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As Latin music continues to gain prominence worldwide, Latin music festivals have also been boosted globally in recent years. This was the topic of conversation at Monday’s (Oct. 2) The Art of the Festival panel at Billboard Latin Music Week — presented by Viña del Mar, the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America.
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Featuring Chris Den Uijl (co-founder of La Familia Presenta), John Frias (CEO, Frias Entertainment Group, Bésame Mucho Music Festival), Alfonso Lanza García (CCO of Primavera Sound, CEO, Vampire Studio), and Daniel Merino (producer of Festival Viña del Mar), the panelists discussed what makes a successful fest today, from the best festival producers in the world.
Moderated by Bruno Del Granado, head of global Latin music touring group of CAA (Creative Artists Agency), the panel went behind the scenes of crafting and sustaining a successful Latin music festival in this era.
“Viña has its own identity,” says Merino, who helps run the iconic Chilean event, which started in 1960. He explains that it’s the only festival that doubles as a television show and lasts one full week.
Rosarito, Mexico’s own Baja Beach Fest began five years ago as the only exclusively reggaetón festival in the world. Den Uijl explained how the West Coast had no essential event in the Latin music space at the time. “The West Coast has 40 million people living in California, and 17 million are Mexicans,” he says. He also mentions how he expanded with Sueños in Chicago, while also programming more música Mexicana talent as the genre has had a massive spike internationally.
Conversely, with L.A.’s Bésame Mucho festival, Frias dives into how they found their niche by not going with the current mainstream; instead finding an audience in underserved markets by booking nostalgic acts.
As Bad Bunny became the first Latin music act to headline Coachella this year, Del Granado asked the U.S.-based festival runners if their job had become more difficult. The answer is not so simple, but they all agreed that the genre’s popularity has attracted audiences beyond the Latino demographic. “Where we’re competing is in the hard tickets,” says Den Uijl
“After so long, artists want to perform at Primavera Sound. It’s something that artists are looking for, it gives them cache, it gives them prestige, and we love it,” says Garza Garcia. Primavera Sound, which was founded in 2001 and is now based in different major cities of Spain, has drawn some of the biggest acts from both the American mainstream and Latin realm.
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week will include a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.
Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
In the past few years, a number of Latin artists such as Shakira, Maluma and Ozuna, have been selling their catalogs, but when is it the right time to sell or buy?
“Everyone sees everyone selling and the big deals, and think they can do that, but those catalogs have to have matured already, at least have been five years since produced or recorded,” explained panelist Angela “Angie” Martinez, Esq., attorney at law, AngieLaw, during the Power of the Latin Catalog panel — presented by HarbourView — at Latin Music Week 2023.
During the discussion moderated by Hannah Karp, editorial director of Billboard, panelists Sherrese Clarke Soares, founder/CEO, HarbourView; Denny Marte, founder/consultant, MPA Advisors; and Martinez broke down opportunities for both artists looking to sell their catalogs and buyers who are interested in purchasing.
“There are plenty of opportunities for artists who want to sell and buyers who want to buy,” added Marte. “When it’s the right time to sell depends on the earnings of the catalog. There’s a lot of misinformation of names who are selling their catalogs and assume theirs would sell, [but] every catalog sells differently.It also depends on the buyer — everyone has a different criteria of what they’re looking for. It’s like the housing market and understanding when is a good time to sell your home.”
On their interest in purchasing in the Latin space, HarbourView is “really a genre-agnostic company,” explained Clarke Soares. “As a person of Caribbean descent, it was easy for me to see how important and impactful Latin music is to the communities that it serves. We saw so much growth in the underlying market, from the usage perspective … It was a no brainer for us. People who come from communities that are not mainstream are just as important.”
Latin music in general is more attractive now, hence the increase of interest on the buyers side. Compared to other genres, Latin music is catching up in terms of buyers interested in the Latin market “The numbers don’t lie,” said Marte. “Latin music is where it’s at and it has been for now some time. I already felt it was going to start happening. Latin would catch up, now it’s like we have to turn away clients because it’s too much, or their catalog is too young.”
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here.
This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.
Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5), and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
The hottest genre on the charts is the hottest genre on the road. In the panel called The Rise of Mexican Touring, held on Monday (Oct. 2), Fuerza Regida’s frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz and Latin Nation’s Hans Schafer (svp of Latin touring) and Jorge García (global promoter of tours) talk how to book, market and sell out Mexican music shows, moderated by Billboard Latin’s senior writer, Griselda Flores.
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In the midst of his ambitious tour Otra Peda (meaning Another Drunken Party), the Fuerza Regida lead singer shares his experience from starting out performing at flyer parties six years ago to now selling out American arenas and stadiums across the nation. Meanwhile Schafer and García spoke about how they’ve been helping amplify, within the live music space, the música mexicana movement internationally.
In many candid moments, Jesús, who also goes by JOP, shared how Otra Peda was conceived. “I was my own Live Nation. I was the waiter, the one who charged you for your beers, and sing,” he said. “I would throw my own flyer parties, it was like 20 to 50 people, then 50 to 100. Now we’re doing this on a greater scale. [Since the beginning of our shows] people got extra drunk, that’s where Otra Peda came from.”
“Several years ago, taking these [música mexicana] bands to the club it made sense. Years before you were lucky to sell 2,000 to 3,000 tickets,” recalls García. “Now this generation of Latinos are growing up [with the genre]. The same kind of people that buy the Drake tickets, buy the Fuerza Regida tickets.”
“We are American so we have that flow, we started dressing different, and took Mexican music to the next level,” says Jesús about connecting with this new generation of Latinos. “Back in the day, you had to lower the music; we were shy that we liked regional Mexican, you had to change it to hip-hop. We love the legends, John Sebastian, Luis Mi, Vicente Fernández, but that was all tío‘s music. We made it cool,” he adds and the audience chuckles.
Flores’ asks about the steps to get a club act to an arena level. “It can’t feel forced. You’re just trying to tighten that bond that they have with their fans,” explains Schafer. “Nothing can be cookie cutter, everything that we do starts with inception, what is this tour about, Otra Peda…developing ideas and the concepts you’re doing with the tour.”
Jesús recalls a time in his career with Fuerza Regida that he had to stop the 10 freeway in L.A., and perform in front of the traffic, with the venue serving as a backdrop. That led to the band selling out the show at the time.
The discussion surrounding Mexican music is about going global, reaching as far as Australia and New Zealand. Schafer elaborates on how European countries have warmly embraced this movement, with both the Latino demographic and new non-Latino fans developing a fondness for the Mexican style.
But now that it’s reaching unprecedented heights, “There needs to be greater representation because it’s going to keep growing,” adds Schafer. “We have the responsibility in the industry to set the tone with the space that it deserves.”
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.
Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
The 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week kicked off Monday, Oct. 2 at the Faena Theater and Forum in Miami Beach with a handful of educational panels about the music industry.
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The “So you have a Million Streams… Now what?” panel, presented by Rimas Publishing, featured artist-songwriters Lyanno and Miky Woodz, and executives Emilio Morales, managing director of Rimas Publishing and Enrique Marquez Paris, songwriter and publishing relations of Latin music, Spotify.
The conversation, moderated by Billboard Latin’s senior charts and data analyst, Pamela Bustios, focused on how artists can optimize their songwriting and production revenue in the streaming era.
Below, check out the best tips given at the panel:
On the importance of streaming: According to both Woodz and Lyanno, streaming has benefited the success of their music careers. “We’re in a digital era where we can take advantage of everything we have in our reach,” Lyanno said. “Thanks to streaming, we can reach new audiences,” added Woodz.
On splitting royalties: “Immediately talk about the splits when you enter a recording studio,” recommends Marquez Paris, who also says it’s important to communicate with your publisher about any song or piece of work that comes out of a recording session. “Publishers are not fortune tellers, but they will protect your composition,” he explains.
On not buying fake streams: “I don’t recommend it because it’ll damage your algorithm as an artist,” noted Morales. Buying bots will amplify your numbers and reach territories you might not want to reach with your music. Instead, Morales states that being consistent is crucial, which includes having your own formula and creating your own fan base, organically.
On optimizing revenue: The key is to never stop working. “Put out more music, more compositions, and work harder. The more you work, the more success you will have,” Lyanno said. For Woodz, it’s key to create content for fans. “The fan base supports you and consumes your content. It is with them that you have to have a connection. Continue giving them music, content, and make them feel identified with you.”
