SC-108 · Expert
Audiomack is Changing Latin Music and Fan Culture
Guest: Gineyda Cornelio, Director of Marketing and Latin Strategy at Audiomack
Summary
Gineyda Cornelio, Director of Marketing and Latin Strategy at Audiomack, traces her path from event marketing in Miami's Wynwood district through work as a music video production assistant, then landing at Audiomack five years ago as a social media editor and curator. Her interest in Latin urban music began at age eleven in Puerto Rico, discovering reggaeton through her uncle before streaming platforms existed.
She says Audiomack has seen a 19 percent rise in Latin listeners over the last couple of years, driven partly by Bad Bunny's globalization of the genre, including his Puerto Rico residency and a viral Calvin Klein collaboration. Cornelio argues Latin music succeeds even with listeners who do not speak Spanish because the instrumentation alone signals emotion, and social media exposure now pulls in curious outsiders.
Cornelio distinguishes Audiomack's approach from algorithm-only platforms: its curators actively research and champion new artists before they break out, comparing this to how A&R representatives once discovered talent. She also points to a boom in independent distribution, accelerated when unsigned musica mexicana artists who relied on royalties kept earning through the pandemic while some signed artists lost touring income.
As of the episode's release on 6 May 2025.
Key takeaways
- 01Cornelio discovered reggaeton at age eleven during a visit to Puerto Rico, before streaming platforms existed to help her find the music.
- 02She says Audiomack has seen a 19 percent increase in Latin listeners over the past couple of years, partly credited to Bad Bunny's crossover success.
- 03Cornelio argues fans connect with Latin music's emotional instrumentation even without understanding the lyrics, which helps it cross language barriers.
- 04She describes Audiomack's curators as actively researching and championing new artists early, closer to a traditional A&R role than a pure algorithm.
- 05Cornelio says musica mexicana's pandemic-era boom pushed many artists to stay independent, since royalty income kept them afloat when touring stopped.
- 06She sees the biggest gap in Latin music as artist business education, since many talented artists still lack industry knowledge more established markets take for granted.
Guest
- Gineyda Cornelio, Director of Marketing and Latin Strategy at Audiomack
Questions this episode answers
How much has Latin music grown on streaming platforms recently?
Cornelio says Audiomack alone has seen a 19 percent increase in Latin consumers over the past couple of years. She credits part of that growth to crossover stars like Bad Bunny, whose global reach and viral moments are pulling in listeners who had never engaged with Latin music before.
Why does Latin music connect with listeners who don't understand Spanish?
Cornelio says the instrumentation itself carries emotional meaning independent of the lyrics, so a listener can tell whether a song is sad, happy, or made for dancing just from the sound. That physical, catchy quality is what draws in people who cannot follow the words at all.
How does Audiomack decide which new Latin artists to support?
Cornelio says Audiomack's curators, herself included, keep an A&R-style role alive by actively researching and listening rather than relying purely on algorithms. The goal is to be the first platform to champion an artist before they break out, then support their trajectory as they grow.
Why did musica mexicana artists become known for staying independent?
Cornelio explains that many musica mexicana artists broke out during the pandemic while still unsigned, and survived on royalty income rather than touring revenue. Signed artists who depended more on live shows struggled when touring stopped, which reinforced independence as a viable path for the genre's new stars.
What does the Latin music industry still lack compared to more established markets?
Cornelio says many talented Latin artists still lack business and industry education that artists in more established markets, like the American scene, already take for granted. She sees this gap as a major opportunity and spends time personally advising artists on the business side of their careers.
We like to be the ones to find these hidden gems that are just starting and be the first one to support them and kind of celebrate their wins and their trajectory along the way until they finally become these big superstars.
Episode notes
From island beats to global charts, Gineyda Cornelio, Director of Marketing & Latin Strategy at AudioMack is rewriting the rules of today’s music business.
She traces her own path from club social-media gigs in Miami to guiding AudioMack’s Latin growth, then breaks down the numbers behind the genre’s 19% listener surge, the rise of independent distribution, and why Bad Bunny, Karol G, and regional Mexican stars are changing global charts.
She shares candid insights on licensing hurdles, touring economics, and the power of color-coded branding that turns casual listeners into loyal advocates.
