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Colombian powerhouse hitmakers Blessd and Ryan Castro have joined forces to present their joint U.S. tour, the ¡Ay Bendito Ghetto! Tour. The 15-date tour, named after the pair’s respective nicknames (Blessd‘s “El Bendito” and Castro’s “El Cantante del Ghetto”), is organized by Touring the World and Seitrack US. It’s set to start on Oct. 31 […]
TelevisaUnivision has named Daniel Alegre as its new CEO starting Thursday (Sept. 19). The decision is part of the board of directors’ strategic succession planning. Alegre takes over for Wade Davis, who will become vice chairman of the board of directors and remain on the executive committee.
“On behalf of the board, I’m excited to welcome Daniel to TelevisaUnivision as we embark on the next phase of our strategic journey focused on further integration and optimization,” TelevisaUnivision’s executive chairman, Alfonso de Angoitia, said in a press release. “It’s been a very dynamic media environment, and we are grateful for what Wade has accomplished in the turnaround of Univision and the subsequent transformative merger between Univision and Televisa’s content business to create TelevisaUnivision.”
“The media landscape is undergoing a profound transformation and TelevisaUnivision is strategically poised to seize new opportunities while staying deeply connected to the communities we serve,” Alegre said in a release. “The U.S. and Mexico represent the most valuable and populous Spanish-language markets in the world, a demographic that is becoming more prominent both regionally and globally.”
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Originally from Mexico, the new network leader possesses operational-focused leadership experience within the Hispanic community and across the U.S., Mexico and Latin America. With over three decades working in media, entertainment and technology, Alegre was most recently CEO of Yuga Labs, a web3 company. He previously served as president and COO of Activision Blizzard.
“Building on TelevisaUnivision’s solid foundation, global content pipeline, ongoing investments in cutting-edge technologies, and unmatched reach, we are uniquely positioned to continue serving this vital audience,” Alegre continued. “Wade and the entire TelevisaUnivision team have created a strong multi-platform media business with world-class quality and breadth of entertainment, news and sports programming.”
Davis added, “We could not have picked a better successor than Daniel, who brings an incredible track record of operational and strategic execution. He is the ideal executive to take TelevisaUnivision into its next phase of growth. The Company’s future is bright, and I look forward to supporting Daniel and the TelevisaUnivision team in my role as vice chairman of the board.”
During Davis’ Univision tenure, the company completed a $4.8 billion merger with Group Televisa in 2022, forming TelevisaUnivision as it is known today. The broadcaster has made significant investments in streaming and traditional TV, with its ViX streaming platform approaching profitability. It also runs 35 radio stations across the U.S.
Already one of the most successful and prolific Latin music artists in Boxscore history, Luis Miguel has re-entered the record books with his ongoing world tour. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Luis Miguel Tour 2023-24 has grossed $318.2 million and sold 2.2 million tickets in its first 146 shows. That makes it the highest grossing tour ever among Latin acts.
At an Aug. 28 show in Caracas, Venezuela, Miguel slid past Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour ($314.1 million) and Karol G’s Manana Sera Bonito Tour ($313.3 million) for the Latin Boxscore record and extended it a few days later with a concert in Juarez, Mexico.
Miguel’s current tour kicked off with a bang last summer, with 10 shows at Buenos Aires’ Movistar Arena, and then another 10 at the venue of the same name in Santiago, Chile. Those 20 kick-off dates brought in a combined $28.1 million and sold 227,000 tickets, already establishing it as the third highest grosser of his storied career. After that, he toured through the U.S., Mexico and Latin America, back to the U.S., over to Spain, and most recently, back to LatAm.
Miguel’s run in the U.S. was fruitful ($49.8 million), but the turn to his native Mexico was even bigger, bringing in $57.5 million in 20 shows. By the end of 2023, he had earned $141 million – still a way’s away from the all-time high, but enough to handily pass his own Mexico Por Siempre Tour from 2018-19 ($101.4 million) as his biggest tour yet.
