State Champ Radio Latin
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Shakira and Ozuna’s “Monotonía” rallies 25-3 on Billboard’ Hot Latin Songs chart (dated Nov. 5) after its first full tracking week. The track was released Oct. 19 via Sony Music Latin, and debuted in the top 30 a week ago with five days of airplay (during the Oct. 17-23 tracking week).
“Monotonía” pushes to No. 3 with gains in all metrics. It earned 9.4 million U.S. streams, up 205%, in the week ending Oct. 27, according to Luminate. That yields a No. 3 debut on Latin Streaming Songs. Sales, too, assist its position increase, with 2,000 downloads sold — up 38% — during the same period. (The song holds strong at No. 1 on Latin Digital Song Sales.)
Meanwhile, on the radio front, “Monotonía” generated 6 million in audience impressions, up 106%, earned in the week ending Oct. 30, which prompts a 36-13 surge on the all-genre Latin Airplay. On Tropical Airplay, the song lifts 8-4.
Further, “Monotonía” breaks up a Bad Bunny monopoly of the top three on Hot Latin Songs — the entire top three has been occupied by nothing but Benito’s songs since the May 21-dated chart, where he has ruled with songs from his Un Verano Sin Ti album.
“Monotonía’s” move earns Shakira her 32nd top 10. She continues to hold the record for the most top 10s among women since the tally launched in 1986. Ozuna adds a 28th top 10 to his career count.
Elsewhere, “Monotonía” also enters the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 65. It becomes Shakira’s highest debut since “Empire’s” No. 58 arrival in 2014.
On Global territory, Shakira secures her third top 20 title on the Billboard Global 200 ranking as “Monotonía” debuts at No. 18. Ozuna, meanwhile, captures his third top 20 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey, as the song soars 174-4 in its second week.
Music is an essential part of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. For this reason, many Latin artists have lent their voice to showcase the traditional melodies of this Mexican festival, which mixes indigenous roots with Christian traditions from the Spanish colonial era, but also to bring to the forefront more recent songs such as those included in the 2017 Disney-Pixar movie soundtrack, Coco.
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According to this tradition, every Nov. 1 and 2, the dead and alive are reunited when they return from Mictlan, as the ancient Mexicans called the Underworld.
In honor of Day of the Dead, Billboard compiled five heartfelt songs. Listen to them below:
“La Llorona,” Various Artists
“La Llorona” is one of the best known tracks in the Mexican popular songbook and has its origin in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. The most famous version is performed by the late singer of Costa Rican origin Chavela Vargas. Other popular interpreters include Mexican artists Lila Downs, Aída Cuevas, and Natalia Lafourcade.
In recent years, the timeless song has positioned itself among the young generations thanks to Ángela Aguilar, who recently performed it before thousands of people in the Zócalo of Mexico City during the closing of the mega-parade dedicated to the Day of the Dead.
This year, there is also a new version performed by another young regional Mexican artist, Carolina Ross, who accompanies her singing with a TikTok where she is transformed into a Catrina skull.
“La Nostalgia,” Julieta Venegas
Mexican-American singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas pays tribute to the Mexican tradition with “La Nostalgia,” which premiered Sunday (Oct. 30) exclusively on her Facebook page. The song is part of her seventh album, Tu Historia, set to be released on Nov. 10. In this song, Venegas captures her memories of Mexico and is strongly inspired by the Day of the Dead.
“Las Flored del Camposanto,” Lupita Infante
The Mexican-American singer (granddaughter of the emblematic Mexican actor and singer Pedro Infante), released a majestic mariachi version of this song written by Luis Rosado Vega and performed in 1986 by the late Mexican singer-songwriter and musician Óscar Chávez. Infante recorded the piece to pay homage to those who are no longer with us and to the place where they rest, the cemeteries.
“Flores y Tierra,” Danny Felix
Phoenix-based singer Danny Felix, one of the pioneers of the corrido tumbao genre, also released new music in honor of Day of the Dead. On Nov. 1, he shared a video on his YouTube account announcing “Flores y Tierra,” which he states is “dedicated to loved ones who are no longer with us.” An accompanying music video shows Felix performing the song at a cemetery during the day.
“Recuérdame,” Natalia Lafourcade, Carlos Rivera
“Recuérdame” is the main theme song from the Disney Pixar film, Coco. Many versions of this heartfelt track exist, including one by Carlos Rivera, who recorded the version in Spanish for Latin America, and “Remember Me” in English recorded by Miguel Natalia Lafourcade. The song was also performed by renowned Latin actor Gael García Bernal during the 2018 Oscars ceremony, where it took the award for the best original song.
