Latin music now represents a 5.8% share of the overall U.S. market with revenues hitting $407 million in the first half of 2021 — 96% of which came from streaming for $393 million.
The genre’s growth has been rapid over the past few years: The genre’s revenue for the first half of 2019 was $250 million, and then jumped to $298 in the first half of 2020.
Paid streaming subscriptions grew 41% to $279 million, while ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue increased 30% to $77 million. Revenues from digital and custom radio services also rebounded, growing 24% to $37 million after a slight decline in 2020.
“It’s incredible to see continued double-digit growth in Latin music — outpacing the already strong performance we’ve seen across other music segments and categories and powering new opportunities and greater diversity across our business,” said Michele Ballantyne, RIAA COO, in a statement. “This sustained and accelerating expansion speaks to a rising openness to new artists, music and ways of listening — with younger fans now spending 20% of their time listening in languages other than English.”
You can access the full RIAA report here.
