£é; n a recent Tuesday afternoon, with the strains of his new single, "Gritar" (Shout), playing in the background, Luis Fonsi -the Puerto Rican heartthrob with the plain- tive voice and earnest, boy- next -door good looks -stood in front of a video camera in a park in downtown Miami and said in Spanish: "Congratulations to all moms. Let's all shout in happiness!" "And shout, shout, shout!" played his song One big problem, says a label executive who was the self-titled debut by Prince Royce -a in the background, as Fonsi displayed his very asked to remain anonymous, is, "We segment New York -born bachata singer bolstered by the white, open smile. too much. Latino this, Latino that, and we're not radio success of his cover of "Stand by Me." Fonds endearing. He's entreating. He sings hitting this second -, third- generation consumer Despite being sung mostly in English, the and writes mainly in Spanish, but thinks in that is not going to go to iTunes Latino or AOL track found airplay on top 40 Spanish -language Spanish and English-a result of having been Latino. They're going to go to the regular iTunes stations that, especially in the past year, have be- raised in Orlando, Fla., most of his life. And the store. And yet, we continue segregating His- come more willing to play English repertoire. duality spills into his music, which is Latin pop panic artists from the rest of the bunch." Today, there are not only more English- language with hues of R &B in the vocals and rock in the Labels in search of a solution are increas- songs than ever on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs arrangements. Fonsi has the sort of wide ap- ingly focusing on artists who have bilingual, chart, but they're also staying on the chart longer. Both sides now: Bilingual, bicultural peal that both labels and sponsors find increas- bicultural appeal, while relying on sponsors for In 2010, for example, 25 English -language artists like LUIS FONSI, seen here with ingly valuable-a fact AT&T first seized upon added exposure and expanding online market- tracks appeared on the Hot Latin Songs chart DAVID BISBAL (left) during their Mexico City's ing and sales efforts. And the emphasis, mean- and 15 spent more than 10 weeks each on the concert at Auditorio in 2008, when the company used him and his Nacional last November, are single "No Me Doy Por Vencido" (I Won't Give while, has shifted beyond mere music sales. tally, both unprecedented occurrences. By con- increasingly more in demand by Up) for a major campaign tied to the Summer "It's no longer about how many albums we trast, in 2009,16 English -language tracks charted both labels and consumer brands. Olympics. At the time, sales of Latin music in sell but how much we make overall," says Wal- on Hot Latin Songs, but only four stayed for more the United States were already on a downward ter Kolm, president of Universal Music than 10 weeks; in 2008,14 English tracks charted chart, the top -selling Latin digital tracks of the spiral, but Fonsi bucked the trend. "Palabras Latino /Machete, Fonsi's label. "How much is and only one exceeded the 10 -week mark. year have consistently been those by crossover del Silencio" (Universal Music Latino) -the an artist's revenue from all his businesses and "It was a question of timing," says Sergio artists like Iglesias, Shakira and Pitbull. album linked to the AT&T campaign single - endorsements? Today, the marketing we do is George, president of Royce's indie label, Top According to "The Latino Digital Divide," a sold close to 250,000 copies in the United States, not only to sell albums but to increase an artist's Stop Music. "In the past, [Spanish -language] study published last July by the Pew Hispanic according to Nielsen SoundScan, more than success and generate income of all kinds." radio didn't want to play anything that was Center, the U.S. Latin population still lags be- any of Fonsi's previous albums. As a result, artists like Fonsi, who can touch over 50% in English. But they totally em- hind the overall population in Internet and cell - Now that AT &T has brought him back for a fans on both sides of the language divide, are braced it. They're incorporating American phone use; according to this and past Pew Mother's Day campaign, can Fonsi do an en- increasingly more in demand. music because they knew American kids studies, 64% of Latinos aged 18 -plus go online, core with his new set, "Tierra Firme," due out "The [Spanish -only -speaking] niche has be- weren't listening to them before. Maybe compared with 78% of