On creating music with artificial intelligence: All panelists agreed that AI has its pros and cons when creating music but they are aware that technology is advancing and it really depends on each artist, composer, and producer if they want to use it in the studio.
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few.
Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.
Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
Latin music consumption is growing almost twice as fast as the overall music consumption in the U.S., driven largely by Latin music super fans and by the growth of regional Mexican music, according to Luminate’s most recent research on Latin music.
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Unveiled at a Monday morning (Oct. 2) session during Latin Music Week 2023 presented by Luminate CEO Rob Jonas, Luminate’s research also found an unlikely discovery platform for Latin music: WhatsApp. A whooping 73% of Hispanic listeners use WhatsApp, 265% more than the general population.
Luminate’s numbers once again underscored the impressive growth of Latin music consumption. For example, in the first 34 weeks of 2022, there were 47.4 billion on demand audio streams. For the first 34 weeks of 2023, that number had jumped to 57.9 billion streams, a 22.2% upward change that far surpasses the 13.3% growth registered for the industry overall. All told, Latin is now the 5th largest major music genre in the U.S., behind only the big four core genres: R&B and Hip-Hop, pop, rock and country.
Latin music is also seeing consumption growth outside Latin pockets. A stunning 40% of all U.S. listeners report listening to music in languages other than English; and among those languages, the most listened to — after English — is Spanish. While 93% listen to music in English, roughly 23% of listeners will listen to music in Spanish.
Likewise, while the English language share of streaming in the U.S. –- as measured by the top 10,000 most streamed tracks of the past 12 months — has dipped slightly by 4% in the past year, streaming of Spanish language tracks has increased by 3.5%.
A key driver to the growth are Latin super fans. According to Luminate’s data, they spend 120% more per month on music related activities than other fans, and 30% more than U.S. super fans.
“The trends we saw starting in 2022 have accelerated and developed the growth of Latin music,” says Jonas. “We initially saw a lot of growth in streaming, but now, that growth translated to revenue. In 2023, it’s definitely been exceeding expectations.”
You can access Luminate’s full report here.
You got your first music revenue paycheck. Great, congrats! Now what?
In a panel called “How to Manage Your First Big Paycheck: Step 1, Don’t Buy That Exotic Car,” presented by CN Bank on Monday (Oct. 2) during the opening day of Billboard Latin Music Week 2023, Rodrigo Nieto-Galvis, CN Bank’s vp/team leader, Entertainment Banking Miami spoke with Billboard‘s Leila Cobo about managing and protecting your music revenue.
According to Nieto-Galvis, you should seek advice and establish a plan before running out to buy that luxury car. No matter how big that check is, especially if you are starting out, “your income is not so constant because you are an independent worker, you’re not getting a monthly paycheck,” says the expert.
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“You have to balance,” Nieto-Galvis explains. “First, financial psychology — why you want to buy that car … with, second, financial education — understanding that money can help you achieve your professional and life financial goals.”
“It doesn’t matter if that check is for $100,000 or a million,” he stressed. You need a team specifically dedicated to music and entertainment to be able to eventually buy the car of your dreams and also have financial stability.
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.
Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5), and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.
The 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards are less than a week away, where Peso Pluma leads the pack as a 21-time finalists across 15 categories.
Following the Mexican star are Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera, each 15-time finalists for the 2023 event, including four together for their collaboration on “un X100to;” Karol G, a 13-time finalist; and 12-time finalists Shakira and Fuerza Regida.
In addition to their nods, Peso Pluma, Grupo Frontera, and Bad Bunny have all been confirmed to perform at the coveted Latin music awards ceremony. The former is set to take center stage for a worldwide TV premiere (Bunny recently released a new reggaeton track called “Un Preview”).
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Hosted by Jacqueline Bracamontes and Danilo Carrera, and set to air Thursday, Oct. 5 on Telemundo, the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards counts with over 25 confirmed performers.
Below, check out the full list of performers, presenters, and how to watch.
How to Watch:
7:00 PM ET: The blue carpet pre-show, hosted by Carlos Adyan, Andrea Meza, Nacho Lozano, and Jimena Gállego, will broadcast live on Telemundo. A digital production hosted by Ana Jurka, Aleyda Ortiz and Quique Usales, will additionally be livestreamed on Telemundo.com, YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and the Telemundo App.
