As streaming grows in Latin America, Eastern Europe and elsewhere, hits will come from all over
Os Baroes Da Pisadinha is not a household name in the United States, Mexico, Colombia or any other Spanish-speaking country in Latin America. But the Brazilian duo is popular enough at home for its track “Recairei” to reach No. 178 on the Nov. 20-dated Billboard Global 200 chart. The group’s top 50 Spotify markets were all in Brazil, as were its top 50 markets by audience size, according to Chartmetric, and just a shade under 99% of their YouTube audience is from the duo’s native country.
Brazil, though, is the world’s sixth most populous nation, behind China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan, and its 210 million people can put a local hit on a global chart. Brazil is a mature streaming market with digital-savvy music lovers who were introduced to the subscription model by the now-defunct Muve Music and Napster in 2013 (Spotify arrived in 2014). So while the Brazilian market is dominated by local music with Portuguese lyrics, it can also give a boost to an English- or Spanish-language song. In September, Brazilian YouTube users’ favorite English-language song was Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” (featuring Cardi B), which reached No. 138 on the Global 200 three years after its release. In fact, Brazil is Maroon 5’s second-biggest market, after the United States, when it comes to Spotify and YouTube users.