Diana Montes was working in sales and sponsorships at the Latin Recording Academy in 2013 when Turner Media Group approached her with an ambitious proposition: She could create a Latin Music Awards show outside the United States to air on HTV, the Latin music channel which was then owned by TBS? It was a challenging idea because at the time, all the major Latin music award shows were produced in the state.
“We decided to do a Latin music award for Latinos, made in Latin America,” says Montes. He pitched the concept to several cities and countries and eventually partnered with the Dominican Republic's up-and-coming tourist destination Cap Cana.
Today, 10 years after its first broadcast on the beach, the event has grown from a house show to a major ceremony with a huge online following and a cadre of dedicated artists — including Karol G and Feid — who have been honored with Premios Heat across during their career.
Montes plans to honor many of them at the anniversary edition of the awards on July 11, which will once again take place on the beaches of Cap Cana.
How did Premios Heat evolve?
We've only been around for 10 years, but we've grown in a huge way. When we started, HTV only appeared in Latin America and there wasn't much impact in Mexico or the U.S. Now we've expanded. As of 2020, 2021, our largest audiences are in the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, in that order.
What makes this award different?
The scene. We are a beach awards show where the beach is the star. Our slogan is “The only award set in the Caribbean Sea”. We are unique because it is very complicated to hold an awards show on a beach. And yet, in 10 years, we've never had a weather disaster. And obviously, doing an award show on the beach is a lot different than doing it in an arena. The artists come with a different vibe and all the concepts are tropically chic.
Were you initially skeptical?
When I first started, people used to say that this wasn't an awards show but a beach festival that happened to give out awards. Now they say I've created a unique format and we've connected with a younger audience.
Diana Montes
Andrea Ramirez PR
How are the finalists and winners decided?
Nominations are based on video rotation on HTV and we also have a panel of radio programmers across Latin America who tell us what's playing in different countries. Once the nominations are out, they are public and people vote for the winners. Anyone can vote. We also present two editorial awards: social engagement, to an artist who has made a difference through their foundation, and a gold award, which is the big award of the night that we give out for our career path.
What's different this year?
It is a very special year because it is the 10 year anniversary. We've expanded our categories and this year we'll be naming winners in 29 categories, including a video game streaming song. We will also be giving the song of the year for the first time and starting a salsa category. We are also excited about our app, Heat.TV. We launched it in 2021 and have 647,000 unique monthly users. Last year, we had 5.2 million people watch the entire show on the app.
This story originally appeared in the April 27, 2024 issue Advertising sign.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/premios-heat-awards-founder-diana-montes-interview-1235667631/