After nearly a five-year break, Yuridia returns to a Billboard albums chart as her latest full-length, Pa’ Luego Es Tarde, debuts at No. 7 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart (dated Nov. 5). It’s her first entry and first visit to the upper region there.
“The truth is I did not expect to receive this news,” Yuridia tells Billboard. “I am very excited to be able to enter the top 10 on a Billboard chart, and obviously I am going to celebrate the news by toasting with a big cold ‘caguama’ (loggerhead), hahaha.”
Pa’ Luego Es Tarde was released Oct. 20 via Sony Music Latin. The Eden Muñoz-produced effort is the first taste of the Hermosillo-born artist within the regional Mexican genre. The 14-track set starts with 2,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 27, according to Luminate. Most of the album’s opening sum derives from streaming equivalent album units. That equates to 3.8 million on-demand official U.S. streams generated for the songs on the album.
“Eden and I clicked from the get-go,” Yuridia adds. “We drank beer, played and sung songs through the night; tunes that are not on the album but that are part of the soundtrack of our lives and that is how we became the best of friends. It’s something I will never forget.”
Pa’ Luego, Yuridia’s seventh studio album, marks her comeback to a Billboard albums chart; Primera Fila debuted and peaked at No. 12 on Latin Pop Albums in 2017. Pa’ Luego was preceded by six other sets, all of which have secured an entry on Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums. On the latter, the six albums reached top 10, dating back to La Voz de Un Ángel, a No. 8 high in 2006.
Elsewhere, Pa’ Luego debuts on Top Latin Albums at No. 39, becoming Yuridia’s return since 6 debuted and peaked at No. 7 in 2015.
Two Pa’ Luego album cuts preceded the set on Regional Mexican Airplay: “Y Tú, ¿Qué Ganas?” peaked at No. 32in July, while ¿Y Qué Tal Si Funciona?,” with Banda MS, peaked at No. 11 on the Oct. 29-dated ranking.
About the songs Yuridia adds: “I really like all of them, but right now I am very excited to be able to sing live on tour for the first time a song I composed with Eden Muñoz called ‘Brujería’ because we are going to dance a lot to it.”
Yuridia’s Pa’ Luego Es Tarde U.S. Tour kicks off this Friday, Nov. 4 in Laredo, Texas. The 24-date (thus far) tour will conclude at Rancho Mirage in California on Feb. 25.
The Latin Recording Academy unveiled a new wave of performers Tuesday (Nov. 1) set to take center stage at the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards. They include Christina Aguilera, Camilo, Christian Nodal, Elvis Costello, Jorge Drexler, John Legend, and Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández.
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At the 23rd annual ceremony, Aguilera is a seven-time nominee, including album of the year and record of the year; Camilo holds six nominations including record of the year and song of the year; Drexler has eight nominations including album of the year and record of the year; and Nodal is nominated for best ranchero/mariachi album and best regional song.
The newly announced artists set to take the stage join previously announced performers such as Ángela Aguilar, Rauw Alejandro, Marc Anthony, Banda Los Recoditos, Chiquis, Nicky Jam, Jesse & Joy, Carin León, Sin Bandera, Sebastián Yatra, and this year’s Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, Marco Antonio Solís.
The Latin Grammy Awards — which “promise to honor the legacy, celebrate the present and embrace the future of Latin music, with deliberate consciousness, paying-it-forward to the next generations of music creators,” according to a press statement — will be held Nov. 17 at the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and will air live on Univision beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
The Latin Grammy Premiere, a non-televised ceremony in which the winners in most categories are announced, will take place before the broadcast. Additional details about this ceremony will be announced soon.
Yahritza Y Su Esencia has signed a label deal with Columbia Records, Billboard can confirm. The deal is a partnership between Columbia and the trio’s regional Mexican indie label Lumbre Music, who first signed them in February.
Composed of 15-year-old singer-songwriter Yahritza Martinez and her brothers Armando (guitar) and Jairo (bass), the sierreño band is currently managed by their older sister, Adriana Martinez. In April, Yahritza y Su Esencia made chart history with their heartbreak track “Soy El Unico” as the youngest Latin performer to enter the Billboard Hot 100 debuting at No. 20. Since then, major Latin and mainstream record labels had expressed interest in signing the regional Mexican act.
