Latin music (genre)

Latin music (Musica latina in Spanish and Portuguese) is a musical category encompassing music from any Spanish-speaking area from around the world mainly from Latin America and Spain. Portuguese-language music from Brazil is usually included in most definitions of Latin music and sometimes Portugal as well. The term, "Latin music", originates from the United States (US) due to the growing influence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the American music market beginning in the 1980s. US trade industry groups such as Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard magazine define "Latin music" as a type of release with most of its lyrics in Spanish.

Major record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music have divisions which oversees acts from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula with an executive that manages both regions. Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States are the largest Latin music markets in the world. In the 1990s, artists from Italy such as Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini, and Tiziano Ferro successfully crossed over to the Latin music field by recording Spanish-language versions of their songs. In 2000, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS) established the Latin Grammy Awards to recognize musicians who perform in Spanish or Portuguese. Unlike the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) which only accepts recordings that been released in the United States, LARAS admits any recordings in Spanish or Portuguese that have been released in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. In 2013, Spanish singer Julio Iglesias was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling male Latin artist of all time.