Latin Grammy Award
A Latin Grammy Award is an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the world that were recorded in either Spanish or Portuguese and is awarded in the United States. Submissions of products recorded in regional languages from Latin America and Iberia of Hispanophone or Lusophone countries such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian, Nahuatl, Guarani, Quechua or Mayan may also be considered. Both the regular Grammy Award and the Latin Grammy Award have similar nominating and voting processes, in which the selections are decided by peers within the Latin music industry.
The first annual Latin Grammys ceremony was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on September 13, 2000. Broadcast by CBS, that first ceremony became the first primarily Spanish language primetime program carried on an English-language American television network. The most-recent ceremony, the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, was held on November 15, 2018 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The upcoming 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards will be held on November 14, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Since 2005, the awards are broadcast in the United States by the television network Univision. In 2013, 9.8 million people watched the Latin Grammy Awards on Univision, making the channel a top-three network for the night in the U.S.
History
The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences was formed by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in 1997. It was founded by Michael Greene and Producers & Songwriters Rudy Pérez & Mauricio Abaroa. Rudy Pérez was the Grammy Florida chapter's first President of the Board. The concept of a separate Grammy Awards for Latin music began in 1989. According to organizers, the Latin Grammy Awards was established as the Latin music universe was deemed too large to fit on the Grammy Awards. The Latin Recording Academy defines Latin music as music in Spanish or Portuguese. The Latin Grammy Awards mainly encompasses music from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States as well as any music in Spanish or Portuguese released in any of these regions. In 2000, it was announced that the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards would take place at the Staples Center on September 13, 2000. On July 7, 2000, the nominations were announced in Miami, Florida, United States. The Latin Grammys were introduced with over 39 categories included limited to Spanish and Portuguese-speaking recordings. The first telecast took place at the Staples Center and was broadcast. The following year's show was canceled due to the September 11, 2001 attacks, which was the same day the show was to take place. In 2002, the academy elected its first independent Board of Trustees. In 2005, the broadcast was moved from CBS to Univision where the whole telecast was in Spanish.Voting members live in various regions in the US and outside of the US including Latin America and Iberia. For a recording to be eligible for a nomination, it must have at least 51% of its content recorded in Spanish or Portuguese and commercially released in North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Spain, or Portugal. Products recorded in languages and dialects such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian, Nahuatl, Guarani, Quechua or Mayan may be accepted by majority vote of the committees of the Latin Recording Academy. For instrumental music, the Latin Recording Academy accepts recordings that have been composed or interpreted by an Iberian American or Iberian European musician. The eligibility period is June 1 to May 30 for a respective awards ceremony. Recordings are first entered and then reviewed to determine the awards they are eligible for. Following that, nominating ballots are mailed to voting members of the academy. The votes are tabulated and the five recordings in each category with the most votes become the nominees. Final voting ballots are sent out to voting members and the winners are determined. Winners are later announced at the Latin Grammy Awards. The current President & CEO of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences is Gabriel Abaroa, who is related to Mauricio, one of the founders.
Altogether there are three events: the Life Achievement when renowned artists are honored for lifetime achievement; Person of the Year, when one artist is honored at a gala dinner, and Grammy itself, an award that brings together artists from all over Latin America and Iberia and that today is broadcast live to 80 countries, including Brazil, by channel Univision.
Awards
Award categories
Alike from the Grammy Award there is a general field consisting of four genre-less award categories:- Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.
- Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.
- Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song.
- Best New Artist is awarded to an artist without reference to a song or album.
The first telecast had 40 awards presented however the following year 38 awards were presented. The most recent telecast in 2010 had a total of 46 awards presented.
Ceremonies
| # | Year | Album of the Year | Record of the Year | Song of the Year | Best New Artist | Multiple wins | Multiple nominations | |
| 1 | 2000 | Luis Miguel Amarte Es Un Placer | Santana Maná "Corazón Espinado" | Marc Anthony "Dímelo" | Ibrahim Ferrer | Luis Miguel Santana Maná | Marc Anthony Shakira Fito Páez | |
| 2 | 2001 | Alejandro Sanz El Alma Al Aire | Alejandro Sanz "El Alma Al Aire" | Alejandro Sanz "El Alma Al Aire" | Juanes | Alejandro Sanz | Juanes | |
