Latin music (genre)

Latin music (música latina  in Spanish and Portuguese) is a genre that is used by the music industry as a catch-all term for any music that comes from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas of the world (including Spain and Portugal), as well as music sung in either language. In the United States, the music industry defines "Latin music" as any recording sung mostly in Spanish regardless of its genre or the artist's nationality. Both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard magazine use this definition of "Latin music" to track sales of Spanish-language records in the US.

Major record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music often have two divisions dedicated to the Latin market: one which focuses on Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, and the other for the Hispanic market in the United States. Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States are the largest Latin music markets in the world.

Contemporary usage
Since the late 1990s, the US has had a substantially rising population of "Latinos", a term popularized since the 1960s due to the wrong and confusing use of the term "Spanish" and the more proper but less popular term "Hispanic". A great part of the English-speaking media started to refer to any kind of music featuring Spanish vocals as "Latin music". In 2000, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS) established the Latin Grammy Awards to recognize musicians who perform in Spanish or Portuguese. LARAS mainly focuses on music in both languages, from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. Similarly, the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2012 to recognize songwriters from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking regions around the world. In 2013, Spanish singer Julio Iglesias was recognized by Guinness World Records as the best-selling male Latin artist of all time.

1940s–1950s
The term "Latin music" originated from the US due to the growing influence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the American music market, with notable pioneers including Xavier Cugat (1940s) and Tito Puente (1950s) and then accelerating in later decades. As one author explained the rising popularity from the 1940s: "Latin America, the one part of the world not engulfed in World War II, became a favorite topic for songs and films for Americans who wanted momentarily to forget about the conflagration." Wartime propaganda for America's "Good Neighbor Policy" further enhanced the cultural impact.

1960s
The Brazilian bossa nova became widespread in Latin America and later became an international trend, led especially by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Rock en español became popular with the younger generation of Latinos in Latin America, notably including Argentine bands such as Almendra. Mexican-American Latin rock guitarist Carlos Santana began his decades of popularity.

1970s
Salsa music became the dominant genre of tropical music in the 1970s. Fania Records was credited for popularizing salsa music, with acts such as Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe, and Celia Cruz expanding the audience. In the late 1970s, an influx of balladeers from Spain such as Julio Iglesias, Camilo Sesto, and Raphael established their presence on the music charts both in Latin America and the US Latin market.

1980s
In the 1980s, the Latin ballad continued to be the main form of Latin pop music, with Juan Gabriel, José José, Julio Iglesias, Roberto Carlos, and José Luis Rodríguez dominating the charts. Salsa music lost some traction, and its musical style changed to a slower rhythm with more emphasis on romantic lyrics. This became known as the salsa romantica era.

1990s
Bolero music saw a resurgence of popularity with the younger audience. Mexican singer Luis Miguel was credited for the renewed interest due to the success of his album, Romance (1991), a collection of classics covered by the artist. By the mid-1990s, Latin pop music was dominated by younger artists such as Menudo alumnus Ricky Martin, Colombian teen Shakira, and Julio's son Enrique Iglesias. Around the same time, artists from Italy such as Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini, and Nek successfully crossed over to the Latin music field by recording Spanish-language versions of their songs. In the Regional Mexican field, Tejano became the most prominent genre. Selena helped push Tejano music into the mainstream market with her albums Entre a Mi Mundo (1992) and Amor Prohibido (1994), although the genre's popularity declined following her death in 1995. In the tropical music field, merengue, which gained attention in the 1980s, rivaled salsa in popularity.

2000s
In the mid-2000s, reggaeton became popular in the mainstream market, with Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, and Wisin & Yandel considered to be the frontiers of the genre. In the tropical music scene, bachata music became popular in the field, with artists such as Monchy & Alexandra and Aventura finding success in the urban areas of Latin America. Banda was the dominant genre in the Regional Mexican music field.

2010s
By the turn of the decade, the Latin music field became dominated by up-tempo rhythms including electropop, reggaeton, urban, and contemporary bachata music, as Latin ballads and crooners fell out of favor among U.S. Latin radio programmers. Streaming has become the dominant form of revenue in the Latin music industry in the United States, Latin America, and Spain.