Across stadiums in Latin America, Miguel added another $73 million in the early months of 2024, and another $65.6 million in North American arenas through mid-June. Twelve shows in Spain packed in $27.6 million, and his return to Central America padded the tour with another $10.7 million in five shows in August.
Not only is this Miguel’s highest-grossing tour, it’s his best-seller. At 2.194 million tickets so far, he has doubled (and then some) his previous run, where he moved 965,000 tickets. On the all-time leaderboard, he still trails Karol G’s 2.326 million, though he will easily pass that mark by the end of the month.
While Bad Bunny and Karol G had earned their all-time highs exclusively in stadiums around the world, Luis Miguel has mixed arenas and stadiums, with more than double the show count.
Already in unprecedented waters, Miguel has played another seven as-yet-unreported shows in Mexico and Las Vegas, with another 30 scheduled in Mexico through Nov. 25. The centerpiece of his remaining shows is a 10-show run at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad de Mexico between Oct. 8-24. Seven shows at the same venue grossed $14.6 million last November, so his extended stint is expected to surpass that and be the entire tour’s biggest engagement.
Miguel’s 20 shows in Mexico last year averaged $2.873 million per date. Applying the same logic, the remaining dates (including September shows that he has played but not yet reported) could add another $100 million and make him the first Latin artist to stage a $400 million tour.
Dating back to a November 1991 concert at New York’s The Paramount, Miguel has grossed $633.1 million and sold 6.3 million tickets over 701 reported shows.
Over the course of Billboard Boxscore’s 40-year history, Latin music artists have made their mark on stage with sold-out tours across the Americas. Here, Billboard is running down the 10 highest-grossing concert tours by Latin acts – here, defined by artists eligible for Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Hot Latin Songs charts – in the […]
Grupo Frontera, Álvaro Díaz, Debi Nova, Jasiel Núñez, Junior H, La Joaqui, Luck Ra, Mario Bautista, Nacho, Saiko and Tito Double P are set for the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week. Additionally, soccer stars Leo Campana (Inter Miami CF) and Igor Lichnovsky (Club América) have also joined the weeklong event taking place Oct. 14-18 at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater.
Grupo Frontera will take centerstage for the Making the Hit LIVE panel on Oct. 15. Exclusive to Billboard Latin Music Week, members of Frontera will show fans how they create a hit from scratch. Later that evening, the group will headline Billboard En Vivo, presented by Smirnoff Ice, with Majo Aguilar opening the show at the Wynwood Marketplace. Grupo Frontera En Vivo tickets start at $40 and are available for purchase at BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com. Latin Music Week INSIDER pass holders will receive free access to this event and do not need to purchase additional tickets.
Meanwhile, Álvaro Díaz, Albert Hype, Caleb Calloway and Miguel Armenta will join the How I Wrote the Song: The Urban and Música Mexicana edition panel presented by BMI. Debi Nova has been added to the The Women’s Panel, Global Rising: A Conversation with Female Stars from Around the Globe presented by Ulta Beauty.
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Jasiel Núñez, Junior H, and Tito Double P will join the Nuevo Mexicano: Peso Pluma and Friends panel. La Joaqui and Luck Ra will be part of the Entre Amigos panel presented by Billboard Argentina. Nacho will join the Venezuela Rising panel, Mario Bautista will participate in the From Viral Hits to Billboard Charts: The Power of Content Creators panel, and Saiko will perform at the Next Gen Reggaeton: An Evening Curated by J Balvin.
Furthermore, for the second year in a row, Billboard Latin Music Week will host a special sports panel featuring Leo Campana, who plays for Inter Miami and Igor Lichnovsky, from Club América and the Chilean national team. The conversation between the athletes will be moderated by Emmy-winning Didi Sports CEO Daniella Durán. Titled Sports and Music: The Winning Combination, the panel will delve into how athletes and musicians are collaborating more closely to promote both industries, highlighting the powerful synergy between sports and music.
