BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) is has announced its 28th Annual BMI Latin Awards, recognizing the top songwriters and publishers of the previous year’s most-performed Spanish-language songs in the United States. Top winners, including Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year, Regional Mexican Songwriter of the Year, Contemporary Latin Song of the Year, Regional Mexican Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year, were announced across BMI’s digital and social channels to celebrate their outstanding achievements. To see the complete list of winners, hear their hit songs, watch special video messages and performances and view more exclusive content, go to bmi.com/latin2021.
“It’s an honor to pay tribute to BMI’s exceptional family of music creators for writing and producing some of the most successful songs in Latin music,” said Jesus Gonzalez, BMI’s newly appointed Vice President, Creative, Latin. “From Contemporary Latin to Regional Mexican, these remarkable visionaries are shaping the sound of today’s Latin music and inspiring the music makers of tomorrow. Today, we applaud our winners and thank them for sharing their musical gifts, which have kept us dancing and touched our hearts during these unprecedented times.”
For the second time, Latin GRAMMY award-winning hitmaker Ozuna was named Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year for penning eight of BMI’s most-performed songs. From his reggaeton duet “Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi” with Rosalía, that made its onstage debut at the 2019 MTV VMA’s, to the infectious tracks “Otro Trago” (Remix) and “China,” which both landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, Ozuna continues to dominate the airwaves. “Adicto,” a collaboration with Tainy and Anuel AA, earned the prolific songwriter his 21st top-ten single on the Hot Latin Songs chart, according to Billboard. Other top-performing singles by Ozuna include “Baila Baila Baila” and “Baila Baila Baila” (Remix), “Te Robaré” and “Te Soñé de Nuevo,” bringing his tally to an impressive 23 BMI Awards, including Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year in 2018 and Contemporary Latin Song of the Year of 2019 for co-writing the smash, “Taki Taki.”
Contemporary Latin Song of the Year was awarded to the global smash hit “Callaíta” by Tainy, Víctor Cabrera “Tunes,” Felix Ortiz “Zion” and Francisco Saldaña “Luny.” Decorated producer and songwriter Tainy sampled the classic 2005 hit, “Alócate,” by reggaeton pioneers Zion, Luny and Tunes, and added his fresh spin to the rhythmic track performed by Bad Bunny. “Callaíta” won Urban/Trap Song of the Year at the 2020 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards and topped Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. The summer anthem spent most of the season on the Billboard Hot 100, has over 760 million streams on Spotify and exceeded 660 million views on YouTube.
The coveted title of Regional Mexican Songwriter of the Year went to Horacio Palencia, who previously received this accolade in 2016 and 2017 as well as Latin Songwriter of the Year in 2015, 2014, 2012 and 2010. He wrote seven of the genre’s most-performed songs in BMI’s repertoire, including “El Amor de Mi Vida,” “Escondidos,” “Esta Va Por Ti,” “Estas Ganas de Tomar,” “Mi Meta Contigo” “Mía Desde Siempre,” and “Amor A Primera Vista” which peaked at No.2 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart and has surpassed over 400 million views on YouTube. With 42 BMI Latin Awards in his collection of honors, the esteemed songwriter continues to be an influential force and prominent figure within the genre and beyond. Regional Mexican Song of the Year was awarded to Edgar Barrera and José Esparza, for the critically acclaimed track “De Los Besos Que Te Di,” which was nominated for Best Regional Song at the 2019 Latin GRAMMYs. This marks the second year in a row that Barrera has received this accolade, and this is the first BMI Latin Award for Esparza.
Universal Music Publishing Group was named Publisher of the Year for representing 20 of BMI’s most-performed Latin songs of 2020 with “11PM,” “Con Altura,” “Mi Meta Contigo,” “QUE PRETENDES,” “Que Calor,” and “Sin Memoria,” among those honored from their esteemed catalog.
BMI also commemorated the songwriters and publishers of the 50 most-performed Latin songs of the previous year with an astounding 35 first-time BMI Latin Award honorees. Some of the new inductees include the genre-bending sensation Rosalía, chart-topping Colombian songstress Karol G, Panamanian singer Sech, Regional Mexican artist Ernesto Tapia and pop singer-songwriter Belinda Peregrín, to name a few. Additional honorees include acclaimed artists J Balvin, who picked up seven awards this year, bringing his total up to 21 BMI Latin Awards, and Anuel AA and Gaby Music each added six awards to their collection of accolades bumping their total to 10 and 21 BMI Latin Awards, respectively.
For a complete list of 2020 BMI Latin Award winners visit bmi.com/latin2021.
