Source: Gladys Vega / Getty
In case y’all haven’t noticed: in the face of adversity, Latinx folks are still out here winning. While xenophobic people are still yelling in our faces to “speak English,” artists like J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Amara La Negra, and more are out here winning awards and topping charts with songs completely in Spanish. 2018 truly showed the U.S. music world what we can do—within our genre and the mainstream charts.
According to a new-year report from data, music consumption company BuzzAngle, Latin music consumption is now more popular than that of country music. The report reads that Latin music accounted for 9.4 percent of all album listening in the United States in 2018. It was reportedly measured by combining physical and digital sales, song downloads, and on-demand streams. Growth in music consumption surpassed country music consumption, which only accounted for 8.7 percent of all album consumption in the U.S.
Individual song-listening (9.5 percent to 10.8 percent) and video views (21.9 percent to 24.3 percent) have also increased in popularity, which makes sense considering Cardi B’s song and music video “I Like It” feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin topped charts from Billboard to YouTube in their end-of-year roundups. While country music still reigns on the radio, Latin music is creeping in close on R&B and rock which are tallied at 11.2 percent and 11.7 percent respectively.
As reported by Remezcla, Spotify’s playlist “Baila Reggaeton” is top three worldwide and largely considered one of the reasons for the increase in streaming. Additionally, with Latin Pop and Reggaeton stars making collaborations with mainstream American Pop, R&B, and Hip-Hop musicians and the increased number of musicians performing at festivals like Coachella, the genre’s popularity can only continue to rise.
