Topline
Latin music generated nearly $500 million in revenue in the first half of 2025, up nearly 6% from the same time period last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s mid-year report, as the latest album by upcoming Super Bowl halftime show performer Bad Bunny dominates Billboard’s Latin charts.
Bad Bunny, the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show headliner, has dominated the Latin music charts this year. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Key Facts
For the first half of 2025, Latin music generated $490.3 million in revenue in the United States, according to RIAA, the 12th straight year of growth at the mid-year point for the genre.
Latin music’s growth in 2025 so far has outpaced the growth of music revenue in the United States across all genres, RIAA said, noting Latin revenue jumped 5.9% from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2025, while revenue across all genres rose just 0.9% over the same period.
Latin music represented 8.8% of all music revenue in the United States in the first half of 2025, and its market share has grown consistently for years: In RIAA’s 2024 year-end report, Latin music accounted for 8.1% of all U.S. music revenue, while in 2020, it was just 5.5%.
Streaming accounts for nearly all of Latin music’s revenue in the United States, generating $481.6 million in revenue in the first half of 2025.
RIAA did not name specific artists driving the growth of Latin music, but the Latin charts have been dominated this year by Bad Bunny, the upcoming Super Bowl performer who released his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” in January.
How Big Is Bad Bunny In Latin Music?
In recent years, Bad Bunny has emerged as Latin music’s most dominant force. Last week, Billboard named Bad Bunny the No. 1 Latin artist of the 21st century based on chart performance, even though he didn’t make his first appearance on a Billboard chart until 2016. The Puerto Rican rapper-singer has racked up 14 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Latin songs chart, and his 2020 album “YHLQMDLG” is the longest-running No. 1 album on the Billboard Latin Albums chart, leading for 70 weeks. This year, Bad Bunny’s latest album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” led the Billboard 200 albums chart for four weeks, and it still leads Billboard’s Latin Albums chart, where his 2022 album “Un Verano Sin Ti” ranks No. 2. He was also Spotify’s most-streamed artist for three straight years, from 2020 to 2022.
Why Is Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparking Controversy?
Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl gig has faced pushback from conservatives who have criticized his opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration raids and have argued the headliner should be an English-language performer. President Donald Trump called Bad Bunny an “absolutely ridiculous” choice last week, adding: “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it — it’s, like, crazy.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will be “all over” the Super Bowl, threatening that attendees must only be “law-abiding Americans who love this country.” Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson slammed Bad Bunny as a “massive Trump hater” and an “anti-ICE activist” who has “no songs in English.” Tomi Lahren faced mockery online after she claimed on her podcast Bad Bunny is “not an American artist,” though her guest, liberal political commentator Krystal Ball, corrected her that Puerto Rico is a United States territory. Turning Point USA, a conservative organization formerly led by slain activist Charlie Kirk, said it would host an alternative Super Bowl halftime show celebrating “faith, family and freedom” with performances yet to be announced. Bad Bunny poked fun at the criticism in a monologue on “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month, speaking a few words in Spanish before telling the audience: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
Tangent
Total music revenue reached $5.6 billion for the first half of 2025, according to RIAA, a high for the organization’s mid-year reports. Streaming revenue reached nearly $4.7 billion, up 2.3% from the first half of last year, while digital purchase revenue declined 1.4% and physical purchases, including CDs and vinyls, dipped 5.9%.
Further Reading
‘SNL’ returns with host Bad Bunny addressing his Super Bowl halftime show (NBC News)
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks Right-Wing Backlash Over Rapper’s Anti-ICE Activism (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/10/17/latin-music-revenue-surges-in-the-us-ahead-of-bad-bunny-super-bowl-halftime-show/