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Sponsored by Allfeat: Decentralized Blockchain Solutions for the Music Industry - https://www.allfeat.com/
Produced by Amplitude Ventures Consulting: Partners in Early-Stage Music Tech - https://amplitude.ventures
Topics
Transcript
Transcribed from the recording by the production team. Names and terms may be misspelled.
Read the full transcript
Gineyda Cornelio
It's my first time.
Jakob
Is yeah, it's a platform that streams our conversation. It downloads the video and uploads the video at the same time, which means I get full quality at the end. And also if there's any lags or whatever, I don't get that. So we're quite safe, but it does once in a while result in like tiny bit laggy, like grainy video, but you don't need to worry about that. That's nothing that's gonna show in the end result. We also have pretty good noise suppression in the tools we're using so if there's any background noise you don't need to worry about that either. That very rarely becomes any issue. Yeah, the conversation usually is 35 to 55 minutes. There's no right or wrong and hopefully you have booked some enough time on your calendar. And we try to as much as possible try to understand narratives from a more like where's the complications? Where's the problems? And I, as a Scandinavian, we're typically fairly dark. I don't know if you've seen any Nordic Crimes, crime series, that's some really dark stuff. I have a love for understanding the difficulties of journeys. And I try to, as much as possible, try to understand that more so than the victories, if that makes sense. So obviously, you know, there's limits to what we can talk about in this journey with like downsides, but I do believe we can talk about the struggles of entering new territory, of being first movers, of being investors and complications with licensing. Guess there's like a lot of things you could cover if you want to. And of course, within the boundaries of what AudiMac wants to talk about and also, you know, within the sub boundaries of the conversations that I questions that I've asked beforehand. Does that make sense?
Gineyda Cornelio
That makes sense. I don't know how much. I'll try to answer a bit about licensing, but it's not my department, so I don't know too much of the nitty gritty about it.
Jakob
No, but again, I think the questions I will ask will come naturally spinning off statements you'll do in the bucket. So I doubt I'll ask questions that's outside of your comfort zone. I'll try to make it as a natural continuation of whatever's set before. Great. Do you have any questions? No?
Gineyda Cornelio
No, not at the moment. No
Jakob
Okay, if you could put your devices on Do Not Disturb, that would be best, both your phone and your computer.
Gineyda Cornelio
Thank
Jakob
And then one of my worst fears as a podcast host weirdly is butchering names because I do it too often. So could you just help me understand again, how do I pronounce your name?
Gineyda Cornelio
Is janada.
Jakob
Janada. Okay. Janada. I just need to get that on my skin. Janada. Amazing. Well, perfect. The way that we start the episodes is quite casual and sort of follows the same recipe. That is, I'll do a very brief introduction and I'll say, welcome Janada. And then you'll say whatever is that response. And then I'll ask, who are you and what do you do? I try to set a conversational tone where guests introduce themselves. That's no matter how new or how long they've been in the game. And then I'll ask you about your journey into music and what you do with the audio Mac. And then you'll probably spend like a minute or two on that. Then I will. Mostly get into the questions and the topic, but I might, if the opportunity presents itself, also understand your journey better. Like what led you to where you are now? Like what kind of like experiences and reflections do you have in your journey and how does that bring you to where you are now with AudioMac? So I'll touch upon your personal career as much as possible. Of course, within the realms of this being what we call an expert episode, which is very much about the domain expertise and the topic. Thank Amazing. Janata. Amazing. Okay, good. Well, then I'm ready. Do you have water? Do you have everything you need? Good. Great. I just need to adjust my light a bit. I'm definitely not an expert, but this looks a bit white. I don't have great equipment, but I have good enough.
Gineyda Cornelio
Janita, yeah.
Gineyda Cornelio
I have everything I need.
Jakob
You
Jakob
Was overdoing it. No, I think that's almost there. I'm sorry. You never know in Norway that the lighting conditions always shift. Perfect. Well, I am ready if you are.
Gineyda Cornelio
I'm ready.
Jakob
I will start in five seconds.
Jakob
Hi guys and welcome back to the Sound Connections Podcast. Today I have Jin Neda in the studio.
Gineyda Cornelio
Hi Jacob, thanks so much for having me. So excited to be here.
