Happy Birthday, Billboard Español!
Written by djfrosty on September 16, 2023
Exactly one year ago, on Sept. 15, 2022, we launched Billboard Español. Our first cover artist was Colombian star Camilo, who, when we interviewed him, was in the midst of finalizing the top-selling tour in Spain that year, a milestone for a Latin act.
We literally began from zero. We launched a brand new website that didn’t exist. By the end of September 2022, we had more than 70,000 page views and nearly 30,000 unique users.
Today, 12 months later, Billboard Español has nearly 900,000 unique monthly users and in August alone, we had more than 14 million page views. We went from zero to 14 million in a year.
This is a story of total success, and in our eyes, a story of inescapable success. We saw and we understood what it’s taken others years to comprehend: Music in Spanish is consumed everywhere in the world.
Billboard Español started as a personal dream. For the past two decades — with passion, dedication and consistency — we built Billboard as the essential destination for Latin music.
There wasn’t, and there still isn’t, any other global brand where music in Spanish is covered, celebrated and promoted to such a degree. No media brand in English covered, or covers music in Spanish daily as we do in Billboard. Our growth was slow, constant, and always at the forefront. We never flagged, not even in the worst moments for our music. We always understood that there was a present and a brilliant future for Latin music that others would eventually comprehend.
And that’s what happened. In 2021, when we proposed Billboard Español, music in Spanish was already consumed universally. Even though Billboard is a U.S. brand that works predominantly in English, leadership understood the importance of music in Spanish and gave us the necessary resources to launch a brand entirely in our language, with content made for Spanish speaking fans.
Before launch, we hired the best possible editorial team. Renowned Venezuelan journalist Sigal Ratner-Arias came on as deputy editor of Billboard Español, bringing with her two decades of extraordinary and highly respected trajectory as the entertainment editor of AP in Spanish. She’s a brilliant leader.
Mexican-American Isabela Raygoza came on as associate editor. Together with our existing Billboard Latin editors — Griselda Flores, Jessica Roiz and Ingrid Fajard — and Luisa Calle as our SEO specialist, we have a formidable team.
We like to say we’re small but mighty. Our commitment to the music, the artists and the industry is unwavering and it’s taken us to extraordinary heights. In addition to covering music daily — via interviews, exclusives, news, social media and video — we also launched a suite of new and extraordinary properties.
In May, we celebrated our first edition of Latin Women In Music, where, in addition to recognizing the accomplishments of 50 female executives in Latin music, we honored Thalia, Evaluna Montaner, María Becerra, Ana Gabriel, Goyo and Shakira as Woman of the Year. The gala aired on Telemundo, our broadcasting partner.
We had cover stories with Bad Bunny, Fuerza Regida, Lele Pons and Guaynaa and RBD, in their first interview as a group in 15 years. We launched new franchises: On The Radar, The Stars Behind the Stars and of course, our very read and commented lists.
We are a team of women committed to excellence and success. And above all, committed to music. We invite you to continue walking alongside us in this successful path. Our future, and the future of our music, is bright.