Meet Columbia’s Taylor Swift, Carol G

We’ve all heard of Taylor Swift, but what about Colombian singer Karol G?

While Swift has dominated headlines and concert ticket sales in recent years, it’s actually the 33-year-old Latin American pop star whose videos have been the most viewed online in recent years.

This is according to Vevo, the main provider of official music videos on YouTube. Karol G was the most streamed single worldwide for three consecutive years – 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Last year, Karol ji’s Vivo videos were 4.7 billion views, Fellow Colombian Shakira is in second place with 3.2 billion, and Swift is in second place with three million. A similar picture is expected when Vivo releases its 2024 figures this month.

So who is Karol G, and what fueled his success, which led him to sell out Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium four nights ago in July, as well as stadiums across the US last year?

Born in 1991 in the Colombian city of Medellin, her full name is Carolina Giraldo Navarro. She wanted to be a singer from an early age and when she was 14, she appeared on the Colombian version of the talent show X Factor in 2005.

Success did not come immediately, and instead by 2014 she had moved to the United States to live with her aunt in New York City to learn English and work odd jobs. At this time she had almost given up on pursuing a career in music, but her father reassured her that she could make it.

While in the US, Karol G also attended a music business conference in Boston, which she says helped her a lot in understanding how the industry works.

He had his breakthrough hit single in 2017, Ahora Me Llama, a collaboration with Puerto Rican male artist Bad Bunny. After this his first album Unstoppable came.

The hits have been steady since then, and her 2023 album, Mañana Sera Bonito, was the first album by a female artist released entirely in Spanish. To top the US album chart.

Karol G’s musical style is often described as “Reggaeton”It combines hip-hop with Latin American and Jamaican music, with singing and rapping typically performed in Spanish.

While she is widely said to be both hard-working and ambitious, Rocío Guerrero, head of Latin music at Amazon Music, says that the singer – and Latin music in general – has been forced to change her career by the rise of streaming. The music has helped a lot in both. Video.

“Streaming has democratized the landscape,” says Ms. Guerrero, noting that it has allowed Latin music to travel around the world that wasn’t being played on mainstream radio stations.

“Radio stations were local, but with streaming we brought all those audiences (worldwide) together. It’s given more opportunities for more Latin songs and artists to come out. Karol G is a perfect example of this evolution. “

Today more than a third of Latin music on Amazon Music is consumed outside Latin America, and Karol G’s listenership has grown by more than 250% in the last three years alone.

Meanwhile, in America, Latin music is now fastest growing style, According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), venues raked in a record $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) last year. The share of streaming in this was 98%.

And this year, Karol’s G’s Manana Sera Bonito album was 4th most streamed On Spotify globally.

This helped drive interest in their 2023–24 sell-out, global Mañana Serra Bonito Tour. It generated $307 million in ticket sales. And while that figure is less than the $2 billion earned by Taylor Swift’s Eraz tour, Karol G’s earnings were the highest for a female Latin artist.

Carlos Balado, professor at the OBS Business School in Barcelona, ​​analyzes the economic impact of music festivals. He says that both Karol G and Taylor Swift have benefited from the increasing popularity of attending such big live events.

He further added, “There is a growing trend where the public recognizes that a portion of their general expenditure is spent on music festivals.”

Leila Cobo, chief content officer for Latin/Español at the American music magazine Billboard, also known for its music charts, says Karol G has helped put Colombian music on the map.

She says, “I think music is the greatest ambassador for Colombia. I really do.” “And Karol G took advantage of this female Latino fan base who really didn’t have anyone like her. They wanted someone relatable, fun, sexy, had a good song, but wasn’t completely over the top. Was.

“And reggaeton is very danceable, it’s highly consumable, it’s highly youth-oriented,” says Ms. Cobo, author of a book on Latin music.

Despite winning numerous awards and critical acclaim, Karol G has not been immune to criticism. His lyrics have been criticized for being too raunchy, and critics have also taken aim at him for calling one of his songs “bichota”. It is a slang term meaning big shot or boss, and is often associated with drugs and criminality.

He argues that he reproduced the term to signify empowerment. As for his lyrics, his defenders say that instead of singing about women and objectifying them, he sings on their behalf.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Karol G has an estimated net worth of $25 million by 2023 – a figure that is likely to increase substantially since her recent tour.

Apart from music she makes money by collaborating with shoemaker Crocs, sportswear brand Kappa, Smirnoff Vodka and Spanish fashion label Loewe. His name has also appeared on the front of FC Barcelona shirts as part of the football club’s partnership with music streamer Spotify.

Ms Cobo says: “She is on the move. She is a very bright, curious person and is always trying to move forward. And she knows very well that it’s not just about the music.”

Karol G’s business ventures are controlled by her company Girl Power Inc., which also oversees her charity Con Cora Foundation.

Its purpose is to help improve the lives of underprivileged women and children throughout Latin America, such as giving educational scholarships to teenage mothers, supporting girls who want to go into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, providing financial support to children’s soccer teams. Providing support, and society-reintegration projects for female prisoners.

Meanwhile, Karol G launched her own record label, Bichota, in 2023 to take greater control over her music, which was later distributed and promoted by American company Interscope, part of the giant Universal Music Group.

Yet despite his global success, there are still markets he has not yet touched – the UK for example, where he is still not widely known. A small one near Britain, But Hispanic immigrants are growing rapidly.

However, Amazon’s Ms Guerrero thinks it will be a matter of time before Karol G makes a splash in the British market. “It’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time,” she says.