Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Bad Bunny, Maluma … all are on a first-name basis with Bruno Del Granado, head of the global Latin music touring group at CAA, and our guest on this week’s edition of Variety‘s Strictly Business podcast. And it’s no wonder, seeing as he’s played no small role in their successes throughout the years, first as an executive at MTV, later as a manager, and for the last nine years, as an agent and executive at CAA — you could also throw onto his resume marketer, historian, PR strategist and even unofficial census monitor.
Where music is concerned, the U.S. has come a long way since 1954 when Richie Valens’ “La Bamba” catapulted up the charts and could be heard on radio stations everywhere. Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find a pop playlist or late-night TV show lineup that doesn’t feature a Latin artist, never mind arenas around the globe.
Del Granado walks us through the “Latin explosions” that got us here, touching on everything from the loss of Selena Quintanilla to the record-shattering arrival of Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” onto American shores in 2017.
These days, non-English speaking artists are no longer required to conform to Anglicized lyrics and that’s led to artists like J. Balvin and Bad Bunny becoming bankable international stars and to the embrace of K-pop music, best demonstrated by the astronomical reach of acts like BTS.
Del Granado talks about these topics, and provides a lens into current-day Miami as it relates to the making of entertainment in all its forms. Listen to the episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.