The 12 Biggest Latin Stories of the Year: Explosive Growth, Español Rules, Luis Miguel, Rauw Alejandro and More

Music in Spanish, once shunned by outlets in English, is now mainstream. Spanish is now the second most consumed language in music, both in the U.S. and globally, behind only English, according to Luminate’s 2023 year-end report. Published in early 2024, the report found that in the United States, the top three languages in music consumption by percentage of the total are, of course, English (88.8%), followed by Spanish (8.1%) and Korean in a distant third (0.7%). Spanish language music’s market share among the country’s most popular songs almost doubled over the past two years — jumping from 4.2% of the top 10,000 tracks in 2021 to 8.1% in 2023. Overall, consumption of Latin music in the U.S grew by 19.4 billion on-demand audio streams in 2023, a 24.1% jump

Worldwide, Spanish is also the second most listened to music language in the world, according to the study. 

If it feels like there’s Latin artists playing everything, everywhere, all at one, you’re not mistaken. Latin touring is riding a wave, with a record 15 Latin tours among the top 100 tours of 2024, according to Billboard Boxscore’s year-end report. That’s a 37% increase compared to 2023. Latin is now the third genre in terms of touring revenue, behind only pop and rock. It’s a massive, and relatively recent uptick. For years, up until the early 2000s, Latin’s share of the touring pie was small, hovering at between 2.5% to 4%. But in 2018, the percentage creeped up to more than 5% and continued to rise steadily and swiftly. Since 2019, it has never dipped below 10% and now stands at a record 15.8% of the touring market, according to Boxscore numbers.

Latin music revenues continued to grow at a galloping pace, surpassing the billion-dollar revenue mark for the second year in a row, according to the RIAA’s 2023 year-end report. Released in April of 2024, the report highlighted that total U.S. revenue jumped from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $1.4 billion in 2023, a 16% increase that outpaced the market as a whole. Latin music’s overall share of the total music market reached 7.9% in 2023, up from 7.3% in 2022. In 2021, overall market share was just 5.9%.

“Latin music has exploded in the U.S. over the last decade as a new generation of stars boosts the genre and streaming puts this dynamic sector at everyone’s fingertips,” says Rafael Fernandez Jr., RIAA senior VP of public policy & Latin music.

Two live music behemoths merged with AEG’s acquisition of an undisclosed stake of powerful indie promoter CMN (Cárdenas Marketing Network) in a deal that AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano describes as a “full partnership.” The deal combines under one roof the operations of the second and fourth largest live promotion companies in the world. It finally gives AEG a substantial stake in the Latin music business, and it also allows CMN founder and CEO Henry Cárdenas a bigger platform to expand internationally. “We wanted to be bigger and more global,” says Cárdenas. The deal is the biggest move in Latin music live events since the 2021 acquisition of Mexican concert promoter OCESA Entertainment by Live Nation for $416 million for a 51% interest in the company. Artists whose touring will now fall in some fashion under the AEG/CMN banner include Chayanne, Carin Leon, Marc Anthony and Luis Miguel.

Daddy Yankee, who for the entirety of his career touted the importance of catalog and independence, surprised the industry by selling a significant portion of those assets to indie music giant Concord. Concord acquired parts of the music publishing and recorded music catalog of Yankee, including certain rights to massive hits like  “Con Calma” and “Gasolina,” as well as his rights as a featured artist on “Despacito.” The deal also included certain name, image and likeness rights. Although Concord did not confirm a price tag, it had been previously reported that the purchased works were valued at $217.3 million. Yankee’s catalog sale, announced in October, came in the heels of his announcement last December declaring that he was going to devote his life and music to Christ.

For his fifth studio album, the Puerto Rican star decided to go off the beaten path, bringing in salsa and tropical music into his reggaetón and dance. It worked. Cosa Nuestra, released in November via Sony Music US Latin, not only debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts (dated Nov. 30), but also notched the largest streaming week for a Latin album in 2024. The set also debuted at No. 6 on the overall Billboard 200, marking Rauw Alejandro’s highest charting set, and first top 10, among five career entries. At the crux of the success wasn’t one or two smash singles (although all the songs in the album got onto the Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart), but rather a long runway of key appearances and promotional actions that boiled down to good old fashioned marketing strategy.

