Is The YouTube Effect Helping Fuel The Latin Music Global Explosion?
first of all thanks to Veronica Villafañe for this article.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee broke all sorts of records this year with their global hit “Despacito.” Their song remained No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks, led charts around the world and its music video became the first in YouTube history to reach 4 billion views, achieving that milestone in just 272 days.
But the Puerto Rican singers are not the only Latino artists that are making their mark in what could be described as the year of Latin music. Beyond other trailblazers such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias, a new generation of performers have helped fuel the popularity and growth of Latin music genres.
Camila Cabello, Cardi B and J Balvin, for example, are currently in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 and right now, one out of every five tunes on the Spotify Global 100 chart are by Latino artists. When it comes to YouTube, in addition to the record-setting 4.3 billion views “Despacito” has scored so far, 20 other Latin music videos have entered the “1 billion views club” on the platform - a 300% increase from last year. And they're doing it faster than ever. J Balvin and Willy William’s video for “Mi Gente” reached 1 billion views in only 102 days, becoming the fourth fastest in history to reach the milestone.
"It’s meteoric. It’s just spectacular to witness and see this happen first hand," says Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube. "It helps to have their music and their videos seen all over the world."
Over one third of the tracks featured on YouTube’s weekly music track chart feature Latin artists and over the last two years, daily views of the top 100 Latin acts on YouTube have grown over 75%. The popularity of diverse Latin genres has skyrocketed around the world. Daily view counts for top Latin acts compared to this time last year have grown 316% in India, 268% in Indonesia, 257% in Philippines, 206% in Egypt, 150% in Israel, 120% in the United Kingdom, 116% in Australia and nearly 50% in the United States.
Collaborations with English-language pop stars have helped raise awareness and increase the popularity of some of the songs - as in the case of the “Despacito” remix featuring Justin Bieber or Beyonce lending vocals on “Mi Gente.” But accessibility, shareability and engagement of Latin music on digital and social platforms have allowed for its massive growth and popularity on a global scale.
“The recent successes of Latin artists such as Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and J Balvin have shown us that music today knows no geographic boundary or language,” says Rocío Guerrero, Head of Global Cultures at Spotify. “Latin music has truly become a universal language.”
Streaming music services have helped amplify that reach. Spotify, for example, offers the "Viva Latino" playlist - the third most streamed in the World. But it’s powerhouse YouTube that’s really broadening the reach of Latin music genres, allowing artists to build a global and engaged fanbase.
“There are no borders and the opportunity to connect directly with your fans,” says Sandra Jimenez, YouTube’s Head of Music Partnerships Latin America, explaining the success of Latin music genres on the platform. “This is the second year in a row that we see tremendous growth. We see the trend of Latin music expanding globally, but also on our platform, which has incredible reach.”
YouTube is now even building relationships with artists - whether they're established performers or rising stars - to promote their work within the video platform and on social media.
“Ozuna is a true example of what we’re doing,” says Jimenez.
YouTube produced an 8-minute documentary on the Puerto Rican singer, who has over 8.6 million subscribers on the video platform, which racked 1.5 million views in the first five days since its release on November 8.
“We partner with artists to develop projects, like Ozuna’s documentary. And then, we work together to support the releases or promote them around the world,” explains Jimenez. She says they identified him as a talented artist with a knack for engaging with his audience on the platform. The team is now looking at rapper Bad Bunny, who picked up 4.2 million YouTube subscribers in less than a year. “He’s been doing an amazing job. He really keeps in touch with his fanbase.”
But that’s just part of the formula for success on the video platform.
“How we help artists grow is by virtue of recommendations,” says Cohen. “What many people don’t know is that 80% of all of watch time on YouTube is done through internal recommendations. That’s one of the biggest ways we surface up the artists.”
If you’re an avid YouTube consumer, you have probably seen suggestions of other videos to watch. It’s those recommendations that can expose you to other artists you may have never even heard of.
“You’re seeing the effect on multiple levels: the community growing, more countries are coming online and people are loving the music. Latino artists are making great videos and producing wonderful content. They’re competing on the world stage and they’re doing a hell of a job.”
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