“Lumbre is really happy to partner with Columbia Records for Yaritza Y Su Esencia. It speaks volumes for an American-Mexican indie label like us to work hand in hand with a major label,” says Ramon Ruiz, CEO of Lumbre Music. “We have been working hard to develop and really get the kids’ music out to the masses and we have done some great work with them, including their first diamond certification, but are so excited to take them to the next level. We are all so passionate about this project it was important that whoever came into the project felt that same passion, and both the artists and Lumbre felt that with Columbia from the get-go. It felt like the right choice. Great things are coming for Yahritza Y Su Esencia!”
Yahritza Y Su Esencia, up for best new artist at the 2022 Latin Grammys, broke out on TikTok earlier this year where they uploaded covers and quickly created a zealous fan base. In March, after being discovered by Lumbre Music on the platform’s For You Page, they released their first single, “Soy El Único,” which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.
Since, they scored their first No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart with their debut album, Obsessed, released in May. Elsewhere, the five-track set debuted at No. 7 on Top Latin Albums, and it also entered the all-genre Billboard 200 at No. 173.
Yahritza Y Su Esencia added in a statement: “We are so excited to be working now with not only Lumbre but also a big label like Columbia! For us it’s just another step forward in accomplishing our dreams. We still have to go to school, but we are working hard on recording new music for our fans that we love so much and who helped get us to where we are today. We are very grateful to our entire team for all their support, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
October has wrapped up, and the Billboard Latin team has compiled a list of collaborative tracks released throughout the month that were either included on the weekly First Stream Latin roundup or featured by Billboard.
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This month’s fan poll includes Shakira’s first single following her breakup with Gerard Piqué “Monotonia,” in collaboration with Ozuna; Jhayco, Feid and Sech’s club banger “En La De Ella”; Manuel Turizo’s “Extasis” with Maria Becerra; Natanael Cano and Victor Cibrian’s “Que Me Importa”; and “Dejame Vivir,” by the late Juan Gabriel and former RBD star, Anahí, to name a few.
Last month, Kany Garcia and Christian Nodal won the fan poll with “La Siguente” receiving more than 39 percent of the votes. They were followed by Chris Jedi, Young Miko and Lunay’s “Condado” with over 18 percent of the votes.
In August, Cuban newcomer R3ymon and Puerto Rican rapper Anonimus won the coveted fan poll with their track “Santa Diabla” receiving more than 34 percent of the votes. Sebastian Yatra and Pablo Alboran’s “Contigo” was picked best Latin collaboration of July, with more than 50 percent of the votes, followed by CNCO and Kenia OS’ “Plutón,” with more than 37 percent of the votes.
In the summer, Billboard unveiled the “Best Latin Collaborations of 2022 (So Far),” including Christina Aguilera & Ozuna’s “Santo” (January), Becky G & Karol G’s “Mamiii” (February), Sebastian Yatra & John Legend’s “Tacones Rojos (Remix)” (March), Bizarrap & Paulo Londra’s “BZRP Music Sessions #23” (April), Morat & Duki’s “Paris” (May), and Blessd & Rels B’s “Energia” (June).
Who should win the best Latin collaboration of October? Vote below!
Halloween is officially here, and in the spirit of the spooky holiday, Billboard compiled a list featuring some of the Latin music stars who understood the assignment this year.
The list kicks off with Becky G and her boyfriend Sebastian Lletget, who dressed up as Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) and Seth Gecko (George Clooney) in the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn. The power couple is followed by artists such as Anittam who dressed as Beetlejuice’s wife, and Rauw Alejandro, who dressed up as the blue ranger from the timeless Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, to name a few.
A pereniall costume favorite, both Ivy Queen and Pabllo Vitar dressed up as the late Selena Quintanilla this year — channeling the iconic purple cutout jumpsuit that Selena donned during her concert at the Houston Astrodome in 1995. The Reggaeton Queen even rocked the band-aid and smudged lipstick microphone as Selena did in the concert.
Meanwhile, a wave of artists brought their latest singles to life, such as Karol G, Thalía, and Robi. In the midst of her Strip Love Tour, Karol G dressed up as a sexy Catwoman in all-red leather, in honor of her Maldy-assisted “Gatubela.” Mexican pop star Thalía rocked an all-black leather fit, also to go with her new track “Psycho Bitch.” And rising Puerto Rican act ROBI dressed up as Daddy Yankee just weeks after releasing his version of the latter’s classic “Tu Principe.”