Luis Miguel has for decades been a touring phenomenon. But at 54, the Mexican crooner has set a new record: his Luis Miguel Tour 2023-24 tour is now officially the highest-grossing Latin tour of all time. After performing Aug. 28 in Caracas, Miguel’s total gross reached $318.2 million with 2.2 million tickets sold over 146 shows. That number surpasses the record set previously by Bad Bunny’s “World’s Hottest Tour” ($314.1 million gross) and Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito ($313.3 million gross). It didn’t stop there. Miguel’s subsequent shows included two consecutive sold out nights at GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City (capacity 65,000) with the tour culminating with a concert Dec. 17 in Buenos Aires. Miguel’s tour was promoted jointly by CMN and Fénix Entertainment. In a world of reggaetón stadium tours, it was an impactful reminder of the lasting power of balladry in Latin music, and the power of endurance. While Bad Bunny and Karol G made their numbers by playing mostly stadiums, Miguel’ tour centered on arenas worldwide.

Even two years ago, Chile’s music scene was a blip on the radar. With the exception of big legacy acts like songstress Myriam Hernández and rockers Los Bunkers, there were few local acts making waves outside the country’s borders, although Paloma Mami and Polimá Westcoast had made inroads in recent years. Enter FloyyMenor and Cris MJ, the two urban acts behind runaway hit “Gata Only.” The sly reggaetón track climbed the charts steadily since the beginning of the year thanks to huge viral spread and by April it topped Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, where it remained at No. 1 for 14 weeks, a record for 2024. It ends 2024 as Billboard’s Top Hot Latin Song of the year and at No. 9 on the Billboard Global 200 chart. It was also TikTok’s top song of the year globally, a testament to the platforms power in Latin music. Perhaps more importantly, “Gata Only” has sparked new interest for the Chilean music market. “Chile is a market that has impressed us a lot. The growth has been exponential,” Rimas Publishing managing director Emilio Morales says.

This is no passing fad. The year wraps with a stunning six regional Mexican artists among the top 10 Latin artists of 2024, per Billboard’s year-end charts. Fuerza Regida, the California-based rule breakers who also won best duo or group at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards came in at No. 2 on the year end chart, behind Bad Bunny. They’re followed by Peso Pluma at No. 3, Junior H at No. 5, Xavi at No 8, Grupo Frontera at No. 9 and Iván Cornejo at No. 10. Beyond the craze for the sound, there’s depth and potential given Xavi and Iván Cornejo, for example, are only 20 years old. There’s much to mine here for years to come.

Although he hasn’t released a new album this year (to date, though this may change), the Puerto Rican super power tops our year-end chart for the sixth consecutive time — a record. With a series of strategic moves, choice single releases, forays into film and some political action as he endorsed Kamala Harris and actively spoke about the Puerto Rican elections, Bunny remains front-of-mind and actively consumed by fans.

The Colombian star made plenty of waves in 2023 with “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions Vol. 53,” her diss track following her breakup with longtime partner Gerard Piqué. In 2024, she moved right along with her rampage, releasing her first album in seven years, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (whose title is lifted off one of the memorable lines of “Music Sessions”). Then, she released yet another anthemic track, “Soltera,” which became her 25^th No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay chart, a record among women. She capped her very good year expanding her tour from arenas to stadiums, including seven consecutive sold out dates in Mexico City’s GNP Seguros Stadium, a record for the venue.

Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito Tour became the highest-grossing Latin tour by a woman in Boxscore history, topping her own $trip Love Tour from 2022. The tour, which played a mix of stadiums and arenas, and wrapped with four sold-out shows at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, grossed $313.3 million, selling 2.3 million tickets over 65 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. The Mañana Será Bonito Tour is the 30th trek in the Boxscore archives (dating back to the mid-80s) to gross $300 million. Among women, it’s just the seventh, joining an elite group that includes  Beyoncé, Madonna, P!nk and Taylor Swift.