Latin Music Is Now One of the World's Biggest Exports

Metropole · Music

—The milestone. In February a Spanish-language album won the Grammy for Album of the Year for the first time, taken by Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny.

—The double. A week later the same artist headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, performed largely in Spanish before a global audience of more than one hundred million.

—The shift. What used to be filed under “world music” now tops global charts and award shows, with Latin artists exporting standards rather than curiosities.

—The audience. Latin acts now reach three markets at once, listeners at home, a large Hispanic community in the United States, and a global crowd discovering them through short video.