Also on the list are Shakira, Cazzu, Lele Pons, Kimberly Loaiza, Jessi Uribe, Mario Ruiz, and Pipe Bueno. See all the spooktacular costumes below!
From deconstructing Rosalía’s success to announcing a novel partnership between See Tickets and Spain’s powerful media conglomerate Grupo Prisa, networking, technology and live events were at the forefront of the tenth annual edition of BIME, the international music industry gathering that took place in Bilbao, Spain, Oct.26-29.
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Created by entertainment company Last Tour, best known for its live events, BIME remains focused on bridging the Latin American and European markets, with a focus on live events.
This year’s anniversary event highlighted a recovered, post-COVID scene, with some 2,500 in-person attendees for both the “Pro” side of the event (made up of panels, speed dating and networking) and over 60 live shows through out Bilbao. Here are some stand out moments:
1. Rebeca León on her gut instinct and Rosalía’s au natural posts: “The pendulum has swung to the less pretentious,” said super manager León when asked about Rosalía’s frequent clean-faced, home-made posts. “It’s more about hand-held videos as opposed to showing things like a private plane.” And while León’s instinct may have served her well when she signed a still-unknown Rosalía several years ago, León admits she sometimes has to quiet her gut to take stock of opportunity. “Even when my intuition says run, run, run, I stop and listen. It’s important to consider all offers.”
2. De La Ghetto gets pragmatic: The Puerto Rican reggaetonero with multi-genre sensibility displayed sophisticated business savvy and was generous in his advice to up and coming artists. He is involved “in every single aspect of my business,” he said bluntly. In his early days, he recounted, he was relentless in giving away his music–CDs were still around—so fans would get to know him. Now, he uses social media relentlessly for the same objective. “Believe in yourself,” he said. “No one thought someone who looks like me, and who sang with an R&B sensibility would do well.” More important, he stressed, never sign anything that your lawyer doesn’t look at. “I have my lawyer, my manager has his lawyer,” he said. “Having a lawyer is the best investment.”
3. Ady Harley and Nerea Igualador on digital marketing strategies: Harley, Meta’s head of music label partnerships for Latam and U.S. Latin, and Igualador, VP of digital business for Sony Music Entertainment, provided a roadmap for effective social media marketing and promotion. “Today, you can create a marketing plan on social media that leads to consumption,” said Harley.
It starts with generation an audience, says Igualador, and that requires three steps: “Discovery; I need my audience to discover me. It’s one of the biggest challenges. There are 60,000 songs released per day, and you have to define their place and audience.” The second step, she says, is taking that audience to consume the music. “All our actions have consumption as a final objective.” And finally, there’s engagement. “Once my audience discovers me, how do I keep them engaged.”
4. James Cruz gets emotional: In a conversation with BBC London’s Beatriz de La Pava, the rap and hip-hop producer lamented the loss of community in rap music. “I come from hip-hop where we really tried to help each other,” he said. “I don’t see a unified front anymore.” Cruz also recalled growing up Latin at a time when being Latin was far from appreciated. “When I see the growth of Latin music, I get tears in my eyes. It’s incredible. We had to take the jobs no one wanted to do […] We had to create our on status and our own algorithm.”
5. See Tickets and Grupo Prisa Announce partnership: The global ticketing platform, which operates in 10 countries, and the Spanish media conglomerate announce an exclusive alliance. Not only will See Tickets sell Prisa’s many festivals and concerts, it will also receive promotion and placement on Prisa’s multiple media platforms, including leading Spanish daily El País, leading radio network 40 Principales and its social media.
6. Billboard announces the launch of Billboard Español: Billboard officially launched Billboardespañol Sept. 15. A little after the one month mark, visits to the all-Spanish site are growing 24% week by week. The site was officially presented to the Spanish industry during BIME.
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
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Becky G & Latin Grammys Join Forces
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Becky G and the Latin Grammys are teaming up to encourage Americans to make sure they are registered to vote. The Mexican-American pop singer, who’s also co-chair of When We All Vote, will gift one lucky fan the opportunity to fly to Las Vegas for a meet-and-greet and tickets for two to the Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 17. Participants can apply for the When We All Vote “Meet Becky G” Sweepstakes by clicking this link.
Manuel Turizo’s No. 1 Streak
Manuel Turizo continues to make waves with “La Bachata,” released five months ago. This week, the Colombian artist secured his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, concurrently notching a sixth week at No. 1 on Tropical Airplay.
