson's] work from the dance remixes.” That got me thinking.  In addition to that, one of my favorite dance tracks right now further proves an interesting point that sorta struck me this morning.

That current fave is Taylor Swift’s Love Story. Until I heard the dance remix of Love Story, I had absolutely no idea who Taylor Swift was, or why I’d care. Lo and behold, she’s a barely-out-of-high-school country music sensation who had a multi-platinum-selling album at the ripe old age of 16. Who knew?! (Well, her millions of fans, I guess, but anyway.)

Dance music has been my conduit to a lot of big-name recording artists I wouldn’t have know about had it not been for some manager’s or record company exec’s decision to get some dance remixes produced. Alt rockers Keane come to mind, as do any number of R&B artists I wouldn’t otherwise choose to listen to as the music just isn’t my personal taste.

Dance music isn’t a huge part of the overall music industry in the U.S. (One of these days, I need to find some industry stats to quantify that clear but empirical sense of things.) But it’s absolutely a clever move to spend a comparatively tiny bit of money to hire a remixer or two or three, hand them some acapellas and audio stems, and let them go to town. I’ve got some issues with the entire Billboard charting system, but regardless, the fact that Maroon 5, an alt rock act, has the #6 position on their dance chart this week sorta proves that point. (The fact that I’ve not even heard some of the tracks on that chart proves another point, but I digress.)

There are some of us out here that apparently live quality lives without the E! cable network, People magazine, that cheesy TMZ television show, and the like; our own mini-caves devoid of entertainment gossip, so we have no idea who’s who, what’s what, or which pre-teen just scored a hit song. So for us, I do hope the major labels continue to get us up-to-speed by making sure we get a dance remix package for the artists and singles they want to promote. Clever business indeed.

Entry filed under: Dance Music, Dance Music Industry. Tags: Billboard, E!, Keane, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, People Magazine, Taylor Swift, TMZ.