8:00 PM ET: The Billboard Latin Music Awards will broadcast live on Telemundo and will also be simulcast on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean via Telemundo Internacional.
See the full list of finalists here.
Performers:
Bad Bunny
Calibre 50
Chiquis
Eddy Lover
El Alfa
Eladio Carrión
Farruko
Grupo Frontera
Justin Quiles
La Factoría
Los Ángeles Azules
Los Sebastianes
Manuel Turizo
Marc Anthony
Marshmello
Myke Towers
Nicki Nicole
Olga Tañon
Pepe Aguilar
Peso Pluma
Sky Rompiendo
Sofía Reyes
Tini
Ximena Sariñana
Yandel
Yng Lvcas
Presenters
Daniel Arenas
Eslabon Armado
Verónica Bastos
Beéle
Giselle Blondet
Jessica Carrillo
Christian Chávez
Joaquin Cortés
DannyLux
Christian De La Campa
De La Ghetto
Myrka Dellanos
Kimberly Dos Ramos
Nadia Ferreira
Julia Gama
Paris Hilton
Ana Jurka
La Materialista
Penélope Menchaca
Rey Mysterio
Peter Nieto
Maite Perroni
Elena Rose
Alex Sensation
Mar Solís
Lourdes Stephen
Christopher Von Uckermann
Samadhi Zendejas
As the modern-day corridos movement continues to boom across both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond — while also leaving a significant imprint on the Billboard charts — a blooming scene takes place in Monterrey, Mexico, where a new sub-genre of regional music has been born: “bélico indie.”
Now, Fonovisa Records captures this new and growing alternative wave of corridos bélicos — which combines elements of sierreño and corridos with an urbano flair — in a soon-to-be-released compilation album comprising 15 emerging bands and artists, similarly titled Bélico Indie.
The first two singles of the project kick off on Friday (Oct. 6) with “La Primiza” by Grupo 3 Mandos and “El 10” by Eduardo Carrillo. The latter is also the producer and one of the architects of this initiative, which aims to promote a new generation of artists.
“One of the things we have enjoyed the most about this project is that we have learned more [about the craft] over time. We have been able to get to know different styles of many groups from Monterrey. That helped us a lot in the way to connect with them, to produce better for them, to understand what they were singing about,” said Carrillo in a press release. “As an artist, it has been an honor to have been given this space, this opportunity, to someone who really comes from the ground, and to be given a national platform from the label.”
Another fundamental figure responsible for gathering the talent involved is Jorge Loayzat, A&R manager at Fonovisa DISA/Universal Music Group. “Working on the Bélico Indie project has been one of my greatest satisfactions,” says Loayzat. “This collective is born from the streets, where we find countless musicians who are building their dreams and working hard to find an opportunity that allows them to professionalize their music and make a living from it.”
Week after week, Fonovisa will release new music on all streaming platforms, leading up to its compilation, slated for November 23.
Other featured acts include Sahir Montoya, Ángel Cano, DaniUniverse, Banda La Real de Monterrey, Manuel Alejo, Octavio Cuadras, La Nueva Nación, Clasificación 13, Naresh, W. Corona, Última Evidencia, Grupo Los Del 70 and NXNNI.
“We always dreamed of working with the best, and that’s what we are doing,” says DaniUniverse, who is another rising star from this upcoming release. “Working with Universal is not just any label. It’s going deeper into professionalism, taking that leap we needed to feel it more real, and to believe it more.”
Loayazt adds, “We are always looking for new talents, new voices, or innovating musical concepts that reach the hearts of the people. I feel very happy and satisfied to be promoting [a group of] talented young people.”
Below, watch a video about Fonovisa’s new project:
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Adventure awaits. Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner are traveling in style for Gucci’s Valigeria campaign released on Saturday (Sept. 30).
The travel-inspired campaign from creative director Sabato De Sarno was photographed by Anthony Seklaoui and showcases the jet-setting duo carrying various legacy pieces from Gucci’s Savoy collection.
Bad Bunny and Jenner cozy up in a playful shot wearing black travel outfits with Gucci bags in hand. Bad Bunny looks dapper in a black coat, pants, shirt and shoes while Jenner looks chic in a black sweater and slacks, a white collared shirt and Gucci sneakers.
