Spanish-language music took an unprecedented leap in 2018 with the song 'Despacito' and continues to grow both in the United States and internationally

The Instituto Cervantes at Harvard analyses the impact of Spanish-language music in the United States

photo_camera Cervantes Institute

The Cervantes Institute at Harvard University has drawn up a study on Pop in Spanish in the United States, in which it stresses that this language has been "a fundamental element in the definition of Latin music" in the American country; and assures that music in Spanish (which took an unprecedented leap in 2018 thanks to the song 'Despacito') is a growing market that will continue to grow in the coming years. 

The report is entitled "Pop in Spanish in the U.S.: A Space to Articulate the Latino Identity", and has been prepared by Eduardo Viñuela, Professor of the Department of History of Art and Musicology at the University of Oviedo, a great expert in popular urban music and audiovisual media. 

The 36-page study is the first to be published by the The Observatory of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures in the United States/Instituto Cervantes at Harvard in the 2020-2021 academic year. It can be consulted free of charge at this link.

The hit song 'Despacito', performed by Luis Fonsi accompanied by Daddy Yankee, marked a before and after in the US music market. Since it was released in 2018, it has led to greater consumption of Spanish-language music both in the United States and internationally. A trend being consolidated since then and one which is likely to grow further. The clearest example has been the increase in music downloads in Spanish on Spotify, although Anglo-Saxon hip hop and R&B artists (Rythm & Blues) continue to dominate this platform in the United States. 

Exponential growth of Latin culture

Not only is Latin music consolidating, adds Professor Viñuela; what is really happening is that all Latin culture is growing exponentially in the USA and in many other countries. 

Spanish has been fundamental to the definition of Latin music in the U.S. Since the 19th century, this catchall term has been used to describe a heterogenous catalogue of musical styles that has evolved over time, adapting to the reality of the Hispanic community of each moment.

This study analyzes the evolution of Latin music from its conception as a category through the current moment. It begins with the pan-Latino context of the 19th century and pays particular attention to the emergence of pop in the past few decades, including the ‘Latino Boom’ of the 1990s and through the present day. As for those years, Viñuela provides his explanation: "They were accompanied by a spectacular growth of Latin culture in the US media. Although this phenomenon occurred in different areas of culture, it was in pop music where it had special visibility, with the massive triumph of artists such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony". This "Latino boom" meant "the incorporation of Hispanic artists into the mainstream market, performing a Latin repertoire and, on many occasions, singing in Spanish". 

The analysis continues until the present day, when a new generation of Latino artists has prompted a number of musical developments broadly referred to as ‘urban music.’ In this overview, we see how Latin music and its use of the Spanish language have adapted in line with the political, economic, and social status of the Hispanic community in the U.S. 

For the author of the study, this category’s collective imagination, subject matter, and musical practices are in a state of constant transformation, contributing to the rearticulation of the Latino identity for each historic period.

The report "Pop in Spanish in the U.S.: A Space to Articulate the Latino Identity" makes number 63 of the series 'Observatorio Studies', a periodical, bilingual and free publication issued both in English and Spanish, and accessible on-line and in printed form. Estudios del Observatorio / Observatorio Studies is a series of articles, reports and other types of texts which examine diverse aspects relative to the situation of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures in the USA from various areas of study, and constitute the main communication tool for the different academic and research activities of the Instituto Cervantes at the prestigious Harvard University.

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