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 Entertainment | November 2006 
Mexico's RBD Makes Bilingual Bid for U.S. Audience
 Leila Cobo - Reuters/Billboard
| | RBD's work in the States began in earnest in early 2006, after the group's first two studio albums took off. |
For at least the past two years, EMI executives on both sides of the Atlantic were on the lookout for a successful Latin act with international potential. Enter RBD, a coed sextet whose initial success in its native Mexico hinged on the popularity of a daily soap opera.
Since releasing a first album in late 2004, RBD mania spread from Mexico to the U.S. Latin market to the rest of Latin America and Brazil, where the group topped sales charts with albums in Spanish and Portuguese.
Now RBD plans to release two new studio albums: the Spanish-language "Celestial," due November 24 on EMI Televisa, and "Rebels," in English, due December 19 on Virgin.
This marks the first time a major act is releasing completely different Spanish and English albums (usually one is a translation of the other) in the United States within such a short period of time. The setup is the prelude for the European release of "Rebels," slated for March 2007.
RBD's exploits have been well documented. In just two years, the group -- made up of Anahi, Alfonso, Dulce, Maite, Christopher and Christian (all between 19 and 24 years old) -- has sold close to 6 million albums worldwide and more than 1 million in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Its new English-language single, "Tu Amor," is No. 32 on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart and No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. The act's new Spanish-language single, "Ser o Parecer," is No. 10 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. RBD's MySpace page has more than 1 million profile views and more than 3 million song plays. Its Web site has 2 million unique visitors per month.
NONSTOP WORK
Undoubtedly RBD's success rode on its daily soap, "Rebelde," but also on its photogenic protagonists and carefully selected repertoire of solid, catchy pop fare.
"Youth and love and what we want to transmit are international," Anahi says. "Young people in Japan or the United States have the same issues."
But Anahi and her fellow RBD cohorts bristle at the suggestion that they are a fabricated phenomenon. "It also has to do with tenacity," she says testily. "We've been working nonstop for three years, and it needs to be said."
RBD's work in the States began in earnest in early 2006, after the group's first two studio albums took off. EMI Televisa quickly capitalized on the impact by releasing two live sets, and talk began about an English album. The group's subsequent arena tours through the United States and Latin America confirmed a solid fan base.
A big plus, EMI Televisa president Rodolfo Lopez-Negrete says, is that RBD appeals to Spanish speakers and to a young, bilingual consumer avid for pure pop music in a market with little to offer. And, he stresses, although there's plenty of cross-marketing in promoting RBD in two languages, "they are two different strategies, two different paths, two different promo tours, two different labels."
Executives at Virgin say they expect RBD's Spanish album to do better than "Celestial" initially.
"I don't think we have any illusions that overnight we're going to turn this thing into a phenomenon," Virgin Records general manager Lee Trink says.
In January, the group begins shooting its new TV series and launches its European promotion in Spain with two concerts in Barcelona and Madrid. Just how long RBD mania can last is anyone's guess, but the members of the group have a clear idea: "Til the 30s do us apart," Christian says wryly. |
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