Regional Mexican Music Sees Explosive Growth in 2023, Outpacing Other Genres.

In a music landscape where superstars from Puerto Rico, Colombia and across the Americas have taken Latin music to new levels of recognition in recent years, 2023 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for one Latin genre in particular.

According to Luminate, consumption of regional Mexican music in the United States has seen a whopping 42.1% increase year-to-date as of May 25. This genre, made up of banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño, mariachi and other subgenres, has recorded 5.81 million album-equivalent units (AUEs) in the first 21 weeks of 2023, compared to 4.09 million UEAs registered in the same period of the previous year. UEAs combine album sales with song sales and streams into album units.

These figures exceed not only the growth of Latin music in general (+23.1%), but also that of other genres such as country music (+21.7%), dance/electronic music (+15.5% ), rock (+12.4%) and pop (+10.3%), as well as the growth of the global music market as a whole (+13.4%). Only K-pop, with an impressive 49.4% increase so far this year, thanks to the collaboration between Korean record companies and US record labels to further expand into the US market, has outperformed the regional Mexican.

These figures reflect the exponential and global growth that Mexican music has experienced in recent years. This genre, with more than a century and a half of existence, has gained a new popularity fueled by a new generation of Mexican and Mexican-American artists who have subtly blended traditional sounds with urban/hip hop styles, thus attracting a younger and digitally connected audience. Some of the prominent artists in this trend are Eslabón Armado, Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera.

About 99% of regional Mexican music consumption comes from streaming platforms. As of May 25, on-demand audio playback on services such as Spotify and Apple Music accounted for approximately 90% of regional Mexican music consumption. The rest of the streaming consumption came from video platforms like YouTube and scheduled streams from Pandora and other non-interactive radio services. Physical sales are not relevant for this genre, as some artists only release their music digitally, representing approximately 1% of total consumption.

Collaborations have contributed to the success of regional Mexican music artists in 2023. Eslabón Armado’s share of the subgenre increases from approximately 8% to 9.6% when including collaborations with Cornejo, Junior H, Grupo Frontera, Fuerza Regida and Luis R. Conriquez. Fuerza Regida’s recordings by themselves and their collaborations with Grupo Frontera, Natanael Cano, Peso Pluma, Juanpa Salazar, Marca Registrada, Cornejo, Becky G and other artists in the top 200 of regional Mexican music earn the group a share of the 9.2% in the consumption of this genre.

In short, regional Mexican music is experiencing an unprecedented year in terms of growth and recognition. Its rise in music consumption, as well as its chart-topping achievements, both regionally and internationally, demonstrate the impact and popularity that this genre has achieved in today’s music scene.