In their much-cited 2023 paper Globalizing Music Streaming within and across Europe, Will Page and Chris Dalla Riva Note that the rise of global streaming platforms correlates with the rise of local music.
This seemingly contradictory situation is what the authors refer to as “globalization” — or “globalization” in the American spelling. And in Latin music, this phenomenon has led to a rise in local genres such as corridos, banda, funk and Argentine rap in recent years.
According Pedro Kurtz — Deezer's head of music for LATAM, speaking at a SXSW panel titled “Latin Music Momentum In The Age of 'Glocalization'” on Tuesday (March 12) — is all about proportionality.
“We listen to music that we relate to, that represents us culturally. You look at the artists and they speak my language and everything moves from there.”
Kurtz appeared on the panel next door Chris Garcia FalcaoMD of label and artist strategy/GM Latin at Virgin Music, and Sandra Jimenezhead of music in Latin America at YouTube — and the conversation (which I moderated) was often lively between the three Brazilian executives.
Their views not only highlighted the phenomenon of globalization and how democratization and streaming have dramatically changed Latin music, but also the similarities and differences between the Brazilian and Latin American markets, which many tend to conflate. — even though they are very different.
Even though Brazil is a huge and powerful market, the music is in Portuguese and there is still a language barrier that needs to be overcome to break through internationally. even Brazilian superstar Anita had to sing in Spanish to be noticed.
But, notes Jimenez, “There is no language barrier for Spanish. It's almost like a big country. It is an area of more than 300 million people. It's a huge area.”
Its sheer size has given the area influence.
On YouTube, Latin America is “one of the top three regions in the world in terms of music consumption,” Jimenez said. For Deezer, Kurtz added, “It's the second most important area in terms of streaming and engagement.”
And the vast majority of content consumed on streaming platforms in Latin America is local.
For example, Falcão said that before the pandemic, “it was more about Anglo content. Now, it is more democratic. Everyone needs to understand our region and culture and adapt.”
Those who do, win. In Brazil, more than 80% of music consumption is local. In Mexico, says Kurtz, “72% of our flow comes from local artists. It is a large number and the local branches are gaining more autonomy. Back in the day, we had other forces pushing the music.”
Beyond numbers, there are other intangibles. The worldwide Latino diaspora has led to music in Spanish, in particular, being consumed around the world — and this phenomenon has been accentuated during the pandemic. “It made us more internal,” Jimenez said. “It wasn't possible to get together with friends and family, so we created the community.”
As consumption of Latin music has grown, so has music creation and investment in the region. Kurtz says that since 2020, Deezer has seen the number of weekly plays in the region nearly double – reflecting increased interest in music creation.
“It's about people appreciating their own cultures and the charts are basically a mirror of that,” he said.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/streaming/global-streaming-growth-local-music-boom-latin-america-1235634924/
