62 BILLBOARD • OCTOBER 12, 2019
LATIN POWER PLAYERS 2019
to make our model viable and artist-friendly.”
IMPACT OF THE POLITICAL CLIMATE “Music is bigger
than politics. [But] is the political climate im-
pacting those who cannot move freely? Yes. The
struggle of regional Mexican artists to get visas is
a reality. It’s a shame.”
Juan Diego Medina
Founder/CEO
LA INDUSTRIA
As the manager of Nicky Jam, Medina, 32, gets
credit for the reggaeton star’s move into film, with
a role in the upcoming movie Bad Boys for Life
opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. “As
a company we had been very focused on Nicky
Jam, but now we have more artists,” says Medina,
including Manuel Turizo, ChocQuibTown and
recently signed reggaetonero Mati Gómez. This
year, Turizo has tallied nine entries on Hot Latin
Songs, while ChocQuibTown’s “Pa’ Olvidarte”
remix has surpassed 92 million views on YouTube.
IMPACT OF THE POLITICAL CLIMATE “They are not
giving me visas for Nicky Jam’s Colombian team
because they argue that since he is American, he
should be giving opportunities to Americans. But
Nicky Jam wasn’t even known in the U.S. until not
too long ago. He rose to fame in Colombia.”
Nelson “Polo” Montalvo
President
LA BUENA FORTUNA
This year, Montalvo, 39, signed Kany García and
achieved success with Pedro Capó’s “Calma” re-
mix with Farruko, which landed the Puerto Rican
singer-songwriter his first entry on the Billboard
Hot 100. Montalvo also added iLe, Residente and
Jorge Drexler to his roster and supported artists
who joined protests to oust former Puerto Rican
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. “Music united us, and the
result was historical,” he says.
GREATEST LATIN MUSIC MILESTONE “ ‘Latinoamérica’
by Calle 13. I can’t explain the power of that song.”
Camille Soto Malavé
CEO
GLAD EMPIRE
Under Soto, 38, GLAD Empire, a digital label and
distributor, backed the release strategy behind
Anuel AA’s Real Hasta la Muerte, which debuted
at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums in July 2018 as the
artist got out of prison. She guided Anuel AA’s “Te
Bote (Remix),” which reached No. 1 on Hot Latin
Songs, and declares: “It’s a classic we’ll hear 20
years from now, [at] the club, the cookout and the
nursing home.” With her husband, Alberto Mendo-
za, who performs as MC Ceja, they’ve expanded
their Orlando, Fla.-based studio complex.
LIVE
Pablo Casals
CEO
ELITE MEDIA AND MARKETING
Casals, 46, helped push Ozuna into new markets in
the United States over the past year and promoted
the singer’s Aura tour. It grossed $14.5 million over
17 shows. “We work hard at bringing our music to
new places,” says Casals, “to break that barrier of
languages and different mentalities or races.”
GREATEST LATIN MUSIC MILESTONE “Romeo Santos
doing two sold-out Yankee Stadium [shows in New
York in 2014] opened windows to what was possi-
ble in Latin music.”
Bruno del Granado
AGENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY
Del Granado’s star client Luis Fonsi performed
the official 2019 Special Olympics song “Right
Where I Am Supposed to Be” at the opening
ceremonies in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
alongside Avril Lavigne in March and kicked off
his Vida world tour in Spain in June. Now, “we’re
gearing up on our second U.S. run with him”
in the fall, says del Granado, 54, whose roster
includes Gloria Estefan, Ednita Nazario, Danna
Paola, Jencarlos Canela and Isabela Moner.
GREATEST LATIN MUSIC MILESTONE “Ricky Martin’s
‘Cup of Life’ performance at the 1999 Grammys.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan had already [opened] the
door with ‘Conga’ several years before, but Ricky
blew the door off its hinges and, 20 years later,
we’re still ‘livin’ la vida loca.’ ”
Devin Landau
Agent
PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY
Landau, 33, has a roster of rising young artists
who are first-generation Latinos, the group “often
referred to as the Dreamers,” he says, including
Cuco, Omar Apollo, Inner Wave, Jean Dawson
and Boy Pablo. He has doubled the roster of Latin
artists to 70 in the past year, he reports. “It’s this
group of artists who are really seeing some sig-
nificant strides in the touring space even if some
of their music might not always be obvious Latin
music,” he says.
