The Year In Latin: Artists Raise The Bar, Buoy Live Biz In 2024

The year for the live entertainment industry may not have been as record-breaking as 2023, but it was one filled with milestones for many artists, especially those in the Latin music space, sparking hope for growth in 2025.

Twenty-five tours from Latin artists cracked Pollstar’s Year End Worldwide Top 200, which is seven fewer than the number of acts that made the cut in 2023. Though that figure may seem discouraging, the achievements of high-ranking artists and a growing interest in subgenres under the Latin music umbrella are enough to look ahead with some optimism.

Just look at Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito Tour.” The Colombian superstar made a bold leap into stadiums in 2023 and was No. 11 on the Top 200 Worldwide Tours chart, grossing $165,986,682 off 1,520,844 tickets. She wrapped up her remarkable run with four sold-out concerts at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, something no artist has ever done.

“Watching Karol G sell out four shows in Madrid, culminating her European run, was a milestone not just for her but for Latin music as a whole,” Hans Schafer, senior vice president of global touring, told Pollstar. “It’s incredibly fulfilling to know you’ve played a role in facilitating an artist’s dream. But the real credit goes to Karol and her team. She’s built an empire through authenticity, creativity and an unrelenting work ethic.”

Karol G’s tour is proof of Latin music’s influence transcending genre and geography, Schafer adds, as well as the success of artists like Bad Bunny, Aventura, Carin León, Fuerza Regida, Feid, Peso Pluma and Don Omar.

“What’s exciting is the demand for these artists in non-Spanish-speaking regions,” Schafer said. “Latin touring has become a global force, and I expect to see more artists exploring new markets while continuing to dominate in their traditional strongholds.”

Not all stars have such demand; however, making 2024 a year brought many in the business “back to reality,” as music exec Nelson Albareda put it. The CEO of independent Latin music promoter Loud And Live said promoters, agents and managers had to put in extra work this year to make a tour successful because of ticket prices.

“We saw concerts and ticket sales return to basically normal, pre-pandemic levels versus a craziness that we experienced in 2023,” Albareda said. “We had a good year, but we saw people waiting until the end to buy tickets. … That has made us change the strategy of where we spend the money in the media.”

Despite those challenges, there’s much to look forward to when it comes to Latin music. Artists from Mexico shared much of the spotlight this year with superstars like Bad Bunny and Karol G, but other subgenres are creeping their way into the mainstream. Henry Cárdenas, president and CEO of Cárdenas Marketing Network, told Pollstar that Mexican artists are selling a lot more in other Latin American countries like the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Colombia, which was uncommon a decade ago, an indication of a crossover of cultures.

The fusion of music is what helped Mexican artists expand into other regions, and Albareda believes that experimentation will take Latin music to even greater heights.

“What we are seeing is that Latin music definitely is going through a change where you’re seeing more tropical sounds, whether it be salsa or merengue,” Albareda said. “We work with Camilo, and he came out with a salsa album, and now you see kids dancing to salsa. Rauw Alejandro isn’t our artist but he’s a huge sensation, and his [new] album is tropical. We’re going to see a transformation once again, another cycle where you’re going to have see fusions of pop, urban and tropical.”

With those artists already experimenting with such sounds, the future seems to already be here, and as the music evolves, so does the business. The live Latin music industry won’t have Bad Bunny, Karol G and Luis Miguel to carry the genre this year, and it will be up to a diverse group of artists from all generations, like Shakira and newcomers Latin Mafia and CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, to keep the momentum going.