Latinos Dominating YouTube: Bad Bunny Surpasses Justin Bieber in Video Views
Bad Bunny's YouTube dominance signals a Latin wave, with 15B+ view artists like Shakira and J Balvin closing in.
Eminem is the best-selling single musical artist of both the 2000s and 2010s. Taylor Swift’s current tour is registering seismic activity worldwide and contributing to countries’ GDP. Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd have been battling for years now for the top spot on Spotify, the largest player in paid streaming subscribers.
What do all of these artists have in common, besides being way too wealthy to not have a premium Latinometrics subscription? Well, they’re all currently biting the dust of a 29-year-old named Benito from a small town in Puerto Rico.
Yes, our favorite global superstar Bad Bunny is crushing the competition, having just recently surpassed Canadian pop veteran Justin Bieber in terms of total YouTube views. And even better news? He’s not alone in riding the Latin wave into the top of the charts on the world’s largest streaming service by number of users.
Bad Bunny is joined by fellow Puerto Rican musical sensations Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, and Luis Fonsi, while Colombian heavyweights such as Shakira, J Balvin, and Karol G also have strong showings with at least 15B cumulative video views each.
And it’s not just Puerto Rico or Colombia, either. Major US and European artists such as Adele, Drake, and even Michael Jackson have been dethroned by, among others, talented Brazilian sertanejo artists such as Gusttavo Lima and the late Marília Mendonça. As these singers and producers have evolved their artistry to incorporate different genres, their international profiles have also grown, leaving an imprint across the world.
We don’t know which Latin American artist will next join Bad Bunny at the very top of the YouTube world. However, it’s clear that the region will only continue to expand its cultural imprint, as listeners the world over tune into the fresh melodies coming out of San Juan, Bogotá, and Goiânia.