Jakob
We're talking about something very interesting and that is, audio Mac. Is your journey, with Latin music and audio max training with Latin music. And I have explained this a few times in the podcast where we believe that territories that are left of center or like outside the realm of usual Western music understanding of where business is to be made and be serviced is where we want to put our efforts. So for me, this is a perfect episode today. Gineda for the people who don't know who you are. To you and what you do.
Gineyda Cornelio
So I'm Janata, I'm the Director of Marketing and Latin Strategy at Audio Mac. I come from a Latin family, being Dominican and Puerto Rican. I always felt a love for music. I grew up very culturally blessed in that aspect of being around a lot of Spanish music, which was kind of what led me towards wanting to pursue a career in the Latin music industry.
Jakob
And it's really interesting Latin music for me for example is something very unknown to be honest and a funny story is my brother's partner is in family with a big Latin star and, oh, who's that? It's a guy called Mark Anthony and I had no idea who that was. Apparently it's like a big, big star. So even the big, big stars in my brother's family, I had no idea who that was, if that makes sense. I feel like there's a big disconnect in these musical, cultural. Stars and idols that are so disconnected from different worlds. Do I understand that correctly or like there might be a bitters?
Gineyda Cornelio
Absolutely. And that's also the reason why I decided to focus in the live music industry because I grew up seeing someone like Mark Anthony as an icon, you know, but I grew up in the United States in Northern Eastern northeast of the United States so a lot of the music that was consumed at the time there is like hip-hop R &B and Growing up a lot of people would ask me like hey Why don't you just go into hip-hop and you know work with American artists and for me? I always saw you know the potential of Latin music and I wanted to be more in tune and supportive of my culture because of that because although it is a global genre the There's still a lot of areas in the world where they don't know about it.
Jakob
Hmm. And I guess there's also the element too of like how monetized it is, like how good of a distribution there is for streaming services or fan engagement or whatever. What would you describe the Latin music in the Latin world, their monetization of music? Is there good infrastructure? Are people actually paying for streaming services? What's the situation there?
Gineyda Cornelio
Absolutely. Just these last couple of years, we've seen in audio Mac alone a 19 % increase of Latin consumers and a growth in the Latin market. So definitely I feel like right now with artists like Bad Bunny, who are helping with the globalization of the genre, there's people everywhere, even those that may not know or speak Spanish that are consuming Spanish music. So we've seen a lot of growth recently and I feel like it's still a pretty new thing that's happening, so there's still a lot of potential for growth there.
Jakob
It's so interesting and again, I'm totally exposing myself in my lack of knowledge of music, but there this Spanish-speaking bang from Latin America that I that I've been listening to a lot and it's so foreign to me that I can't even remember the name as I'm speaking about it. They had this small desk sort of concert like two guys like really funny and for me that's just been repeat in my life. But again, that's the thing like it's so foreign for me like I can't even tell you what their name is. I can find it again on TikTok and that kind of stuff but like it's so distant but there is a whole world of music and I think A lot of our audience, or most of the audience, does not come from Latin America, or I would assume make a living out of Latin music. But it doesn't mean there's not a lot of business to be made. Could you tell me about what kind of business is made in Latin with Latin music? Is it different from what I truly should know? Is it maybe consuming Western music? Or is it like very similar?
Gineyda Cornelio
I believe it's similar, just the consumers are different because of the language, but it's the same scope, know, artists tour, they sell merch, they get royalties, it's all the same thing. It's a little bit different, I feel like, because from what I've seen, there's more like fanatism when it comes to the Latin community. Like there's Latin artists that... They go to countries like Chile and there's these very, very like third world countries where people do anything and everything to wait outside for them when they arrive at the airport and things like that. So I feel like as far as the fans, they're very, very connected, but it's the same formula.
Jakob
But you said you grew up with like also being exposed to hip hop and American culture. Like how did you get into your career where you are right now? Like what was the beginning of you being exposed to, okay, I want to work with Latin music.
