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Latino artists enthusiastically join the podcast craze

Demi Lovato, Becky G, Ivy Queen, Chiquis, Evaluna Montaner, Diane Guerrero, Daniel Habif and Joy Huerta (from Jesse and Joy) are some of the celebrities who already have their own podcast, a fad that has been in Hollywood for years, along with that Latinos are joining late, but with great enthusiasm.

“Podcasts are a great way for fans to see who we are as people, in a longer format and without filters,” Becky G, one of the pioneers of podcasts of famous Latinos, told EFE. podcast “En la sala” from Amazon Music.

For the artist “the Latino community is radio and podcasts are part of that audio culture”, they just need to continue discovering this type of productions and “famous names help the entire community of ‘podcasters’ have visibility”,

Jesús Lara, president of Uforia, the audio arm of the Univision network, shares the vision of the artist of Mexican descent. “Podcasts are to radio what video streaming platforms have been to television, with the difference that our industry has adapted much faster to this technology and this way of making programming for the audio audience.”

But also, Lara told Efe, “the strategy of relating to the audience through personalities, which generate closeness and curiosity to the audience is not new … It has been an essential part of the growth of Latino audiovisual media in the United States and it came of what is done in Latin America ”.

A lot to say
However, not everything is strategy, assured Carolina Sandoval, who for more than a decade was a commentator on entertainment issues under the nickname “La vennosa.” “Social networks opened our eyes to many famous people. We realized that the public is hungry for content that is positive and in that sense celebrities have a lot to say ”.

Her podcast “Cuéntamelo todo” is a calmer version of her live videos on Instagram in which she talks about her experiences as a single mother, her romantic and family life and her experiences as an “influencer”. “It has surprised me that people identify even more with the stories when they can listen to them in their time,” Sandoval told Efe.

The same experience has been for international stars Demi Lovato, who is using her podcast to educate on issues of sexual equity, and Diane Guerrero, whose “Yeah, I Am Not OK” podcast is a speaker for talking about mental health.

Guerrero, of Colombian descent also touches on the effects US immigration policies have on undocumented families. He knows what he’s talking about. For Guerrero, her psyche was permanently impacted by the deportation of her parents when she was a child.

A newcomer to the podcast world is Joy Huerta, the singer of the Mexican-American duet Jesse y Joy. The artist launched the podcast “Unlearning” this November, in which he talks with his wife Diana Atri about the challenges they encountered when they decided to start a family. So far it is the only one of this type of celebrity shows that talks about the LGBTQ + reality.

A safe business
Unlike any kid of a neighbor who decides to podcast, celebrities were, for the most part, recruited by new and established media companies.

For example, the bet of the former presenter of “Despierta América” Ana Patricia Gámez, the fashion commentator of Univision Jomari Goyso, the host and model Alejandra Espinoza, and the Mexican actors José Eduardo Derbez and Martha Higareda are part of the productions of the Pitaya Entertainment company, made up of television executives.

Huerta y Atria’s is from Sonoro, a podcast company created by former producers for the Los Angeles Times, Disney, and other media companies.

Among Spotify’s original productions is “Loud”, the reggaeton story by Ivy Queen and Amazon Music has just released the second season of “En la sala”, this time with Evaluna Montaner. The podcast of Chiquis, one of the most popular female artists of regional Mexican music, is in the iHeart Media catalog.

And as Lara de Uforia explained, “the podcast market for the Latino audience, whether in Spanish or English, is still very young. There is a lot of room to grow and a lot of interest from the audience and advertisers ”.

So much so that the executive ruled out that there is a danger of cannibalizing the radio market. “They are different formats and the Latino audience, specifically in the United States, is neglected in the world of podcasts.”

His claim is supported by the numbers. According to the Canadian podcast measurement company Tritón Media, more than three million podcasts were downloaded in Latin America in October this year. A very small segment of the region’s population.

In the United States, there was a 44% increase in podcast listeners among Latinos over 18 years of age in the period between July 2020 and July 2021, revealed a study by Edison Research.

Even with this rise, the figure is just 16 million people. Of these, 44% listen to productions in English and 33% in Spanish, but almost all of them assured that it is difficult for them to find podcasts directed towards them.

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