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Another photo shows the twosome in a casual but stylish travel look: Bad Bunny sports oversized jeans, a white sweatshirt and sneakers, while Jenner rocks a Gucci monogram mini skirt, trench coat and black loafers.
According to People, Gucci’s Valigeria campaign “explores the intimacy of traveling together.” The Savoy collection features “emblematic pieces from the Gucci Savoy collection” known for its GG monogram and Web designs, per Gucci.
Jenner, 27, and Bad Bunny, 29, were first linked in February. They have yet to confirm dating rumors, but the Gucci campaign pretty much makes it official and marks their first time working together as a couple.
Bad Bunny opened up about his relationship status in a Vanity Fair interview last month. “They don’t know how you feel, they don’t know how you live, they don’t know anything, and I really don’t want them to know,” he said. “I’m not really interested in clarifying anything because I have no commitment to clarify anything to anyone. I am clear and my friend Jomar … and my mother is clear. They are the only ones to whom I have to clarify anything.”
Prior to the Gucci campaign, the twosome had been spotted out at basketball games, concerts and dinner dates. And they’ve already netted plenty of travel hours, including jetting off to Italy for a Gucci fashion show during Milan Fashion week.
The newest Gucci campaign features travel pieces available in different shapes, sizes and prints, including the GG Supreme Duffle and other duffle bags, suitcases and more available at Gucci.com.
Shop Gucci travel items below.
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From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and those little, important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Bizarrap teases new music session
On Thursday (Sept. 28), Bizarrap delivered a short film filled with drama and suspense leaving fans on the edge of their seats wondering who the collaborator will be for his next music session. Alongside actors Guillermo Francella and Gastón Cocchiarale, Bizarrap ponders having a name change from Bizarrap to Bizapop, which he made in the days before this release on his Instagram. Of course, fans began to speculate about who the collaborator might be and what hidden message is behind the name change.
The 8-minute video finds Bizarrap reflecting on which music style he should be listening to, which leads to a breakthrough moment. His next music session is set to drop Wednesday, Oct. 4. Watch the short film below:
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Shakira is Spotify’s EQUAL Global Ambassador
Shakira has been announced as Spotify’s EQUAL Global Ambassador for the month of September, to coincide with the DSP’s celebration of “Shakira Day” on September 29th. It also coincides with the 25th anniversary of her seminal album, Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
According to Spotify, over the last 12 months, Shakira has seen a 138.5% increase in streams on the platform. Her native country, Colombia, surpasses this global increase with a 213% growth during the same period. Following her performance at the MTV VMAs ealier this month, “Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)” saw more than a 260% increase in U.S. streams on Spotify.
Bad Bunny to sing at the Billboard Latin Music Awards
Bad Bunny is set to perform at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, taking place Thursday, Oct. 5.
While it wasn’t specified which song Bad Bunny will be performing, what we do know is that it will be a worldwide television premiere. His most recent release is the reggaetón banger “Un Preview,” which came out on Monday (Sept. 25).
Billboard and Telemundo announced earlier this week that the Puerto Rican superstar will be part of the ceremony at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The show will be broadcast live on Telemundo and simultaneously on the Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, on Peacock and on the Telemundo app. Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, it will be available on Telemundo Internacional.
2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards hosts unveiled
Telemundo announced that the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards will be hosted by Jacqueline Bracamontes and Danilo Carrera. Additionally, the following artists were announced as presenters for the awards show on Thursday, Oct. 5: Eslabon Armado, Beéle, Christian Chávez (RBD), De La Ghetto, Danny Lux, La Materialista, Maite Perroni (RBD), Elena Rose, Alex Sensation, Mar Solis and Christopher Von Uckermann (RBD).
Latin music revenues hit record high
U.S. Latin music revenue increased 15% to a record high of $627 million in the first half of 2023, according to the RIAA’s mid-year Latin music report released Wednesday (Sept. 27). The new milestone for the genre follows Latin music revenue hitting an all-time high last year, exceeding the $1 billion mark with 24% growth that outpaced the overall market.
“U.S. Latin music revenues reached an all-time high in 2022, and the growth has continued mid-year into 2023. This has been driven by both the vitality of classic hits and chart-topping new releases that have influenced broader culture and society,” said RIAA senior vp of public policy & industry relations Rafael Fernandez in a statement.
Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.