Featured Image: Kevin9625Ja/ CC BY-SA 4.0/ Edited for size
Latin music revenues exceeded $1bn (£800m/€900m) in the US last year, according to The Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) end-of-year Latin music report for 2022.
Revenues improved from $881m in 2021 to $1.1bn in 2022, with Latin music’s overall share of the music market growing from 5.9% to 6.9%.
The success of Bad Bunny has helped to drive this growth, with the Puerto Rican rapper also boasting the highest grossing tours in 2022.
Bad Bunny ended 2022 as the most streamed artist in the US and around the world, with streaming making up 97% of Latin music revenue. Within streaming, paid subscriptions were a key growth driver, contributing 71% of streaming revenues, growing 29% to reach $758m.
Further contributors include ad-supported on-demand streams from services such as YouTube, Vevo and subscription-free Spotify. Revenue from this area grew 24% to $230m.
Revenue from digital services such as Pandora and SiriusXM fell 5% to $73m, making up 7% of streaming revenues, and permanent downloads fell 15%, making up 1% of Latin music’s 2022 total revenue. Physical sales still remain at less than 1% of latin music’s total revenue, but CD sales saw a 60% increase to $3.1m and vinyl grew 67% to $9.1m.
Rafael Fernandez Jr, RIAA senior vice-president, state public policy and industry relations, said: “When Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti became the first non-English language album to ever top the Billboard 200 or Becky G, Daddy Yankee, Jhay Cortez, Karol G, Luis Miguel, Rosalia and Sofía Reyes hit the mainstream, it was clear Latin music’s hot streak was just lighting up.
“US Latin music revenues in 2022 exceeded $1bn for the first time and grew significantly faster than the broader industry. That sustained expansion speaks to an openness to new artists, music and ways of listening. As the son of Cuban immigrants, my earliest musical memories are that of Latin origins from Lalo Rodrigues to Eddie Ruiz so to see this genre that was so defining for me early on, and throughout my career connecting policymakers to support the culture, reaching these heights is truly remarkable.”
Share this