Amazon Music LAT!N, Amazon’s Latin music and culture brand, is celebrating its one-year anniversary with the launch of a suite of content that includes new playlists, exclusive songs, collaborations and podcasts under the theme “La Cultura That Connects Us.”
The anniversary celebration will kick off with a short film narrated by Afro-Latino actor and rapper Jharrel Jerome, and with new music released every Friday, beginning September 17 with a new version by Kali Uchis of of Selena’s “Si una vez.”
The release of original content will continue through November, when the second season of Amazon’s podcast “En La Sala” will return with Evaluna Montaner as host (Season 1 featured Becky G as host).
Kali Uchis’ version of “Si Una Vez” will be released in tandem with the launch of “Fluent,” a new playlist for fans who “move fluidly between cultures.”
It’s part of an ongoing Amazon effort to aggressively target Latin music consumers. Last year, the retailer and streamer launched Amazon Music LAT!N as its first dedicated initiative to entice Latin consumers. Prior to that, Amazon did have Latin music offerings, of course, including a robust suite of playlists and catalog, but little else.
In the past year alone, fueled by a series of initial initiatives that included the creation of exclusive content and additional playlists, Latin music listening on the platform grew 94% compared to last year, and in Latin America, Latin music consumption increased by 280%.
All told, four of Amazon’s 15 free global playlists are Latin: Voces de Fe (Christian music), Tierra Tropical, Platino and Puro Trancazo, and on Alexa, regional Mexican music requests globally have grown by 377%, followed by cumbia by 205%, banda by 197% and reggaetón by 126%, compared to the year before.
The biggest recorded growth in the past year comes from is sertanejo, the Brazilian genre, which grew by 1086%. As for the most requested artist globally in 2021, that’s Bad Bunny, followed by J Balvin, Shakira, and Karol G.
“La Cultura That Connects Us” is looking to expand that younger listener base and also tap into Latin cultural shifts as a whole.
Beyond the “Fluent” playlist, Amazon LAT!N is launching two other playlists, each one tied to a cultural movement and released in tandem with an Amazon Original song. The “Vibras Afro” playlist spotlights “cross-cultural connections with a focus on the Afrobeat-Latino movement.” The playlist will launch in tandem with a new version of the hit “Vuleve” by ChocQuibTown with Nigerian producer Mystro, and a new episode of Género 101 video series. The song will release Sept. 24 followed by the video, which highlights musical movements of the African diaspora, on Sept. 27.
And the “Whiskey & Tequila” playlist connects regional Mexican and country. It kicks off October 1 with a new, Spanglish version of “Fancy Like” performed by country star Walker Hayes with regional Mexican singer Carin León.
“As musicians and as representatives of the genre, we really want to be able to expose our art and our sounds to the world to make our Mexican music more global,” said León in a statement. “For us the launch of ‘Whiskey & Tequila’ is very exciting, because they are cultures that have always been very close to each other. We know that many of the attendees at country concerts are Mexican, since we have a lot in common.”
Other new, original content includes a new version of Shakira’s “La Tortura” by Colombian sisters Las Villa, and the launch of the “Platino Radio” playlist in “DJ Mode” with commentary from DJs and artists.
All new content will be available on the Amazon Music mobile and desktop app, on Amazon Echo devices, and at Amazon.com/latinmusic.