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, tickets for Billboard Latin Music Week are available for purchase here.
The newly announced group joins a stellar lineup of previously announced participants for Billboard Latin Music Week, including Alejandro Sanz, Bad Gyal, Belinda, Camila Fernández, Chiquis, DANNA, Danny Ocean, Dei V, Domelipa, Eden Muñoz, Eslabon Armado, Fat Joe, Feid, Gloria Estefan, J Balvin, JOP, Keityn, Kunno, Lele Pons, Leo Campana, Luis Alfonso, Lupita Infante, Majo Aguilar, Maria Becerra, Marko, Mau y Ricky, Mon Laferte, N.O.R.E., Omar Courtz, Paola Jara, Peso Pluma, Pipe Bueno, Sophia Talamas, Thalia, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Yandel, Yeison Jiménez, Yeri Mua, Yisin and Young Miko, as well as Zhamira Zambrano.
Billboard Latin Music Week will coincide with the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will air on Telemundo. Latin Music Week tickets will not include access to the awards show this year. Instead, Billboard will host a special 35th-year anniversary celebration on the evening of Oct. 18, where INSIDER badge holders will receive exclusive invitations to this star-studded event.
For more information on Billboard Latin Music Week, updates on the schedule and more exciting announcements, visit BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.
Billboard and Telemundo have unveiled the first wave of performers set to take center stage at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Sunday, Oct. 20.
Bringing their latest collaborations and hit singles to the awards ceremony are confirmed acts Fuerza Regida, Grupo Niche, Luis Alfonso, Maria Becerra, Xavi and Yandel. The announcement comes one week after the Billboard Latin Music Awards revealed its 2024 finalists.
With eight entries, including artist of the year, Fuerza Regida is one of the top finalists at the awards show. Xavi is a seven-time finalist, and both Grupo Niche and Yandel have one entry.
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Karol G leads the list with 17 entries in categories including artist of the year, tour of the year, Global 200 Latin artist of the year, and top Latin album of the year for Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season).
The Colombian superstar is followed by Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma with 15 nods each. Bunny competes, among others, for artist of the year, global 200 artist of the year, and tour of the year. While La Doble P is also up for artist of the year, global 200 artist of the year, in addition to songwriter of the year, and regional Mexican album of the year for Éxodo.
The 31st annual ceremony will be broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20 via Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on the Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, on Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards — the only awards that recognize the most popular albums, songs and performers in Latin music, according to Billboard‘s weekly charts — coincide with Billboard Latin Music Week, which returns to Miami Beach Oct. 14-18 with a roster of star speakers including Alejandro Sanz, Gloria Estefan, Danny Ocean, Peso Pluma and many more. Get your tickets today for the Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 here.
In a bid to further grow its operation and expand its international footprint, Bresh — the brand behind the Fiesta Bresh parties — has partnered with New York based investment firm Carroll Street Capital.
The two companies will launch Bresh Global, an international media and branded live events platform. Carroll Street will provide an infusion of cash as well as strategic access and support to continue growing the Bresh brand, whose global presence has multiplied in the past two years. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Bresh’s leadership will remain in place, with Tomás Allande as CEO, Alejandro “Bröder” Saporiti as artistic director, and founder Jaime James involved in all operations.
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Eduardo García Fernández, co-founder and managing partner of Carroll Street Capital will now also be chairman of Bresh global.
Bresh Global will establish its headquarters in Miami, with additional offices in Los Angeles. The company currently has offices in Buenos Aires and Madrid.
“Our mission at Bresh Global is to create human connections through entertainment and collective experiences,” said Jaime James in a press release. “In a world increasingly dominated by digital interactions, live events have the unique power to bring people together and transcend cultures. With this expansion, we aim to bring moments of joy to new audiences on a global scale.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to elevate Bresh to new heights,” added Eduardo García Fernández. “This partnership brings additional resources to Bresh to accelerate its growth and introduce new verticals and formats worldwide.”