| 3 | 2002 | Alejandro Sanz MTV Unplugged | Alejandro Sanz "Y Solo Se Me Ocurre Amarte" | Alejandro Sanz "Y Solo Se Me Ocurre Amarte" | Jorge Moreno | Alejandro Sanz | Carlos Vives | |
| 4 | 2003 | Juanes Un Día Normal | Juanes "Es Por Ti" | Juanes "Es Por Ti" | David Bisbal | Juanes | Juanes | |
| 5 | 2004 | Alejandro Sanz No Es Lo Mismo | Alejandro Sanz "No Es Lo Mismo" | Alejandro Sanz "No Es Lo Mismo" | María Rita | Alejandro Sanz | Alejandro Sanz | |
| 6 | 2005 | Ivan Lins Cantando Histórias | Alejandro Sanz "Tú No Tienes Alma" | Alejandro Sanz "Tú No Tienes Alma" | Bebe | Juanes | Bebe | |
| 7 | 2006 | Shakira Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 | Shakira Alejandro Sanz "La Tortura" | Shakira Alejandro Sanz "La Tortura" | Calle 13 | Shakira | Shakira | |
| 8 | 2007 | Juan Luis Guerra La Llave De Mi Corazón | Juan Luis Guerra "La Llave De Mi Corazón" | Juan Luis Guerra "La Llave De Mi Corazón" | Jesse & Joy | Juan Luis Guerra | Juan Luis Guerra | |
| 9 | 2008 | Juanes La Vida... Es Un Ratico | Juanes "Me Enamora" | Juanes "Me Enamora" | Kany García | Juanes | Juanes Café Tacuba Julieta Venegas | |
| 10 | 2009 | Calle 13 Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo | Calle 13 Café Tacuba "No Hay Nadie Como Tú" | Luis Fonsi Aleks Syntek Noel Schajris David Bisbal "Aquí Estoy Yo" | Alexander Acha | Calle 13 | Calle 13 | |
| 11 | 2010 | Juan Luis Guerra A Son de Guerra | Camila "Mientes" | Camila "Mientes" | Alex Cuba | Camila Juan Luis Guerra | Juan Luis Guerra Jorge Drexler Alejandro Sanz | |
| 12 | 2011 | Calle 13 Entren Los Que Quieran | Calle 13 "Latinoamérica" | Calle 13 "Latinoamérica" | Sie7e | Calle 13 | Calle 13 | |
| 13 | 2012 | Juanes MTV Unplugged | Jesse & Joy "¡Corre!" | Jesse & Joy "¡Corre!" | 3BallMTY | Jesse & Joy | Juan Luis Guerra | |
| 14 | 2013 | Draco Rosa Vida | Marc Anthony "Vivir Mi Vida" | Carlos Vives "Volví A Nacer" | Gaby Moreno | Carlos Vives Sergio George | Carlos Vives Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas Javier Garza | |
| 15 | 2014 | Paco de Lucía Canción Andaluza | Jorge Drexler Ana Tijoux "Universos Paralelos" | Enrique Iglesias Descemer Bueno Gente de Zona "Bailando" | Mariana Vega | Enrique Iglesias Descemer Bueno Gente de Zona | Eduardo Cabra | |
| 16 | 2015 | Juan Luis Guerra Todo Tiene Su Hora | Natalia Lafourcade "Hasta La Raíz" | Natalia Lafourcade "Hasta La Raíz" | Monsieur Periné | Natalia Lafourcade | Leonel García | |
| 17 | 2016 | Juan Gabriel Los Dúo, Vol. 2 | Carlos Vives Shakira "La Bicicleta" | Carlos Vives Shakira "La Bicicleta" | Manuel Medrano | Juan Gabriel Carlos Vives Shakira Manuel Medrano Yandel Los Fabulosos Cadillacs Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas Fonseca | Djavan Fonseca Jesse & Joy | |
| 18 | 2017 | Rubén Blades Salsa Big Band | Luis Fonsi Daddy Yankee "Despacito" | Luis Fonsi Daddy Yankee "Despacito" | Vicente García | Luis Fonsi Daddy Yankee | Residente | |
| 19 | 2018 | Luis Miguel ¡México Por Siempre! | Jorge Drexler "Telefonía" | Jorge Drexler "Telefonía" | Karol G | Jorge Drexler | J Balvin | |
| 20 | 2019 | Rosalía El Mal Querer | Alejandro Sanz Camila Cabello "Mi Persona Favorita" | Pedro Capó "Calma" | Nella | Rosalía Alejandro Sanz | Alejandro Sanz |
Leading winners
With 21 Latin Grammy Awards, Calle 13 have won the most Latin Grammy Awards. Juanes, with 19 Latin Grammy Awards, holds the record for most awards won by a solo artist. Shakira is the biggest winner among female artists with 13 awards.Criticism
As with its Grammy Awards counterpart, the Latin Grammy Awards has also received criticism from various recording artists and music journalists.Upon the announcement of the Latin Grammy Awards in 1999, several musical journalists raised concerns about the awards being used as a marketing tool by the mainstream media. Manny S. Gonzalez of the Vista En L.A felt that the award would just be used to advertise artists being promoted by Emilio Estefan. The lack of categories for non Spanish and Portuguese-speaking music has been criticized, namely by artists who consider their work to be "Latin" but are not eligible for a Latin Grammy including those from Haiti and Celtic musicians from the Galicia and Asturias regions of Spain. The linguistic requirement has also been criticized by Tony Succar whose album, , was not eligible for a Latin Grammy Award despite the album being recorded in salsa. In response to the criticism, a spokesman for the Latin Recording Academy stated: "The Latin Recording Academy considers music based on the contents of the recording itself -- the technical elements that go into the art of music making -- not based on how a recording or an artist is marketed externally." In 2001, Cuban exiles living in Miami protested at the Latin Grammy Awards for allowing musicians living in Cuba to perform at the stage. This resulted in the Latin Grammys being moved to Los Angeles for the second annual awards.
Venezuelan singer-songwriter Franco de Vita called the Latin Grammys "fake and a lie" and stated that if he were to win the award, he would not accept it. He later received a Latin Grammy for his album En Primera Fila. American musician Willie Colón observed the relationship between the Latin Grammys and major Latin record labels. Mexican singer-songwriter Aleks Syntek noted that Mexican artists in general were apathetic towards the awards.
Ceremony locations
The Latin Grammy Awards are held annually in Las Vegas. The ceremony has been held there annually since 2009 and was first held there in 2007. The ceremony spent its first few years being held in Los Angeles and in 2003 took place in Miami. The ceremony had also been held once in New York City and Houston.In Las Vegas the ceremony has been held at three different venues over the years; the Mandalay Bay Events Center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the T-Mobile Arena.