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Jun 28, 2021
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Afro-Cuban group OKAN are supported by Canadian Latin music label Lulaworld.
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New National Report Delves Into the Rise of Latin Music in Canada — And Its Need for Industry Support
Commissioned by the group Speaking Non-English, the 'Understanding The Barriers and Opportunities of the Latin Music Community in Canada' report emphasizes a need for music industry investment to avoid "a massive missed opportunity."
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Latin music is the one of the fastest-growing genres in Canada — but Latin artists still face a number of barriers to success.
A new national music report delves into the quickly changing community while highlighting its need for support in the music industry.
Commissioned by Speaking Non-English, a new organization dedicated to advancing Latin music in Canada, the report addresses a knowledge gap: as Latin music is gaining in popularity, there's a lack of data on how to help the burgeoning genre.
The report — which is called Understanding The Barriers and Opportunities of the Latin Music Community in Canada — identifies structural and financial challenges in the Canadian music ecosystem, and the need for increased support and representation of Latin artists and industry professionals.
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There's a lack of awards recognition for Latin music here, the report argues, specifically at the Juno Awards, where Latin artists compete in the broad “Global Music Album of the Year" category. There's also a lack of Latin music executives relative to the success of Latin artists.
"The Latin community has grown significantly in the last 10-15 years in Canada, but it still remains mostly untapped," Martín Añón, Co-Founder and President of Speaking Non-English, tells Billboard Canada. "We hope that more industry leaders and stakeholders will reach out to the Latin community and understand what a massive missed opportunity it is for Canada not to support and invest in developing music from diasporas."
Añón — along with his fellow co-founder and board chair Maurizio Ruiz and Vice Chair Andrés Mendoza — partnered with researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University's Creative School to conduct research for over a year, with support from Ontario Creates and Mitacs.
"By creating more inclusion in our ecosystem, it will ensure more prosperity across the board," says Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews, Assistant Professor in the Creative Industries department at TMU.
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Latin Music Growth in Canada
Canada's Latin community is growing. Hispanic-Latin Americans now make up 3.3% of the country's population, up from 1.8% in 2001. And Canadians are listening to Latin music — in 2022, Latin music was the seventh largest genre in the Canadian market. It's also the second fastest-growing genre in Canada, the report states, just behind Punjabi music.
As the genre sees a boom, new initiatives are popping up, like Montreal's Fuego Fuego festival, and others are gaining steam, like Vancouver's Carnaval del Sol, which has seen 30 thousand attendees.
The report points to the label Lulaworld Records as a success story. Rising out of Toronto's Lula Lounge venue and its Lulaworld festival, which has a long history of programming Latin artists, the label has helped provide an infrastructure for Latin artists, offering workshops, live music, and representing talent like Afro-Cuban group OKAN.
“There are people doing big shit," says pop star Jessie Reyez in the report, "but the more we push that shit to the forefront, the better it will be, and the more that will come of it too.”
Barriers and Challenges Facing the Community
The research process for the report included a survey and focus groups with musicians and industry professionals, revealing significant barriers to success for Latin artists.
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Though the music is popular, there are few Latin music professionals in executive roles, which leads to a lack of understanding of how to support Latin artists, the report argues. There's also a lack of targeted funding specifically for Latin music and no major awards dedicated to recognizing Latin genres.
85% of participants surveyed "believe that the contributions and influence of Latin Canadian artists are insufficiently recognized," the report states. "Latin Canadian artists and music professionals tend to feel ignored and see a lack of opportunity for their music."
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Particular attention is paid to the Juno Awards, with researchers noting that of the country's top 11 genres (as denoted by Luminate) Latin music is the only one without its own category at the country's primary music awards. The Latin Grammys are used as an example of an awards program that has helped support Latin music, with Canadian artists like Alex Cuba and Lido Pimienta receiving Latin Grammy recognition without a similar award of prominence at home.
Other important challenges include a lack of targeted financial support, difficulty securing event promotion and brand supporters, and prevailing institutional attitude in Canada that non-English and non-Francophone music holds less weight here. An analysis of 22 key Canadian music organizations finds that only one offers financial support geared specifically to Latin artists.
"The main thing that I’ve always seen in the music industry as a whole in Canada is that we’ve always been reactive. We’ve never been proactive," states one industry professional. "It’s why the Drakes, the Weeknds, the Justin Biebers, the Alessia Caras’ have to go sign with American labels in order to make it."
Looking Ahead
The report offers several calls to action, chief amongst them the establishment of a category for Latin music at the Juno Awards. Other calls include mid- and long-term strategic development initiatives to support Latin-Canadian creators and increased research, to disprove widespread assumptions that there's no market for Latin music in Canada.
Añón says that first call is well underway. A proposal for a Latin Music Recording of the Year category at the Junos is in development, with over 50 letters of endorsement from the music community. "While the process has been extensive, we’re optimistic about its eventual inclusion," Añón adds.
"Many Latin artists already surpass the average Junos winner in terms of consumption — even without accounting for major names like Jessie Reyez. The community is aware of this disparity, which only heightens their frustration."
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But Añón emphasizes that the Junos are just one piece of the puzzle. Next, Speaking Non-English plans to launch a business development program, offering workshops and one-on-one mentoring for Latin creators.
Speaking Non-English isn't the only organization engaged in this conversation. At this year's edition of POP Montreal music festival, a panel brought together Latin musicians and industry experts to discuss the genre's Canadian boom and future growth. Earlier this year, Billboard Canada spoke with Live Nation's Ricky Taco about his work in bringing more Latin artists to Canada.
As the genre continues to expand, the Speaking Non-English report provides indicators of how Latin Canadian artists can hit new heights.
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