A fourth of the world’s top 20 touring artists are Latino musicians, according to new data from Pollstar.
For the week of Aug. 5, the trade publication reports that Bad Bunny sits in third place with an average box office gross per city of $3,816,973, below Luke Combs in first and Dead & Company in second. The data includes averages for worldwide ticket prices and average box office grosses per city for each artist.
In addition to Bad Bunny, Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G holds the No. 9 spot with an average of $2,320,979 box office gross per city. Aventura, the Puerto Rican bachata band led by frontman Romeo Santos, is at No. 11 with their 2024 reunion tour Cerrando Ciclos. Mexican pop singer Luis Miguel, who has drawn global audiences since 1982, is No. 13 on the list. Lastly, Colombian reggaeton singer Feid takes the No. 17 spot of the Top 20 Global Concert Tours.
This touring data come shortly after entertainment data analysis company Luminate released its mid-year music report on July 16. The findings revealed that Latin music is the fastest-growing genre on streaming services in the United States. Pollstar reporter Oscar Areliz found that the global touring market has experienced big changes.
“Before, it seemed like the market would kinda come and then disappear for a little while only for it to surge again,” Areliz said. “We always had these Latin movements in the past with artists like Ricky Martin or Gloria Estefan who broke into the mainstream.”
Areliz looks to Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s release of the 2017 track “Despacito” as the turning point for today’s Latino music scene.
“It [‘Despacito’] really cemented Latin music’s place in the mainstream and kept it there consistently. Artists like Bad Bunny, Karol G and Peso Pluma certainly took that and ran with it by being more bold. They are expanding into other sounds and really experimenting. It’s something that’s really turning heads everywhere.”
Hans Schafer, senior vice president of Global Touring at Live Nation, looks to Karol G as a trendsetter for the genre. The 33-year-old singer broke away from exclusively touring in Latin and North America by including stops in Europe for the first time.
“This tour [Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito Tour] sold out and became the most significant European tour for a Latin artist, showcasing the expansive reach and popularity of Latin music,” Schafer said.
Karol G’s European tour stopped in nine countries, including Spain, France, England and Germany. Over her 10 shows, she sold 415,000 tickets in total — making the tour the largest Latino music tour in Europe to date, according to published reports.
“These numbers affirm what we’ve always known and advocated within the industry — Latin music is global,” said Schafer. “There is no slowing down.”
