Rauw Alejandro’s Playa Saturno became his sixth consecutive top 10 entry on Top Latin Albums, and Romeo Santos, Rauw and Maluma stood out for their global touring. Manuel Turizo scored three Billboard Global 200 hits this year, including “El Merengue” with Marshmello, exemplifying “the magic that our artists can create when they collaborate, producing music that breaks barriers and resonates worldwide,” Gallardo says. She now holds the record for most No. 1s on the Latin Airplay chart by a female artist (19). Successes include Shakira amassing 14 Guinness World Records with singles “Te Felicito,” “Monotonía” and “Acróstico,” as well as her collaborations with Bizarrap and Karol G. Latin distribution market share of 44.2% as of Aug. 10. “It has been an extraordinary year for Sony Music Latin-Iberia, highlighted by unparalleled records and remarkable accomplishments,” Verde says of the Latin music powerhouse. Stateside, Universal Latino signed global star Anitta in partnership with Republic and, Kaminsky says, extended the recording contracts of rising Puerto Rican urban act Álvaro Díaz and Colombian icon Juanes, in addition to signing a multiyear strategic partnership with international soccer league Concacaf. The label’s global success stories for 2023 include female pop stars Lola Índigo and Aitana in Spain and Danna Paola in Mexico, while Colombian pop trio Morat wrapped its world tour with over 120,000 tickets sold, López says. Other triumphs included breakout star Feid, who this year placed three songs on the Hot 100 and eight on the Billboard Global 200.

“Her success story and achievements are one of many that affirm the skill and ability of Universal Music Latin America to break new artists to global stardom,” López says. Universal started the year with a bang in March, when Karol G became the first woman to place a Spanish-language album at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Mañana Será Bonito.

Read Billboard‘s full profile on Executive of the Year Nelson Albareda here. “In this business, you lose money, and it’s not how quickly you fall but how quickly you come back,” he says. Seventeen years later, Albareda, now 47, stands by that take. “Well, it’s part of the business,” Albareda told him. At midnight, he took his parents, who had attended, to a nearby deli, where his father asked, “How are you laughing? You lost 200 grand!” Still, his detractors were right: Albareda lost $200,000 on the 2006 show.īut after the music ended, the promoter was still buzzing. The first time Nelson Albareda promoted a show at the Madison Square Garden complex in New York - not at the arena proper, but at the 5,600-capacity theater beneath it - everyone told him, “You’re going to lose your ass.” Albareda, a Miami-born Cuban, had assembled what to him was a dream lineup: a 50th-anniversary celebration of groundbreaking salsa artist and Fania Records co-founder Johnny Pacheco, featuring Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars.

Encanto song writer