Radio Riding the Growing Reggaeton Wave

Okay, I just read an article on Reggaeton and how it is sweeping the nation. But please, could somebody please explain to me what the hell Reggaeton even is?!?!?!

The growing force of reggaeton is amply displayed on this week's Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, with four of the top 10 releases falling under the genre.

That sales drive continues to carry over to radio, with the recent switch of three major pop stations to a reggaeton/hip-hop format within a week of each other.

In Los Angeles, Spanish Broadcasting System's sole pop station, KXOL, is now called "Latino 96.3 FM." The station's tag line is, "Radio reggaeton y hip-hop too," a nod to listeners' hunger for all things reggaeton- and hip-hop-oriented.

In New York, Univision Radio switched pop/tropical station WCAA to reggaeton/hip-hop. The station is now called La Kalle ("the Street"). And in Puerto Rico, SBS changed pop station WODA to reggaeton.

"It's the format of the future," says SBS executive VP of programing Bill Tanner, who initially was skeptical of reggaeton's potential in Los Angeles.

"But it was when we began to hear it in the streets of Los Angeles -- basically every car that drives by is playing reggaeton, (and) the reggaeton concerts here are selling out night after night. Then we started to do our own in-house research, and it just keeps coming out as a big winner."