Reggaeton: an empire that is growing in the United States
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Latin music, especially reggaeton, is growing in popularity among Americans. It even surpasses EDM and traditional country
The beginning of 2019 guarantees to be a promising development scenario for Latin music within a competitive market between the different musical genres that are heard, danced and consumed in the United States.
Leer en español: Reguetón: un imperio que crece
The data thrown by different media shows that reggaeton is an empire that extends in the cultural, within the ears and steps dances of the Americans, a market that tooked 30 years to be conquered.
Read also: Stop criticizing reggaeton! Even Beyonce loves it
A musical expansion
BuzzAngle, a media specialized in measuring music consumption, recently published the results of an investigation that gathers data on how the musical panorama is in the United States during the last twelve months.
A general perspective of Latin music dictates an encouraging horizon on the results obtained from the streaming service and the diversification that it has suffered thanks to the different Hispanic-American titles that people consume. Among them and more attractive, reggaeton.
In general, it is hip-hop that Americans consume the most, either through different digital platforms, or the purchase of singles or albums. However, the greatest growth of the numbers in interannual terms has been Latin music.
Regarding the consumption of albums, whether through their purchase or use of the platforms, Latin music covered 9.4% of the market during 2018 and positioned itself as the fifth most consumed genre in the country. Hip-hop tops the list with 21.7% of the total, followed by pop, rock, and R&B. Thus, the Latin music rebounded, surpassing the country that has 8.7% of the market and electronic albums, with 3.9%.
However, the results are better in the consumption of songs. Latin songs get 10.8%, below, again pop, rock and R & B, and the undisputed triumph of hip-hop that extends its power in almost a quarter of the market.
Video streaming on YouTube shows a different picture, suggesting that globally, people prefer to use the video platform, rather than buying music in a traditional way; noting that about 95% of consumption is not proportional to the 5% represented by the purchase of music.
YouTube's 100 most watched videos list leaves reggaeton in second place, after its toughest competition, hip-hop.
Eight of the ten most watched videos are Reggaeton, counting especially with the video of the song's remix "Te Boté", by Bad Bunny, Casper, Nicky Jam, Ozuna, Nio Garcia and Darell that takes over the second place, and has around 1.5 billion reproductions.
Women in reggaeton, the big winners of streaming
Shakira, an artist with more than 20 years of music experience, was the only Latin American woman to achieve success through the streaming platform, with billions of views on her videos and songs.
However, during 2018 the revelation turned out to be feminine with the success of the music of artists like the Dominican Nati Natasha (3.9 billion); the Brazilian Anitta (1.7 billion) and Becky G (2 billion).
"Karol G, Natti Natasha, and Becky G exported their content outside of Latin America," says Sandra Jiménez, music director of YouTube and Google Play in Latin America for Rolling Stones magazine. "In the past, we had some limitations. When there is a suggestion of a reggaeton video and a woman sings it, people no longer say 'I'm not going to click because it's a woman', now people just go and listen to it. "
Maybe you'll read: 5 women that are changing the reggaeton
Purchasing from streaming platforms
The democratization of music through streaming has made the diffusion of new rhythms wider; This is what Jeff Benjamin, a music columnist for Forbes magazine, says.
"Latin music can be considered the fifth most popular genre in America thanks to streaming and seeing its steady increase over other genres of long-standing power in the country, such as country and electronics, we can not assure you that this be a fleeting trend or a game of the industry, but a better representation of the real habits of the listeners," he adds.
What in conclusion, is a good indication of the growth not only of Latin music, specifically reggaeton, but in general, the growth of the music industry in the world.
LatinAmerican Post | Jorge Becerra
Translated from: 'Reguetón: un imperio que crece'
