The Latin Grammy nominations came out last week and a trio is hanging on to the most amount of nominations: Juan Luis Guerra (5), Ricky Martin (4) and Calle 13 (4). On the top prize, record of the year, Shakira and Beyonce are nominated for Bello Embustero– the Spanish-language version of Beautiful Liar. And, Daddy Yankee is in the running for best urban song for the track Impacto (first single from his new CD) featuring Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. Earlier this year, Shakira took home the Latin Billboard for Best Song of the Year (Duet) for ’Hips Don’t Lie’ with Wyclef Jean. Talk about crossover– in reverse.
Hispanics listen to radio more than any other group. They have a higher incidence of music downloads — one proof, the #1 selling ringtone for this week is a clip from Montez de Durango, according to Billboard — and are part of the reason why Wal-Mart and other retailers sell music. In 2006, while CD sales saw a decline, Latin music sales gre 5.2 percent according to this piece in Voice of America.
The Latin Grammys are one of the highest rated shows for Univision. Last year, the broadcast was viewed by 11.3 million people according to Univision, and took the #1 ratings spot in markets like Miami, L.A. and Chicago. Now, we’ll see if Beyonce performs with Shakira on the show and maybe brings with her a few million more new viewers.
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