There is a new generation of exciting artists, songwriters and creators in Latin America, and most have never experienced life without the internet. This year, we will see these artists move from honing their skills and leveraging their talents and audience online to becoming huge stars on the global stage.
By far the fastest growing segment of the recorded music industry is those creators who release music without the support of an established record label. Artists who started making music in their bedroom and building a fanbase through guerrilla marketing have risen meteorically to launch albums, tour multi-territory shows and make real money from millions of streams on digital platforms. They take pride in being successful in their own right and on their terms, remaining outside of the traditional industry network.
Platform technology started to make this possible a few years ago, but the more recent advent of highly innovative digital instruments and production tools, accessible cloud-based recording and mastering capability and a multitude of artist analytics services have accelerated the trend. The direct “soup to nuts” route to market – once the holy grail for aspiring artists – which enables the immediate release and distribution of music to a global audience, is now a reality.
Couple this new DIY infrastructure with the fact that Latin America is by far the fastest growing music market in the world, and this year we will see the emergence of new global artists from Peru, Mexico, Brazil and surrounding countries. Web-access penetration in the region (as a percentage of the population) is now around 25 per cent higher than the rest-of-world average. Music there is popular: the International Federation of the Phonograph Industry (IFPI) reports that revenues grew 12 per cent in the region in 2017. Escalating smartphone adoption rates across Latin countries will boost this further. And Luis Fonsi’s Despacito shows the ability of Latin American music to break out from its home territories and become world-beating; the song topped the charts in 47 countries.
Fonsi has been recording and touring for 15 years and is signed to Universal Music, but his success has provided a springboard for the new wave of Latin American digital talent to take the world stage. This year we see the global rise of grassroots performers such as Mexican-American trap corridos group Arsenal Efectivo, Peruvian-born A.CHAL and rapper C-Kan from Mexico, all of whom launched their careers without the help of a record label. And they are just the start. On their coattails will come a whole generation of viral artists from Latin America – including Shecka Sanchez from Colombia, Mexican artist Raymix and rapper Kontra from Guatemala – dominating the global music mainstream, thanks to the democratisation of creativity afforded by new technology.
Gregor Pryor is a partner and leader of the entertainment and media Industry group at global law firm Reed Smith
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
