A handful of Latin music executives have shared their 2023 forecasts, off the back of a seminal year for both the market and its homegrown stars.

“Latin America has seen historic record-breaking ticket sales in 2022,” Bruce Moran, president of Latin America at Live Nation, tells IQ.

“Coldplay alone has set sales records in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, and Argentina. The pace of sales, the number of shows and the multiple-show engagement have never ever been seen before in the region. The success of the concert industry in Latin America has been unprecedented, spectacular and, for me, career-affirming.”

Moran says only time will tell if 2023 will exceed the stratospheric success of 2022, but he’s certain it’ll be another fantastic year for the Latin American business.

“Live Nation Latin America is poised already to have a strong 2023,” he says. “The unfortunate postponement of Coldplay’s 2022 sold-out Brazil run unexpectedly resulted in significantly greater sales for the rescheduled dates in 2023, as we moved into a larger Sao Paulo venue due to availability and also to the addition of two Curitiba sellouts to the run.

“THE PACE OF SALES, THE NUMBER OF SHOWS AND THE MULTIPLE-SHOW ENGAGEMENT HAVE NEVER EVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN THE REGION”

“In addition to the Backstreet Boys, Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Motley Crue/Def Leppard all confirmed and on sale, we are poised to add a whole host of other events to the 2023 concert calendar.”

Move Concerts CEO Phil Rodriguez, meanwhile, is bullish about the continued growth of the market and the genre in 2023, adding: “Without a doubt, this genre is here to stay and grow and expand, just like hip-hop did.

“We will be announcing various tours for 2023 within the next month but so far what we have on sale is doing great – we just went up with Jack Johnson dates in Brazil for January and it is selling stronger than the last time in 2017. In Puerto Rico, we have seven arena dates sold out with Arcangel plus two sold-out stadium shows at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium with Karol G.”

Both Rodriguez and Moran recently told IQ that Karol G would be Latin America’s next superstar, soon after her recent $trip Love outing became the highest-grossing US tour by a female Latin act in history.

Star artists, such as Karol G, will largely dictate Latam’s growth in 2023, according to Carlos Geniso of Chilean promoter DG Medios.

“WITHOUT A DOUBT, THIS GENRE IS HERE TO STAY AND GROW AND EXPAND, JUST LIKE HIP-HOP DID”

“The market is in constant growth, sometimes at a moderate pace and at other times, depending on the impact generated by the artist, it can be much higher,” he tells IQ. “If an artist launches a hit, they will have a great impact in the media and great rotation on digital platforms. Then a tour and press actions can be added, therefore the growth will go up even faster.”

Geniso has also reported strong ticket sales for 2023 concerts from the likes of Imagine Dragons, Def Leopard, Motley Crue, Big Time Rush and Backstreet Boys.

The latter will perform in February at the Sausalito Stadium in Viña del Mar, a city northwest of Santiago, which Geniso says “promotes the decentralisation of concerts in the Chilean capital, where all major events are held”.

Live Nation’s Moran also notes the opportunity to develop lesser-toured cities in Latin America, adding: “As our industry and as touring artists continue to recognise the wonder of the region and its audiences, we have more opportunities to expand the map.

“The longer an artist devotes to the Latin American region, the more cities we can include in a Latin American tour. Many touring artists in the recent past did not often venture to Belo Horizonte or Curitiba, Quito or Guatemala City or many other important sites that they do now. We are proud to work to bring more shows to more cities than ever before.”

Read more about Latin America’s rising stars and burgeoning touring market in IQ‘s recent market report.

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