Latin Music Craze to be Supplanted by Australian Music Craze

Los Angeles (NBp) - Music industry executives in Los Angeles this week announced that they have dropped the recording contracts of some 5,000 Latin music artists that they had signed recently. Though many of these artists have worked for the past 7 years honing their skills, writing songs and building a following, music execs say that the Latin fad is fading and fired the performers, while keeping all rights to the songs and, in some cases, the names of the artists.

"Not everyone can have the success of a Ricky Martin or Marc Anthony," explained Kukukookoo Records A&R rep James Newton. "We don't care about the performers as much as we do about the greenbacks. I mean, the listening public."

Industry watchers say that the next big thing is Australian music. David Hasselhoff, who was about to enter the studio to record an album of Spanish language songs, has changed his mind midstream and is rewriting the songs in Australian. Hasselhoff has reportedly been having a hard time finding someone to help with the translation, but has changed every reference of the word "beer" in his songs to "Foster's".

Kylie Minogue is expected to be one of the biggest successes of the new Australian music wave with "Locomotion 2K", a remake of her remake of the hit song "Locomotion". Eighties supergroup Men At Work are planning to ride the receding Latin craze and the forthcoming Australian craze with a new album "Loco Koala".

Hoping to cash in on the Australian wave, a New Zealand-based group plans a country album called "My Baby's In Love With The Sheep Herder".