Latin Pride: Tours by Latin American Artists Break Records this 2023

The hunger for live Spanish music has surpassed the most optimistic forecasts, and on par with giants like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and the Jonas brothers, tours by Latin artists are making history in terms of audiences and income.

"The madness that was experienced at the end of the pandemic in terms of concerts not only did not decrease as many said, but it has increased. Latinos want to see their artists; it is something that we are all clear about and what we are responding to "Dominican El Alfa, who begins his first big tour in Texas in October, told EFE.

Promoters of Alejandro Sanz, Carlos Vives, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Fonseca and Becky G assured EFE that the demand for Latin shows in stadiums continues to increase.

They mentioned that of the Venezuelan comedian George Harris, who went from being known only in his country to having a weekly show in Miami and an international tour that begins this Saturday in Florida and will include the United States, South America and Spain.

The company Live Nation recorded the strongest quarter in its history in June with the help of Latin artists such as Colombian Feid, who sold out tickets for his first tour in the United States in 14 hours.

"When you look at the top 10 of all the tours, the Spanish music artists are there. They are present all over the world, surpassing many (English-speaking) artists even in South America, a region that generates a lot of income," said Hans Schafer, Vice President of Latin Tours at Live Nation.

One record after another

In the month she has been on her "Tomorrow will be nice" tour, Colombian Karol G has broken one record after another. First it was in California, where "Bichota" gave two presentations in Pasadena. Each night it attracted about 80,000 followers, with earnings of more than $25 million.

Additionally, she was the first Latin artist to fill Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, with more than 45,000 attendees. He also sold out his two concerts at the MetLife in New Jersey – the first time a Latin artist has done so – with more than 70,000 attendees per show.

The leading Latin music artist in concert revenue had historically been Luis Miguel. Every time "el Sol de México" goes on tour he places himself at the top of the attendance and earnings records.

On his new tour he has 10 concerts in Buenos Aires in which he brought together 110,000 people, and another 10 in Chile. The demand has been such that he has already announced new dates for 2024. His current tour at the end of the year in the United States.

Luis Miguel's 2018-19 "México por siempre tour" was the highest-grossing tour in Spanish music history until Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee surpassed it last year.

The same thing happens with RBD. " In countries like Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, where international artists like Coldplay had records, RBD arrived and broke them all. In Colombia, they are performing four stadiums in a row, all sold out," said Guillermo Rosas, representative of the Mexican band.

Nostalgia and novelty

For Nelson Albareda, director of the Loud and Live promoter, "nostalgia is part of this boom in live music." His company is producing Carlos Vives' tour to celebrate his 30-year career, which ends on November 5 in Los Angeles with tickets sold out at almost all stops.

It is part of what fuels the demand for tours like those of Alejandro Sanz, Alejandro Fernández, Maná and other artists who have been without new massive hits for years.

For Schafer, developing new artists and understanding how touring complements his streaming and music video play has been key to the continued growth of Latin music, especially in the United States.

Emerging artists across Latin genres, especially regional Mexican, are more diverse and younger, "which has attracted a new generation of fans who are bilingual, tech-savvy and more likely to be devotees of genre-fused artists", said the executive.

The boom also coincides with demographic shifts in the United States, where Latinos now make up nearly 20% of the population. "They want to live experiences that connect them with their culture," he said.