Bresh, whose slogan is “The most beautiful party in the world,” is an entertainment company known for parties targeted at Gen Zs around the world and built on the concept of inclusivity rather than exclusivity. Bresh tickets are eminently affordable — in Miami, the cheapest ticket is $25 — and there is no doorman denying entry based on gender or looks. Instead of hiring celebrity DJs for its parties, all Fiesta Bresh DJs are Bresh-trained. Perhaps because of its inclusivity DNA, the parties have become magnets for Latin celebrities, including the likes of Lionel Messi, Emilia and Tini, Rauw Alejandro and Bizarrap, who have all been spotted at Bresh parties.
Bresh, which began hosting parties in Argentina, has expanded its operations to over 20 countries, and now puts together some 500 annual events, including in the U.S. and Spain.
Sources say Bresh and Carroll have been in conversations for the past two years and share the vision that “happiness and connections are essential, regardless of who you are or where you live.”
The music of the late Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel will resonate in Mexico City’s Zócalo on Sunday (September 22), when his concert Mis 40 en Bellas Artes is projected at a free event organized by the capital’s Secretary of Culture. “After the cancellation of the second screening at the Cineteca Nacional scheduled for September 14, […]
Jhayco achieves his third top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, his third studio album, which debuts at No. 6 on the Sept. 21 dated list. The 29-track also launches at No. 2 on Latin Rhythm Albums chart.
Le Clique: Vida Rockstar launches at No. 6 on Top Latin Albums with 13,000 equivalent album units logged in the U.S. on the Sept. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. As it’s become a norm among Latin rhythmic artists, streams contribute most of the album’s debut week activity.
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Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums rank the week’s most popular Latin albums, and Latin rhythm albums, respectively, by multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Each unit equals one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
Le Clique: Vida Rockstar’s 13,000 opening sum is largely driven by the album’s songs generating 17 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. in the tracking week, while a negligible amount of traditional album sales and track sales supply the remaining units.
Notably, Le Clique: Vida Rockstar is just the fourth Latin rhythm set to debut in the top 10 on Top Latin Albums in 2024 among the 15 debuts this year so far –after Eladio Carrion’s Sol Maria (No. 6 debut, Feb. 3-dated chart), Young Miko’s att. (No. 9, April 20), and Myke Towers’ La Pantera Negra (No. 7, Sept. 7). The overall Latin albums raking, in contrast, boasted seven Latin rhythmic album debuts by the same point year-to-date in 2023 (two by Karol G and Yng Lvcas, while Eladio Carrión, Myke Towers and Rauw Alejandro debuted with one album each).
With Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, released Sept. 6 on Universal Music Latino/UMLE, Jhayco secures his third top 10 debut on Top Latin Albums, two then-billed under Jhay Cortez. Here’s a review of his top 10 collection:
Peak, Title, Peak DateNo. 5, Famouz, Dec. 7, 2019No. 2, Timelezz, Sept. 18, 2021No. 9, Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, Sept. 21
Three songs preceded Le Clique in 2023: “Cuerpecito” (No. 49 peak in April), and “Ex-Special,” with Peso Pluma, and “Holanda” (No. 22 and No. 32 high, respectively, in September).
Elsewhere, Le Clique gives Jhayco his third entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, as it debuts at No. 77.
After gaining momentum as a finalist on music competition show La Banda (where CNCO was born) and later earning his first Billboard entry with debut single “Pretty Girl (Tu Cancion)” in 2016, Johann Vera is entering a new era in his solo career — one that’s powered by authenticity and transparency.
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Last month, the bilingual pop artist of Ecuadorian descent released “Closet,” a melancholy, powerful ballad — where, for the first time, he tells his truth: “Why am I going to hate and fight with myself only because I love differently?/ How can a parent decide to lose a child only because they love differently?” he chants in the heartfelt lyrics. “I’m not going to change for anyone else.”
