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Popular music identification app Shazam released its mid-year report on June 27, and the finding indicate that Latin music continues its ascent to mainstream popularity. Two of the top three most searched songs on Shazam in 2019 thus far are Latin, in addition to two of the top five artists.
Atop the list of most Shazamed songs is the “Calma” remix by Pedro Capó and Farruko, while “Con Calma” by Daddy Yankee and Snow appeared at No. 3. Daddy Yankee finished at No. 5 on the most searched artists list, while Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin appeared at No. 3.
The “Calma” remix has peaked at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached No. 1 on more than a dozen international charts. “Con Calma” has peaked at No. 22 on the Hot 100, but has had similarly strong success outside of the United States.
The rise in Latin music has been fueled in part by the ubiquity of streaming. In 2018, Latin music was the fifth most popular type of music in terms of both album and song consumption, per BuzzAngle, and 95 percent of it was heard via streaming. Per Nielsen’s midyear report, streaming has grown 31.6 percent in 2019, a slightly slower rate of year-to-year growth than had occurred previously, but one that points to Latin music continuing to dominate.
In a June 2019 interview with Billboard, Capó explained why he thinks Latin music is surging in popularity around the globe. He said:
I think we’re top dog right now. We were just in Europe in Switzerland, France, Germany, and everything you hear coming out of cars and stores, restaurants, it’s Latin music. It has a lot to do with the fact that we’ve always made good music; we’ve always had good contributions culturally, music is not the exception. And also, the way that we consume music nowadays—digital platforms have kind of broken down those language barriers.
Latinx music also performed well on 2018’s Shazam midyear report, with “X” by Nicky Jam and J. Balvin being listed as the second most searched song, and Balvin appearing as the second most searched artist.
Non-Latin artists who had strong showings in the 2019 Shazam report included Ava Max, whose “Sweet But Psycho” was the most Shazamed pop song and the second most searched song overall. Calvin Harris topped the most Shazamed artists list and had his song “Giant” appear as the most searched dance record.
Genius explored the rise of Latin trap in the video below.
Read the full lyrics to the “Calma” remix and the respective discographies of Pedro Capó and Farruko on Genius now.
