Biggest Stars in Latin Music Converge on Miami for Billboard Awards and Conference

Peso Pluma is the top finalist with 21 nods across 15 categories. Bad Bunny, another top finalist, will perform a new song at the awards.

It’s a big week for Latin music in Miami. Billboard Latin Music Week kicked off on Monday at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, and the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards will take place this Thursday, at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, where Bad Bunny is expected to premiere a new song.  

The five-day event, which bills itself as “the biggest week in Latin Music,” runs Oct. 2-6, and offers panels featuring top artists, networking events and workshops with industry executives, live concerts, and more. The conference gives up-and-coming artists the opportunity to network with industry executives and rub elbows with Latin music’s biggest stars. This year, over 50 artists will be participating, including Shakira, Ivy Queen, Kany García, Wisin, and Peso Pluma.

More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the week-long event. Conference passes are sold out, however as of Monday, tickets are still available to some of the live concerts.

The jewel in this week’s crown is the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Thursday. What sets this award show apart from others is that it’s a reflection of the public’s taste rather than industry favoritism. Instead of an academy of voters, these awards are based on chart performance.

“It’s the only [award show] based strictly on chart performance,” Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer of Latin-Español, told PopSugar. “We have a couple of ‘special’ awards like a lifetime achievement award and a spirit of hope award for philanthropic work, but otherwise, everything is based solely on charts. So, we don’t call them nominees; we call them finalists because we don’t nominate them.”

Peso Pluma is the top finalist with 21 nods across 15 categories, including artist of the year, songwriter of the year, global 200 Latin artist of the year, and top Latin album of the year. Bad Bunny, another top finalist, will be performing a new song at the awards, Billboard reports.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on Telemundo and Universo, and will be available to stream on Peacock.

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