Latin music revenues in the U.S. increased 18.6% in the first half of 2020, to $296.1 million, marking the fourth consecutive year for double-digit percentage growth at retail value in the Latin music market, according to a new report by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Billboard has learned.
Whilst significant differences were reflected between Q1 and Q2 as a result of retail store closures, tour cancellations, and others affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, streaming now accounts for 96% of the Latin music market. The report notes that Latin music continued to grow its share of overall U.S. music revenues to 5.2% and total streaming revenues grew 20.3% to $285.2 million.
Similar to the overall U.S. market, the biggest driver of growth for Latin music in the past year was paid streaming music subscriptions with revenues rising 27.6% to $196.2 million. Paid subscriptions now account for over two-thirds of the Latin music streaming market in the first half of 2020.