Latin music revenues in the United States continue to hit an all-time high, exceeding the $1 billion mark for a second year in a row on the wings of 16% growth that outpaced the overall market.
According to the RIAA’s year-end Latin music report for 2023, total revenue jumped from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $1.4 billion in 2023, with the genre’s overall share of the total music market lifting from 7.3% in 2021 to 7.9%. In 2021, the revenue totaled to $881 million with an overall share of 5.9%.
“Latin music has exploded in the U.S. over the last decade as a new generation of stars boosts the genre and streaming puts this dynamic sector at everyone’s fingertips,” says Rafael Fernandez Jr., RIAA senior VP of public policy & Latin music. “No longer limited by language, access or outdated assumptions – Latin artists are shaping our culture as fans gravitate towards the spirit of this music, propelling faster growth than all other listening and expanding our horizons further every year.”
Months earlier, the RIAA’s mid year report had already suggested that Latin music revenues would reach a record high, driven by the success not only of Karol G — who made history last year with Mañana Será Bonito — but also a new wave of música mexicana acts such as Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida and Eslabon Armado who have also helped usher in a record year for regional Mexican music.
“At the same time, there are opportunities for more fans to subscribe to paid streaming services and Latin vinyl sales to spin up even higher, finding different ways of connecting and inspiring unforgettable moments together as artists and labels offer up new sounds and songs,” adds Fernandez Jr.
Streaming makes up a stunning 98% of Latin music revenue, accounting for more than $1.3 billion, up 17% over 2022. Within that, paid subscriptions were the biggest growth driver, contributing more than two thirds of total revenues and posting growth of 21% to $915 million; last year, the total earnings from streaming was $758 million.
Another big contributor to growth was ad-supported on-demand streams (from services like YouTube, Vevo and the free version of Spotify), underscoring how important video is to the Latin fan. Revenue from this space grew 10% to $336 million.
Revenue from digital services like Pandora and SiriusXM increased 5% to 77 million, making up 6% of streaming earnings for Latin music. Conversely, permanent downloads yielded a mere 1% of revenues for Latin music in 2023, falling 15% versus the year prior to $10 million, comparable to the 12% drop for digital downloads in the market overall.
Although physical format sales slightly increased in 2022, this time CDs dropped down 49% to $2 million while vinyl albums decreased 25% to $7 million, the latter accounting for less than 1% of Latin music revenue in the U.S.
