He then broke that record in December when “El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo” became the first all-Spanish album to debut at No. “YHLQMDLG” was the first all-Spanish album ever to debut at No. BTS and Blackpink, the kings and queens of Korean pop, ascended to new heights in 2020, driven in large part by their popularity in the U.S.īad Bunny isn’t just benefiting from a growing movement. These streaming services also make it easier for acts from Latin America to reach the U.S., which is home to more than 60 million people of Hispanic origin, as well as a growing number of kids who don’t care where music is from or what language it’s in. Bad Bunny’s three biggest cities on YouTube are Mexico City, Lima and Santiago. While each country has its own favorites, the biggest acts in Latin America tend to be popular all across the region, Nygren said. “There’s always been high quality music production in this part of the world because of the extremely rich heritage.” Spotify accounted for 47% of all recorded music revenue in the region last year, and one-quarter of the 20 most popular artists in the world on Spotify were from Latin America. “I don’t like to classify Latin America as an emerging market,” said Mia Nygren, head of Latin America for Spotify. And Spain is now emerging as a place where Latin music breaks first.
Spotify’s user base in Latin America has doubled over the last three years, and totals more than 70 million people. On YouTube, the majority of the most popular songs in any given week are in Spanish. There are more native speakers of Spanish-north of 400 million-than any language but Mandarin, and the Chinese music market is largely sealed off from the rest of the world. Long marginalized as a niche, Latin music has benefited from global streaming services that allow acts from Puerto Rico and Colombia to reach fans all across the region. The success of Bad Bunny underscores the rise of Latin music as a cultural force, Ramos said. (Bad Bunny declined to comment for this piece.) “He manages to remain mysterious and it feels like he’s 15 steps ahead,” Ramos said. He released three albums and a livestream on YouTube, all without overexposing himself in public with too many interviews or appearances. “Bad Bunny is the golden child of the digital era,” says AJ Ramos, an artist relations manager at YouTube.