“It took me two years, but it pushed me to be honest and open with myself,” Vera tells Billboard of his coming out as queer. “[My previously-released single] ‘Cielo’ is talking about that first encounter and discovering this new side of liberty and happiness, and being more real about my sexuality. ‘Closet’ is about acceptance. I want to be as honest as I can be.”
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“Cielo” and “Closet” form part of Vera’s upcoming six-part EP dubbed Nada Importa En Verdad (Nothing Really Matters). “It’s about the struggles and ups-and-downs. Yes, I’m in love but also still have all these issues.”
In an interview with Billboard, the indie Latin artist talks about his coming out process, dealing with family rejection, and finding his purpose, thanks to his new single.
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How was your coming out process, and why was the moment now for you?
It was scary. I realized now that all my life I had this idea that sexuality shouldn’t be touched in my music or my art. I wanted to be a private artist, and not talk about my personal life. It’s not that I wasn’t honest — but there was always a filter, even on my social media, that was very edited and posed.
When I started therapy, almost three years ago, I began to realize a lot of things on how I’ve been handling life. Growing up with my family, I would get along with everyone and never had an issue, but I would hold back a lot of things. I wrote this song before talking to my parents. With family, it was a hard part — because coming from Ecuador, I would see their perspective on the LGBTQ community — so I always had that fear.
You mention living with fear and a filter, but can you take us back to how you felt the day “Closet” was born?
A few years ago, I wrote a letter to little Johann, and that night I had a writing session. Some words I began writing triggered me. I’ve been with girls and loved them, but at that point in my life, I was already with a man for a year. I continued writing the song, but I was struggling. So, I paused, talked to my songwriter and producer about how I was feeling, and “Closet” was born in 30 minutes. I didn’t want to continue living life that way. I had a big realization moment.
It’s a beautiful song, but also ultra-personal and very vulnerable.
I wrote the song for everyone to understand the struggle. All throughout your life, you feel like you have this flaw, deep down it felt like there was an issue. It’s very tough to break that barrier. Now it’s changing, but it’s still, even more on the Latin side, not going to be very accepting. The song happened and it was therapy for me. I didn’t have plans of releasing it, but after I started seeing how my close friends and colleagues began to react to it, I felt that I had to.
You wrote this song before telling your parents you were queer. How’s your relationship with them today?
Still not good. I actually told them two years ago, on Christmas Day, I had no expectations, but I invited them to therapy. However, there were no conversations afterward and it disconnected them even more. Now it’s not even a “How are you?” Before, I was the pride of the family — Viña del Mar, all the awards — and now, they feel like they lost a son. It’s tough.
They’ve also been clear and vocal about not supporting my new single “Closet.” Their side of the story is that I’m influencing people to do something wrong. I couldn’t fight any more. But now I know that it happened this way for some reason, and [my story] is helping people feel that they are not alone. It’s 2024 but apparently, we still need to have these conversations.
Your friends and colleagues have been very supportive.
Mau & Ricky came to my defense and called me when the song came out to tell me that God loves me. I cried so much. Lele Pons and Guaynaa came over too. I’ve been super blessed. After the song was released, I was locked in my childhood room… I just stayed there. The amount of messages and love that started coming in through DMs really helped me. The first couple of nights, I couldn’t sleep — but it was such a beautiful thing to go into my DMs and see how strangers were connecting with the song. The effect is crazy. Even if all of this is happening, I feel very happy. I’m proud.
What do you expect your music be like moving forward?
I just want to do music with purpose. I want to be more honest on that side. If I fall in love with a guy, I’ll sing about that, but it’s more about purpose. I feel that I can make an impact when talking about different topics. From all of this process, I want to be transparent and real. You realize in music how important authenticity is. It’s really about connecting.