Music

“Where were you when Selena died?”  By Court Stroud

The Latin Recording Academy® has announced key changes to a leadership team that will continue to drive its remarkable and aggressive growth for the next decade. Changes in the Executive team include appointing former Azteca America President and CEO, Manuel Abud, as the new Chief Operating Officer of The Latin Academy while naming 19-year Latin GRAMMY® veteran Luis Dousdebes to the new position of Chief Awards, Membership and Preservation Officer. Additionally, Aida Scorza, who has served both the Recording Academy™ and The Latin Recording Academy for more than 30 years, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Awards.

Haim Saban, Chairman of Saban Capital Group, announced he will invest $500 million into the music industry and partner with seasoned music executive Gustavo Lopez to lead Saban Music Group.

The Latin music market continued its remarkable transformation in the first half of 2018.  Revenues grew 15%, totaling $135 million while streaming represented a remarkable 91% of the entire market.  Latin music has become a worldwide phenomenon, driven by a diverse streaming market and Latin labels making smart investments to support their artists’ global ambitions.

The focus is on diversity in pop culture for Hispanic Heritage month. When it comes to pop culture, many Americans are welcoming of Spanish-language media, while roughly one-third say there should be more representation in the media

Jerry González, the trumpet player, percussionist and world-known Latin Jazz legend, died in Madrid, Spain. He was 69.  González, of Puerto Rican background, was a product of New York’s El Barrio, the hub of New York’s Puerto Rican community, and the cradle of transformed Afro-Cuban rhythms that gave birth to Salsa music and new Latin Jazz forms.

Global music streaming service Deezer has selected MARCA Miami to introduce its FLOW service to the US audience. MARCA is responsible for strategy development, creative and media planning and buying.

Produced by Telemundo and Somos Productions, the fourth annual “Latin AMAs” pays tribute to today’s most influential and iconic Latin artists, as voted by the fans in the tradition of the “American Music Awards,” the world’s largest fan-voted award show.

Music has long been a cultural connector for Latinx* consumers across all ages. This proclivity for music, combined with a preference for everything digital, has made music an important online activity—both personal and social—for Latinx consumers.

The music industry is in the midst of a growth spurt that has led to 15-year record revenues for the major label groups and continues to break new consumption records for the first half of 2018. Total album equivalent consumption, which includes physical and digital album sales, song sales and on-demand audio and video song streams are up 18%.

Music and social networking seem like a natural fit, yet when these worlds have collided the results have been disappointing. In the latest episode of “Behind the Numbers,” we explore the reasons for those disappointments and contemplate what a successful music and social service might look like.

Billboard announced that Raúl Alarcόn Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc., tops Billboard’s annual “Power 100”.

Today’s Latina is ambicultural, seamlessly identifying as American while also retaining strong connections to her native culture. One of the ways she stays connected to her roots is through music. Whether it’s on radio or streaming services, Latinas’ consumption behavior and preferences reflect how their lives revolve around music.

Univision Communications Inc. announced the appointment of Ignacio Meyer to senior vice president of Music. Building on UCI’s integrated music strategy, Meyer will focus on driving its global strategy and developing business opportunities for UCI’s portfolio and music industry partners.

What impact do new devices such as smart speakers and new ways of listening to music like Spotify have on radio’s long-standing role of introducing the latest new music to listeners?  Do smart speaker owners now turn to Alexa to find out what’s new instead of their local CHR personality?

The premise of compiling a special collection of songs on a tape or CD and sharing with a friend or love interest hasn’t gone away in the digital age.

Telemundo will honor Pitbull with the first ever “Latin AMA Dick Clark Achievement Award” at the upcoming third annual “Latin American Music Awards” (Latin AMAs).

Daddy Yankee is helping Komen Puerto Rico and has offered 50% of the revenues generated by his new video.  

Every now in then in your life you need to take some time off and travel along the mystic side of the river trail for whatever reason.  My case, a full knee replacement last week, a TV and an iPhone.  Watching TV with an elevated leg that I was icing aggressively after therapy, I came across a documentary on Starz Network about a 1970s trovador out of Detroit of Mexican decent called Rodriguez that frequented the local dive bars and belted out lyric and tunes that motivated the day that would make Bob Dylan look “more’ than twice.  By Gene Bryan / HispanicAd

Brands that market to multicultural audiences have found music as a key approach to connecting across generations. But multicultural marketers sometimes overlook the many facets differentiating their target audiences, ranging from differing countries of origin to local cultures and experiences. To truly connect, marketers must craft precise messages for specific segments rather than treating the multicultural community as a singular audience.