Gineyda Cornelio
It actually happened during one of my visits to Puerto Rico. I've been, I feel blessed to still be very connected. My mom, my family made sure that I was still very connected with my culture. So my father is from the Dominican Republic. I would go every year over there and spend months in the Dominican Republic. So I was very, into that culture and experience and got to learn that side of things. But also in Puerto Rico was really where I realized that I wanted not only to work in Latin music, but Latin urban music, which at the time it was Reggaeton and it was just starting. I was probably like 11 years old and I went to the island and my uncle was listening to Reggaeton and I was like, what is this? And it was during like the era where it was blogs and you had to go online on the website. And see what music was out because platforms like Audio Mac didn't exist yet. So that was really my beginning of knowing that not only did I want to work in the music industry, but specifically in Latin music.
Jakob
Yeah, because you had a career and as far as I've been able to read, it's everything from video production to fashion to then also like being part of the marketing effort for Bad Bunny, which obviously is one of the most renowned artists in the world. Like how did that transition from what you told there to this?
Gineyda Cornelio
So I actually went to school, I graduated from a university, I did focus on entertainment business. So because I worked full time at the time, like... That's kind of the different structure of education in America where a lot of people are working and going to school because they have to provide and pay a lot of times out of pocket for their education. I was working full time, nothing related to music, but since I couldn't get an internship within the music industry while I was in college, I started just networking, going to different clubs and bars and seeing who I would meet with. Artists will perform or host at different clubs. At the time I was living in Miami, so I got to connect with an event marketing company who would bring these artists to this venue in Wynwood, which is like the art district of Miami. They just offered me opportunity to start doing social media for them. And I was able to meet a lot of artists, connect with artists, and also with people who worked in the music industry, like in the background. And that's kind of how I got my foot in the industry. I met someone who was a videographer and they connected me to a music video director who gave me the opportunity then to work as a production assistant. I did that for a while. Again, it was through networking. I got to meet a lot of different people and at an event was where I met someone who worked at audio Mac at the time who ended up Becoming my boss for many years. It was off of a conversation that we were having just trying to figure out who would be the next Latin star the top Latin star and We were having a debate about this and I just let him know hey if any opportunity comes up at audio Mac Please remember me and a couple of months later. That's exactly what happened. He reached out to
Gineyda Cornelio
He said there was a job opening if I was interested. I interviewed for it and you know, I was what I they were looking for. So I ended up getting the job. I started as a social media editor and curator and kind of worked my way up to around almost five years with the company. Now as the director of marketing and Latin strategy.
Jakob
Mm.
Jakob
Amazing. So what is the music industry, as I know it, missing out on when it comes to the Latin market? Where's the opportunity? Where can it be made business in ways that we maybe don't think about?
Gineyda Cornelio
A lot of and still we face that on the western side a lot of brands still don't believe as much in the genre just because it's not Promoted as much and they don't have the direct connection, but it's a trillion dollar You know space where there's a lot of opportunity to make money. Like I said, there's super fans who will pay anything and everything to see these artists, to buy merch, just like other genres. I think it's, like I said, it's been around for a while, but globally, commercially, there's still a lot of opportunity for advancement. There's still a lot of opportunity to get in and for the industry to grow. There's a lot of sub genres within Latin music. So. It's not just urban music. There's salsa, there's bachata, there's merengue within the tropical space. We've seen these last couple of years of boom in musica mexicana, which is like, it went from being called regional Mexican music to having to be changed to just Mexican music because it grew so much and there's so many artists that came out of Mexico, like Peso Pluma, that have become huge. And right now we're kind of seeing the same thing with like Brazil, Brazil. Is Brazilian music has existed for a long time, but now it's becoming more global and is also part of Latin. So there's so many genres and sub genres within Latin, and we've just been seeing all these stars just coming out and being successful and making it that I feel like now more than ever, the rest of the world is starting to turn their eye and look at what's going on within Latin music.
Jakob
What do you think there is about that music that is becoming successful, even when people don't understand the lyrics or maybe have a full culture and understanding of where the music comes from? What is it about at Latsa Music that's so interesting?
Gineyda Cornelio
I just think it's the passion behind it, not just like the sounds is different, it's catchy. Even if you don't know what they're saying, you're going to bow your head or shake your head to it, you know? And you still could feel based on the instruments used, what it's about. You're able to tell if it's a sad song, if it's a happy song, if it's a song that's gonna get you up and dancing. You'll know without having to understand the lyrics. I also feel like, you know, with this digital age, with social media, Right now, more than ever, there's so many people that are consuming this music and posting about it and going to concerts that... You see it all over the internet now and it's like, okay, what's going on? What is this? And I think that's what causes people that may not understand it to also look for it and just see what's going on. Especially like I said, our main example is Bad Bunny. He's created so many historic moments. He's done so many things like collaborations with Calvin Klein recently that went like global and viral. And he was able to, he was like the first artist to do a residency in Porter. He sold out like 30 dates this summer and he is just bringing so much to the economy, to his island too. So he's just in the news breaking these records and doing all these amazing things that I feel like you're bound to see it and you're bound to know what's going on.
