Music Biz To Honor ‘Despacito’ Success During Awards Luncheon

The Music Business Association will present its Outstanding Achievement Award to record-breaking hit “Despacito,” (by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee along with Justin Bieber on its remix,) at the Music Biz 2018 Awards Luncheon during its 60th annual conference on May 17 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.

Released on January 13, 2017, “Despacito,” which is primarily sung in Spanish, quickly became a dominant Latin smash, debuting at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart and reaching No. 1 a month later, where it has remained for 42 non-consecutive weeks. A remix featuring Justin Bieber released the following April, jolting “Despacito” to No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, the first primarily Spanish song to do so since “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” in 1996. The track held the top spot for 16 consecutive weeks, and “Despacito” has since become the first-ever Latin single to be certified Diamond by the RIAA with over 10 million sales and track-equivalent streams. It currently reigns as the most-watched video in YouTube history, with over 4.7 billion views. It was also the first primarily Spanish song to top 1 billion streams on Spotify.

“No other song in the past year illustrates so perfectly the way that music overcomes barriers quite like ‘Despacito,’” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “Throughout 2017, the track dominated more than just the Latin charts, proving that fans will embrace music from cultures and in languages that are foreign to them. We are really excited to recognize the song and the artists’ success at Music Biz 2018.”

“My heartfelt thanks to Music Biz for honoring ‘Despacito’ and its achievements,” said Fonsi. “The amazing response from around the world has been overwhelming in the best possible way. This is an exciting time for Latin music, and I’m just so honored that the world connected to the song, a Spanish song, and to see all of these beautiful countries singing in Spanish. Thanks to Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber, Erika Ender, Andres Torres, and Mauricio Rengifo. Thanks again to Music Biz and, of course, my fans everywhere!”

The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes exceptional creative, commercial or charting accomplishments by artists, songwriters and recordings. Previous winners include the Hamilton Original Cast Recording & Mixtape and the Frozen soundtrack.

Registration for Music Biz 2018 is open now at musicbiz2018.eventbrite.com, with special early bird rates available through March 2.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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