CHARITY I SUPPORT “Cuco’s manager Doris Muñoz
does incredible work with a nonprofit concert se-
ries called Solidarity for Sanctuary. The money goes
to different immigrant causes.”
Richard Lom
Agent
WME
Rob Markus
Partner
WME
Markus, 51, helped book J Balvin as the Saturday-
night headliner for Chicago’s Lollapalooza in
August, which he called a “massive achievement
for the entire Latin music scene.” This summer,
WME had 11 Latin acts simultaneously touring
Europe. “In my time here, we’ve never had anything
like that,” he says. Lom, 42, reports that Mexican
rock band Caifanes sold out two shows at Movistar
Arena in Bogotá, Colombia. “Nobody thought that
was going to do well,” he says, “and we ended up
establishing sales records at that venue.”
MOST PROMISING LATIN TREND Markus “What’s really
exciting is Anglo artists doing features on songs by
Latin acts.”
Jeremy Norkin
Agent
UTA
Norkin, 38, increased UTA’s Hispanic and Latin
American touring income by 50% during the last
18 months, guiding a roster of Latin artists like
Soto
Lom
Drazan
Casals
Norkin
Markus
Casonú
Montalvo
Medina
Landau
Bagué
del Granado
Schafer
Natalia Jiménez, Duki, Paulina Rubio, Eros Ramaz-
zotti and Monsieur Periné. He also handled Post
Malone’s first Latin American dates. “I’m proud,”
he says. “He has had tremendous worldwide suc-
cess, and getting to book him into my neck of the
woods was a wonderful moment.”
CHARITY I SUPPORT “The National Immigration Law
Center. I was born in the U.S. to immigrants from
the former Soviet Union who came here with noth-
ing but hope for a better life. It’s important to me
that others have the same opportunities.”
Hans Schafer
Senior vp
LIVE NATION LATIN
Schafer, 37, doubled — to 14 — the number of Live
Nation Latin’s major tours in 2019. “We’ve helped
build opportunities for Latin artists where they’ve
not been before,” says Schafer, who also oversaw
milestone shows including Maná’s seven-night run
at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. “Romeo Santos
[is] the first Latin artist to perform at MetLife Stadi-
um” in East Rutherford, N.J., he says of the Sept. 21
show. “That’s huge right there.”
BEST LATIN TREND “So many female Latin artists are
having a bigger voice, a bigger platform. It’s some-
thing that I absolutely love to see.”
PUBLISHERS
Julio Bagué
Vp, Latin division, East Coast and Puerto Rico
PEERMUSIC
Yvonne Drazan
Vp, Latin division, West Coast
PEERMUSIC
Bagué, 51, notes that he achieved a 160% rise in
peermusic’s revenue in Puerto Rico — despite the
aftermath of Hurricane Maria and the economic
crisis — while also producing albums for Luis
Enrique and C4 Trio’s Tiempo Al Tiempo, which he
describes as “a remarkable musical experience.”
Drazan, 49, reports a 157% increase in revenue from
synch placements and focused on new female
artists like Lupita Infante, Chiquis, Gaby Moreno
and Sofia Reyes. “I want to help female musicians,
singer-songwriters and writer-producers grow in a
very male-dominated industry,” she says. “Particu-
larly on the Latin side.”
MOST PRESSING ISSUE Drazan “The lack of tolerance
for risk. It’s a disservice to music fans to not bring
music that’s interesting and new to market.”
Néstor Casonú
President, Latin America
KOBALT MUSIC
Casonú, 69, added new talent to an already
star-studded publishing roster this year by signing
Anuel AA, DJ Luian, Natti Natasha and Jesse &
Joy, supported by the work of senior vp creative
Leslie Ahrens. On Casonú’s watch, Kobalt artists
won 15 Billboard Latin Music Awards, while Ozu-
na was a finalist for a record-setting 23 awards
in 15 categories — taking home 11 trophies, the
most of any performer.
MOST PRESSING ISSUE “We are living in an extraordi-
nary moment. The traditional format of the devel-
opment of an artist has changed. The artist is the
protagonist now. We’re here to help them progress.” M
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