Popular artists Ozuna, Maluma and Bad Bunny will be the keynote stars of Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2018 conference in April, but the streaming-fuelled boom in Latin music’s global popularity will be the backdrop for the event.
The conference will include a number of sessions exploring the digital trends around Latin America’s growing standing on the world stage, as well as some of the executives who are capitalising on it.
Sessions include a panel on ‘The New Starmakers’ featuring Rimas Music’s Noah Assad; VP Entertainment’s Vicente Saavedra; and Gerencia 360 Music’s Luis Del Villar, talking about how artists including Ozuna and Bad Bunny made their breakthroughs.
Anyone who watched ‘Despacito’ climb to nearly 5bn views (at the time of writing) on YouTube will be interested in the panel on ‘Remaking the Music Video’, meanwhile. 36 Grados’ Harold Jimenez and Alexander Sanchez and Elastic People’s Carlos Perez will discuss how music videos have become important revenue-drivers for labels and artists.
Other panels on Music Ally’s radar at Billboard’s event include a panel discussion about “Mexillenials” – the new wave of young Mexican artists, since you ask – and a fireside chat with Pandora CEO Roger Lynch, who’ll be talking about his service’s audience of 16 million Hispanic listeners in the US, and what that means for artists.
We’re also looking forward to the ‘Women in the Lead’ panel, which will present Billboard’s latest research on how women are represented (“or not”) on its Latin charts, and what can be done to improve the situation. USC’s Dr Stacy Smith; Spotify’s Rocio Guerrero; Lionfish Entertainment’s Rebecca Leon; and singer/songwriter Karol G will speak in that session.
With the week due to be capped off with the Billboard Latin Music Awards, it promises to offer an insight into one of the most exciting music markets in 2018, as well as its stars. You can find more information on the Las Vegas conference via its website.
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