Revenue / 04.13.22

Punching Above Their Weight: How One Small Island Is Having a Huge Impact on Touring

Access Staff

Pollstar (04/07/22) King, Ariel

Puerto Rico is dominating the music touring sector, with artists like Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro seeing record grosses. No Limit Entertainment founder Paco Lopez says this trend is due to the fact that "in Puerto Rico, the fanbase is not like anywhere else ... People are very proud and it's a very hard market to get into. When Puerto Rico gives you the blessing, you know you made it." The territory's relationship with the United States gives domestic artists a tremendous advantage in breaking through into the mainland. For one thing, they need no visa to tour there, as they are already born U.S. citizens. "It has the infrastructure of the U.S. while being a Latin island," explains Leila Cobo, Billboard's VP of Latin Music. Every breakthrough Puerto Rican artist inspires a new generation to pursue success, while the island's Coliseo de Puerto Rico arena helps move major tickets for both native and visiting acts. "It's not like many other Caribbean countries have the right venues for touring," Cobo notes. "They have Coliseo, and then they have a bunch of other venues but the Coliseo of course is the anchor."

Read the full story from Pollstar. 

Tags: Music , News