The 60th LASA (Latin American Studies Association) Congress is taking place between May 25 and 30. On Saturday, May 30, Daniel Party will coordinate the panel “Cultural Expressions and Identity in Latin America.” The CMUS senior researcher will also present the paper “Gender Gaps in Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs Chart (1986–2024).”

The academic from the Catholic University also referred to his presentation: “In the mid 2010s, Billboard magazine noted a striking gender gap in its Latin charts: “Latin music has long been dominated by male artists, and, oddly, during the past few years their sway has increased” (Cobo 2015). The data was, indeed, striking. For almost half of 2015, no song with a woman as main artist appeared on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, and no such song reached the #1 position of that chart in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018. Inspired by this news, we set out to study
longer-term trends in gender gaps on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs Chart.
identified in previous research on other music styles, such as pop, country and R&B?

This chart was established in 1986, and it initially relied on airplay from Spanish-language radio stations in the United States. Since 2012, its methodology has expanded to include digital sales, radio airplay, and online
streaming. We constructed a dataset of all songs that charted between 1986 and 2024, adding demographic and musical data (92448 observations in total). This dataset enabled us to explore several key questions regarding gender gaps in the chart: Were the mid-2010s an anomaly? Was this drought related to the rise of urban music genres, such as reggaetón? Was it related to the newfound relevance of streaming? And how do gender gaps in Latin music compare to gaps identified in previous research on other music styles, such as pop, country and R&B?

Daniel Party at LASA Congress
Saturday, May 30th , 12:00pm – 01:30 pm
Marriott Rive Gauche – Loft A, Paris