non -Latinos. And 76% this summer? come smaller and smaller," says Guillermo 'Stand by Me' wouldn't have played on Latin of Latinos use a cellphone, compared with 86% The U.S. Latin population continues to dimb Page, senior VP of commercial and sales for radio five years ago." of non -Latinos. -50.5 million in 2010, up from 35.3 million in Sony Music Latin. In fact, many things didn't happen five years But nativity is a key factor in determining who 2000, according to the latest Census numbers. ago, despite labels' best efforts. As recently as uses cellphones and the Internet, according to But sales of Latin albums- defined as those GROWING BILINGUAL 2007, major pushes behind bilingual acts like Pew. Onlyhalf(51 %) of foreign -born Latinos go whose content is at least 51% in Spanish -hit an POPULATION Kat De Luna (who's now resurfacing) and the online, for example, while 85% of U.S. -born Lati- all-time low in 2010. According to Nielsen Sound - According to U.S. Census data published in Dey fell short. Part of the reason, George says, nos do so. The figures are in line with numer- Scan, year -end sales of Latin albums for 2010 tal- 2010, the number of Spanish speakers in the is that those artists didn't have a Latin base to ous studies that have found Internet use is higher lied 12.4 million, a 28% drop from the 16.9 million United States stood at 34.5 million in 2007, begin with. among younger Latinos -of which more are sold in 2009 (those figures don't include single having grown by 23.4 million between 1980 While Spanish -language radio plays tracks born here -than older Latinos, of which more downloads) and just a third of the 37.8 million and 2007, more than any other language. But in English, the reverse doesn't happen, so for are born abroad. According to this particular sold at the height of the market in 2006. By con- among Spanish speakers, nearly as many were Latin acts to get recognized in the mainstream, study, almost two-thirds (65 %) ofall Latinos aged trast, overall album sales in the United States last U.S. -born as foreign- born -17 million vs. 17.5 they have to record in English or get promoted 16 -plus go online, at least occasionally, but use year dipped 12.8%-from 373.9 million units in million, respectively. And 53% of all Spanish on mainstream outlets. If an artist already has varies with age: 84% of Latinos ages 16 -19 report 2009 to 326.2 million units in 2010. speakers reported speaking English "very well." a Latin or bilingual base, the task is easier. that they email or use the Internet while only In the first three months of 2011, the decline "Nowadays you have to really work on the "It's tried and true. Enrique Iglesias, Ricky 74% of those ages 20 -25 do so. Only 61% of those has slowed somewhat. Across the U.S. market general market," Page says. "The increase you Martin; they've all had that Latin base first," aged 26 -plus use the Internet at all. as a whole, album sales were down 5.3% com- see of Hispanics in the U.S. Census, those guys George says. "Once you build that, you have that The nativity gap persists across age differ- pared with first- quarter 2010. For Latin, the are fully acculturated and bilingual." solid following. But pretending to hit the Amer- ences. Among those ages 16 -19, for example, first- quarter drop was 7.9 %, from 3.4 million Such sentiment is borne out by 2010 Latin ican and Hispanic market at the same time, it's 92% of those U.S. -born use the Internet, but to 3.1 million albums sold, according to Nielsen album sales, with Enrique Iglesias' "Euphoria" never been done. Or I don't know about it." only 59% of those foreign -born do so. SoundScan. Of those, only 266,000 were digi- (Universal /Republic), Marc Anthony's "Iconos" Now, with radio a more willing player for tal albums-a significant 29.8% increase over and Shakirá s "Sale el Sol" (both on Sony) fin- such acts, with increasing online access for His- BICULTURAL ORIENTATION the 205,000 sold in the same period last year, ishing as the three top -selling Latin albums of panics, and with a younger U.S. Hispanic pop- Last February, meanwhile, Telemundo Com- but a minuscule number nevertheless. the year, respectively, according to Nielsen ulation ready to consume, simultaneously munications released what it called its Thus, the predicament: As the Hispanic pop- SoundScan. No big surprise there: All three are breaking acts in pop and Latin markets becomes "GenYLA" (Generation Young Latino Amer- ulation has grown, the market for Latin music major artists with broad crossover appeal.