Bruno del Granado On The State & Global Influence of Latin Music

In a world of hyperbole and exaggeration, Bruno del Granado has done it all. Rising from CBS college rep through product management at Epic and Columbia Records in New York, the seasoned Latin music executive has served as a personal manager for Ricky Martin for over a decade, launched MTV in South America, established Maverick’s label and publishing interests in Latin America and has spent the last dozen years as CAA’s head of global touring for their Latin Music Division. An avid fan of music of all kinds, the passion he brings to helping artists forge meaning and develop long term inspired a desire to return to artist management “where it is about every aspect of what an artist is doing, putting those pieces together to create a career in the largest sense.”

With Latin acts Luis Miguel (No. 4), Bad Bunny (No. 7) and Karol G (No. 11) on Pollstar’s Year End Top Tour Artists chart, as well as burgeoning superstars Feid, Morat, Natiruts, the number of state-of-the-art arenas being built, a culture that loves going out and four of the world’s biggest concerts happening in Brazil, which del Granado addresses below, the time of a truly global impact for South America is upon us. Few are better situated to discuss the current emergence.

Pollstar: South America and Latin artists are having this moment. It’s not new, but not like this.

Bruno del Granado: The last time we had this kind of a moment, it was 1999. I was launching MTV Latin, and we could feel it brewing. Ricky Martin did the Grammys, then suddenly it was Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Shakira. Ricky was on the cover of TIME and Newsweek. Shakira was everywhere, and it felt massive.

But that Latin explosion only lasted a few months, even though everybody remembers it. Because the music and visuals were so powerful, it stuck. In reality, these artists all had to sing in English, work with the pop radio stations – or have a major TV moment. It didn’t continue, though they’ve all toured constantly and have major careers.

When did this moment start?

Probably with “Despacito” in 2017, which was almost eight years ago. Because of the demographics in the U.S., there were more Spanish-speaking people in America. Also, the gatekeepers started shifting to Napster, then Apple, then Spotify, especially in Latin America. Now TikTok has taken over the market globally – and their biggest song was a Chilean rapper FloyyMenor, whom nobody’d ever heard of, with “Gata Only.” It went No. 1 in 20 countries, I think; Top 10 in 30.

Spotify’s largest per capita market is Mexico City. So globally, fans who speak Spanish can find these artists, there’s no radio format as gatekeeper. “Gata Only,” which is a year old, has over a billion streams on Spotify.

TikTok and the ban.

The acts who’ll benefit the most are from Latin America. The teens there are so tech-savvy, they know how to find things. And the artists have figured out how to engage and create connections with people who love music.

Remember: the population of South America is 620 million, twice that of America. They are much younger and tech savvier. This is a continent of young people who love going out, a culture of gathering, coming together, celebrating, dancing. It’s not just reggaeton, bossa nova, samba, salsa, all those styles of music that have been around forever.

They’re popular with the local communities that started them, but now we’re seeing “glocalization.” Argentine, Brazillian, Puerto Rican music: each country has dozens of genres and subgenres. But it’s not just for the community; with social media, these genres and styles are going everywhere.

Bad Bunny’s latest leans into the substrains of Puerto Rico.

Absolutely it’s an homage to the sounds and musical styles of the island. It’s his fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Albums. Suddenly 2025 begins with an all-Spanish (language) album on the top of the chart.

Crazy. Can you explain?

Spanish is a sexy language. It sounds exotic and romantic to the ear. The same thing happened for me at K-pop shows. I went to American Airlines Arena here in Miami to see G-Dragon; no one spoke a word of Korean, but everyone was completely consumed by it.

It’s why Rod Stewart drew four million people in Brazil in the ’90s, Jorge Ben Jor, who’s considered the father of samba rock, did three million and The Rolling Stones did 1.5 million in 2006 and Madonna also at the Copacabana played to 1.6 million last May. In Medellín, Columbia, she grossed $14 million in two nights on her 2012 MDNA tour.

It’s not the language, it’s the vibe and the sensation. In Latin America, especially. The Ramones were never an arena act in the U.S., but they’re a stadium act in Argentina. So was Iggy Pop; they penetrated the Argentinian psyche early – and the fans are loyal. Depeche Mode and The Cure have the same thing in Mexico City.

Velez Stadium? Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos sold it out. The Stones have always said their best audiences are in Brazil. Rock in Rio in 1990? 200,000 people, and the energy being fed back at 1, 2 in the morning? Insane. When The Weeknd went to São Paulo to livestream launch his Hurry Up Tomorrow album, 70,000 people showed up.

Touring has changed.

It used to be very mom-and-pop, small local promoters, but as people started recognizing the numbers that were being done, the reps and managers recognized the reality of how big it could be. Live Nation and AEG are now very entrenched in the Latin space; the local promoters have merged because it’s serious business. The money is so great, it became an industry – and Latin America became part of the global touring plan.

Twenty years ago, you had the option to play these rundown hippodromes, outdoor spaces where you’d have to build the venue to do the show. Now, because of all the new arenas, it’s easier to route a tour than ever; the quality of the building, also, is state of the art. And with that, (emerging) bands don’t necessarily need the U.S. markets. Even Kylie Minogue or Robbie Williams are massive global artists, without being huge in the States because of Latin America.

The emerging acts – Morat, Feid, Natiruts – are …

Feid is a Colombian rapper-songwriter who worked with Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Maluma. Starting with small shows in Colombia, where there’s a thriving live music scene, he’s not really reggaeton, almost more Latin pop/urban, so he’s built out a career with several albums and done stadiums.

Morat is also Colombian, but more of a rock band. They actually went to Spain to hone their chops, which also holds very big markets for rock music. In Latin America, they’re a stadium act; but here, they’re an arena act.

Natiruts is a reggae band from Brazil. They can tour there, do 20, 30 arenas and are rock stars. But you can be from Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, say, and come to the U.S. and play several major shows. California, Jackson Heights, New York, Chicago, D.C., Texas, it depends where “your people” are living, but you’d be surprised.

Figure there are 67 million Latin-identifying people in the Census, plus another 13 million undocumented people, of whom nine or 10 million are Latino as well. So, there’s an audience here people may not realize.

That’s phenomenal.

It’s cultural. Everywhere in Latin America, Mexico, there is a town square where everyone goes: to socialize, to meet up, to celebrate. With the internet and social media providing a virtual town square, people can find each other, share about the artists, pass the word. The crisis here of people wanting to stay in, to have the food delivered and not be around people is not the case.

Culturally, we go out, we celebrate, we dance. Music is such a part of it; there’s opportunity. With TikTok, Spotify, YouTube help spread the word. And the music, the songs are so good, people hear and they become engaged and invested.

Who’s bigger than Bad Bunny, right?

As the millennium dawned, things started to catch up. If you think about reggaeton, the reason we talk about the Panama Canal – making everything circular – is a ton of the workers who built it were guest workers from Jamaica. They brought their music, and Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton absorbed it. Daddy Yankee with “Gasolina” in the 2000s? Jimmy Iovine found it; that was the moment of Ricky, Enrique and Shakira.

Bad Bunny is the culmination of all of this. It all comes together, and it grows.