2007年VOA标准英语-Latin Music Ahead of the Beat in the US

By Steve Mort
Miami, Florida
04 July 2007
 

Sales of Latin music CDs are on the rise in the United States. Industry figures show that while overall demand for compact discs is declining, sales at U.S. stores stocking CDs from Central and South America are growing. And facing tough competition from online retailers², many mainstream³ shops are now offering Latin music in an effort to boost their bottom line. Steve Mort reports from Miami.

Mega 98.1 is a Latin music radio station based in Florida.

It caters⁴ to the state's growing Hispanic population and, according to the station's Michelle Gonzalez, its audience is on the rise. "It's only going to keep growing and, you know, the growth is tremendous and as long as we keep putting out and producing good quality products and competing with the general market, we're going to be right there."

Arbitron, which collects audience data in the U.S., says Spanish language radio stations now reach more listeners collectively than their English-language rock and pop counterparts.

Professor Rey Sanchez

Professor Rey Sanchez of the University of Miami says the boom in Hispanic radio, combined with a growing Latino population with a traditional love of music, are reasons why U.S. Latin music sales are up.

"They're just great music customers and as a group – Hispanics from many different countries – music is such an important part of their culture. And Latin music has flourished in the United States," he says.

The Museo Del Disco CD store in Miami claims to stock the most complete Latin music collection in the world -- some 40,000 titles. Hinsul Lazo is the stores' owner. He says recent Hispanic immigrants are more likely to buy CDs than download music online. "They're not as technologically⁵ driven as other nationalities because they're still behind on the educational side of technology."

Sales of Latin music CDs have been rising, but buyers may shift to Internet purchases

Nielson Soundscan, a company that tracks CD sales in the U.S., says Latin music purchases rose 5.2 percent in 2006, while overall CD sales fell almost five percent.

But Professor Sanchez predicts competition from Internet retailers will eventually hurt Latin CD sales as Hispanics download more online.

"In the same period of time that Soundscan sales were up 5.2 percent, shipments of Latin music for the same year, 2006, were actually down 21 percent from the year before. And I think you're going to see a continued downward trend in shipments of CDs," says the professor.

Latin music storeowners, such as Hinsul Lazo, agree. He worries about selling the 180,000 CDs in his warehouse⁶. He says most of his customers are over 40, so he is increasingly working with eBay, Amazon and other web sites to reach younger Hispanics.

"We've got a certain product line that no one has got, so as long as we stay on top of the ball we shouldn't have a problem." Lazo says he is selling more CDs to larger retail¹ chains that are keen to cash in on the Latin music market.

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

5 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

6 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。