BEHIND LATIN'S STREAMING SURGE:
PART II

According to Apple Music, Latin streams have more than doubled on the platform over the last three years, with Música Mexicana (the new term for Regional MX) one of the fastest-growing genres, expanding 175% during the same period.

“Música Mexicana has always been among the top genres in Latin Music,” Apple Music Latin programmer Krystina DeLuna points out. “But in the past few years, we’ve seen its growth shift into a more global audience. In more recent years, we’ve seen artists embrace new styles with fresh lyrics that represent the global world we all live in, like Natanael Cano creating the phenomenon of Corridos Tumbados (Warner Latina) or singer/songwriter Carin Leon, who incorporates everything from country and pop to even Hawaiian influences.”

At Spotify, corridos and sierreños—melancholy ballads classified as a subgenre of Música Mexicana—have boosted the genre by 91% over the last five years, driven by Gen-Z listeners in the U.S. and Mexico. “It’s now called ‘Música Mexicana' as it no longer reflects a local, ‘regional’ scene but an increasingly expanding genre that is being consumed in the U.S., Mexico, Central America, Colombia and beyond,” notes Spotify Head of U.S. Latin Editorial Antonio Vázquez. “Today, corridos are connecting the old and new generation of listeners through artists such as Natanael Cano, Fuerza Regida or Gerardo Ortiz. An increasingly young generation of Mexican Americans is paving their own way through new blends such as sad sierreño [see below]. Playlists in both subgenres have skyrocketed in the last year.”

DeLuna points to the genre’s latest viral sensation, 15-year-old Yahritza Martinez: “In a true testament to Yahritza y Su Esencia’s global reach,” she says, “Japan is one of the Washington trio’s top-three markets.”

Both Apple Music and Spotify are putting their weight behind rising Spanish-language acts—Yahritza was the former's Up Next artist last month, while Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko (Sony Latin) was latter's U.S. RADAR choice in July.