“Every song that you put out, you put out because you feel something and you’re in love. With ‘La Bachata,’ it took me some time,” he tells Billboard. “When it started to grow, first it was in Spain, then in Latin America, and it started to climb a lot on the charts. That’s when I felt that people were really connecting with the song. About three months after taking it out, I felt like wow, this is turning into something big. At some point, I felt it would be cool to do a remix but I abandoned the idea. I feel that ‘La Bachata’ is what it is and that was the idea. It is a very beautiful song.”
Manuel Turizo
La Industria INC
Karol G Surprises Fan Who Gave Birth
In the midst of her Strip Love Tour, Karol G surprised one of her fans who gave birth during her concert in Fresno, Calif. On her Instagram stories, the Colombian artist said she found out the fan was rushed to the hospital during her performance of “El Makinon.” Karol later documented herself going to the hospital to visit the fan who gave birth. “Anahí, the baby, is incredibly healthy and beautiful,” she wrote in a since-deleted story. “Happy, blessed, and grateful for the incredible experiences that God adds to my life. Here I am, always faithful to your faithfulness.”
Karol G performing during her Strip Love Tour.
Chris Cornejo
Ozuna Is World Cup Ready
Ozuna teamed up with Coca-Cola Puerto Rico to bring sports lovers on the island closer to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In honor of the tournament taking place from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18, limited edition collectible cans, with 14 different designs representing some of the participating countries, can already be purchased in stores throughout the island.
“I feel very happy with this collaboration with Coca-Cola and to be able to contribute in some way to continue cultivating interest in the sport of soccer in Puerto Rico,” Ozuna said in a statement. “Being part of the FIFA World Cup soundtrack is something very special for me. I never imagined that I could go so far with my music.”
In addition, the initiative will promote the development of sports on the Island by allocating a donation of $50,000 for the rehabilitation of soccer fields in San Juan.
A Family Affair
Colombian power couple Greeicy and Mike Bahia are bringing their Amantes Tour to the U.S. for the first time. The 2023 North American leg of the tour, which follows its trek across Latin America in 2018 and 2019, marks Greeicy’s return to the stage after giving birth to her first child, KAI, in April 2022. If the official poster is any indication, the couple also plans on taking their son on tour with them.
Presented by Loud and Live, Greeicy and Bahia — who have been in a relationship since 2010 — will visit eight cities in the U.S., kicking off on Feb. 23 at the Colden Auditorium in New York, and wrapping on March 5 at The Novo in Los Angeles. The couple will also visit select cities including Miami and Houston. Prior to visiting the U.S., the tour will make stops in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela, among others. See the dates here.
Manuel Turizo is a Colombian with no Dominican roots and yet the 22-year old singer, known for catchy Latin pop songs that incorporate urban beats, has scored his biggest hit ever by dipping into bachata. The beloved Dominican genre known for its trademark syncopated rhythm, plucked guitar and guira carries Turizo’s latest single, “La Bachata” (La Industria/Sony Music Latin), which has been steadily rising up the charts since May.
The track, which replaces bachata’s traditional guitar with electronic riffs and R&B vocals, debuted at No. 44 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart June 18 and on Billboard’s Global 200 and Global Excl U.S. charts in July. Since then, it’s been slowly growing, reaching No. 6 on the Global 200 and No. 3 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart this week. On the U.S. Latin Airplay chart, “La Bachata” this week became Turizo’s fifth No. 1 but only his second solo track to reach the top spot since 2019’s “Sola.” And that success so far helps earn Turizo’s manager Juan Diego Medina the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.
“It’s Manuel’s most important song, and it’s the song that’s placing him in the best and most decisive moment of his career,” says Medina — who also manages Nicky Jam and ChocQuibTown — noting that Turizo’s monthly listeners on Spotify went from 19 million to 32.7 million since releasing “La Bachata”.
While Medina built his company, La Industria Inc., to a large degree on the basis of data mining and savvy social media management, he attributes a big chunk of Turizo’s current success to international promotion and to his ability to connect with audiences at a ground level with his very personal take on a very distinctive genre. Now, “La Bachata” — written by Turizo, Edgar Barrera, Andrés Jael Correa Rios, Miguel Andrés Martinez and Medina himself — will kick off what’s likely to be his biggest album yet, 2000, slated for release in early 2023.
“With so many avenues open to promote music,” says Medina, “I’ve opted to go back to the streets, to the root of this business and touch people.”
