The growing pains of rap and the emergence of country music were among the hot topics on the first day of the 1993 Gavin Seminar, which runs through Saturday at the Westin St. Francis Hotel.
The emphasis on rap, which is covered in seven of the 12 major seminars scheduled at this radio-oriented conclave, centered on the mainstreaming of the genre, which has graduated in the last year from an underground phenomenon to truly big business, thanks to an infusion of major label money.
But the old slights against the genre -- which has battled perceptions that it's a fad that appeals to less-affluent consumers -- still exist, according to several attendees.
Country music is suffering similar growing pains. Discussion here centered on the fragmentation of the genre and its new expanded audience.
As at past Gavin conventions, alternative music was also on the agenda but took a noticeable back seat to rap and country. Some observers blame waning interest in the so-called Seattle sound.
Label staffers and programming executives insisted rap has arrived as a mainstream genre.
Mainstreaming is a sore point with many rap pioneers, who feel the multinational music corporations are trying to squeeze them out.
Eric Brooks, a promotion executive at Priority Records, blames "the invasion of the majors" for the dilution of rap into a "must-have-hits mentality" that has removed it from the street level. Brooks echoed the concerns of many marketing executives here who fear the lack of retail shelf space devoted to independent labels in the genre would ultimately hurt its artistic growth.
They fear tastes will be driven by the large, mainstream-oriented major labels that can afford the co-op advertising that leads stores to stock and prominently display their product.
At least one old argument against rap's growth appears to be dying: the lack of advertising support. Harold Austin, music director of KKBT-FM in Los Angeles, claimed some rap stations in certain markets are among the top competitors for the coveted demographic of consumers ages 25-54.
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