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Latin Music Reaches a Record 1.1 Billion in Revenue in the U.S.
Latin American music has taken the world by storm, and the latest report from the RIAA US Latin Music Revenue Report shows that the genre’s popularity is continuing to skyrocket. In 2022, Latin music revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time, reaching a record high of $1.1 billion in the United States and marking the industry’s second year of double-digit growth for an annual increase of 24%.
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RIAA’s year-end Latin music report for 2022 highlights an all-time high for the industry at a 6.9% market share, up from 5.9% in 2021. This shows that, despite the language barrier, Latin music is dominating not only every chart but the markets as well. Ozuna and J. Balvin are tied as the artists with the most videos in YouTube’s billion-views club, and Karol G was crowned Vevo’s most-viewed global artist.
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But the real leader of 2022 was Bad Bunny, who became the most-listened-to artist on Spotify worldwide for the third year in a row- with more than 18.5 billion streams- and also had the second all-Spanish-language album to reach Number 1 on Billboard 200 chart with Un Verano Sin Ti. Curiously, Bad Bunny had broken his own record, beating his 2020 album El Último Tour del Mundo.
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“When Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti became the first non-English language album to ever top the Billboard 200 or [when] 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,” Rafael Fernandez, RIAA’s senior vice president of state public policy and industry relations, said in the report.
He added: “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.”
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The report also reveals that streaming remains the dominant source of revenue for Latin music, accounting for 97% of total revenue, growing 25% from the previous year to $1.06 billion. Paid subscriptions were once again the most important growth driver, contributing 71% of streaming revenues and growing faster than any other digital format, up 29% to $758 million.
Ad-supported on-demand streams (from services like YouTube, Vevo, and the free version of Spotify) grew 24% compared to the prior year, to $230 million, marking a second year of double-digit growth for the category. By comparison, this category makes up 21% of total Latin music revenues versus the 11% total of the overall U.S. market.
Radio services- which accounted for 7% of overall streams- declined 5% to $73 million. Latin music also saw a decrease in permanent downloads in 2022 by 15% from the previous year, making up only 1% of total revenues. Meanwhile, CD and vinyl formats saw a significant increase in 2022— up 60% to $3.1 million for CD revenues and 67% to $9.1 million for vinyl albums.
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