Manuel has had big hits with pop/urban tracks like “Vaina Loca” with Ozuna and “La Nota” with Myke Towers. Why a bachata of all things?
Manuel is absurdly versatile at a musical level and he doesn’t get stuck on a genre. He wants to do everything. He hadn’t released a bachata before, but he’d recorded another bachata, which actually Romeo Santos produced [and will also be included in 2000]. This track was brought to us by Edgar Barrera, who wrote it with Rios [Andres Jael Correa Rios]. Then, Slo [one third of ChocQuibTown and the producer of most tracks on Turizo’s upcoming album] heard it and thought it would be perfect for Manuel with a bit of an urban touch. Manuel loved it. When they played it for me, I decided to go with it because it was different. It was a bachata, but not the kid of bachata Romeo or Prince Royce would do. It had an urban touch, a sort of hidden dembow. It was a gamble.
What were your expectations?
Truth, 50-50. It was 50% this will kinda work, and 50% this will break all rules. The song began with 400,000, 500,000 daily streams, and that’s a good start. Nowadays, to be on the top five, you have to do 5-6 million daily streams. We started slow, but once we saw that traction, I thought, we have to activate the Latin region. I called Afo [Afo Verde, Sony Latin Iberia’s president and chairman], who was in Croatia, and I said, “If we want this song to do what we want it to do, we need to activate Latin America.”
But before Latin America, you focused on Spain?
Manuel’s consumption in Spain has always been good, and we did our first big campaign there because that’s where the song first took off. Sony has an internal platform that details all consumption and we can see what countries things are working at. It first broke in Spain, then in Mexico. The U.S. is where we’ve had the hardest time. And, keep in mind, there are Spanish artists like C. Tangana and Rosalia who’ve released bachatas, but none had had Manuel’s repercussion, even though he’s neither Spanish nor Dominican. He’s Colombian.
Humbly, this was an organic success. Obviously, it comes with an investment and a strategy. But you don’t reach these levels only with investment and strategy. The song was received well when the algorithm proposed it.
So, Spain was key. What else do you think made a major difference here? Because there are a lot of bachata songs out there, including Romeo Santos’ entire new album, but none are having this impact.
Another key factor is that three, four days after the song’s release, we went to the Dominican Republic and did a lot of press, but we also spent time with bachata and Dominican organizations. That gave a lot of credibility to the fans. There’s a lot of Dominican migration to Spain. So, spending time in the Dominican Republic was key. That came linked to Manuel’s “Bailando Bachata con Manuel Turizo” TikTok campaign. Everywhere he went, he’d get out of the car in the middle of the street — in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Spain, everywhere — and he’d ask a woman to dance bachata with him [filming the interaction and posting on TikTok]. We’ve forgotten to connect with people and to make the fans feel you’re human, like them. Today, there are so many avenues to promote your music, that we’re saturated. I’ve opted to go back to the people, to the root of this business and to feel the street. We went viral on the ground, and then we did the big actions with the big tools. It’s not often that we do both those things. We do the big things, but we forget the people.
You say the U.S. was your hardest market to penetrate. Why is that, especially considering Manuel is so close to the U.S. and you’re based here?
Once the song broke in Latin America, it went viral in Asia, and then Europe. The U.S. was last. I feel it’s a market where urban, street music is far stronger today. It’s not an easy market to penetrate when your product is more clean, more lyrical. It sounds contradictory because there are successful pop acts like Camilo. But Manuel’s music is made for adults, not kids, and adult ears are not always geared toward romantic fare. Conquering the U.S. market isn’t easy when you have to compete with acts like Maluma, Balvin, Camilo.
You’re No. 1 on Latin Airplay, which is radio. How important is radio to you?
We always try to work with radio stations. I’m faithful to radio and I think I’m not one of those who thinks it doesn’t matter anymore. Some people are not tech-savvy, they like their radio, they like to hear the DJs. I think radio is the biggest ally of people who want to listen to music free. YouTube is also still very important to us, especially in Latin America.
Manuel has had other major hits. How important is “La Bachata” to him?
It’s his most important song, and it’s placing him in the biggest and most decisive moment of his career. He’s at that stage where he’s poised to go to the next level, and this is the song that will make him a star, God willing.
Do you have more bachatas planned?
Not for the moment [aside from the Romeo-produced track]. I feel we can’t abuse [the genre]. It’s about proposing new things, not getting stuck on a single one.