Jakob
It's really fascinating. How do you go about marketing that? What are the things you play on to make sure that this sort of gets exposed?
Gineyda Cornelio
I just think it's the authenticity, know, like creating those super fans, the music industry for a while, it focused a lot on numbers, on like streams and like I have to do these campaigns to be able to get numbers and... We've seen a shift in that where it's more about the connection with the fans. The fans want to know about the artist. They want to know what's going on. So it's creating that relationship again and going back to what we call those super fans that are always going to be looking for what's happening with their favorite artists.
Jakob
My reference to sort of the ideal environment to monetize fandom is Asia, Southeast Asia. For me that's been incredibly fascinating to fall. How would you compare that in Latin America and how you would approach super fans compared to what they're doing? Like is it fundamentally different or like could you afford me that?
Gineyda Cornelio
Not at all. It's similar. It's, you know, they create these communities of for their fandom is like even Carol G. She goes through moments where she picks a color. She did great marketing recently where she disappeared all this year. She hadn't posted anything. And then a couple of days ago, she finally appeared again and it was to announce this documentary that she's doing with Netflix, but she changed her color. So one of her icons is a mermaid, but her actual like picture on Instagram has an orange background and her hair color is more orange. Now so everyone's talking about how she's entering her orange era and this started like she went through her blue era her red era her pink era so now she's going through her orange era and I feel like Latin artists are connecting a lot with that with colors There's also this artist named fade which like his whole entire branding is based off of the color green and He calls himself like the green goblin and you see the fans go to their shows and dress like them and wear the wigs when Carol had like blue hair, she did this whole thing where like everyone would go to her concerts with blue wigs. Right now it's Raul Alejandro, he released a project where it's very focused on like the 70s New York era and he has a lot of elements of music at that time and everyone's dressing up like that era so it's that, it's just creating that community, giving them like something like that to look forward to and to be a part of. It's really cool to see.
Jakob
Mm.
Jakob
For me, I'm sort of comparing with where I live right now in nobody. Just using an analogy of food, it's very rare you use anything other than salt and pepper. And even pepper, that's not something you use a lot. So it's basically just salt. Basically, there's not a lot of flavor to the food. There's not a lot of nuance to it. And obviously, in other parts of the world, the flavors, the experimentation, that whole culture of expressing yourself through food, culture, just voices and dances is very different from sort of the part of the world that I'm from. Which for me is also really, really interesting because I guess that's a part of what is really interesting about that music is that self-expression. How do you see that translate to other cultures? Do people, is it hard for people to grasp the Latin culture and Latin music or is it something that naturally occurs?
Gineyda Cornelio
Not at all. Think that people are fascinated by it and that's kind of like what clicks with other places around the world that don't necessarily, you know, are of our culture, but want to know of our culture. They see it's like they say no matter what we're going through, we're known for being very happy for celebrating, always having a good time. So I feel like that's also what attracts people around the world just to be in that energy as well. So yeah, you said it very well. It's like the flavor.
Jakob
Yeah, yeah. And, but again, do you feel like people that are exposed to this maybe like, that hasn't been exposed to it before? Are they bystanders that are fascinated like with some sort of FOMO or do people like also fairly quickly participate in that expression culture? How do you see this happening?
Gineyda Cornelio
I think it's a little bit of both. Think FOMO definitely sums it up because, you know, like I said, the internet does a great job of showing you what's happening. So a lot of our artists have gone viral because of that, because they're creating these experiences for their fans and then other people are looking at what's happening and they kind of want to be a part of it too. So they start doing their own research and seeing what's happening and they end up fascinated and wanting to be a part of it as well.
Jakob
Mm. For me, that's one of the most interesting things with these sort of cultural differences is as the internet and algorithms are exposing people to new flavors, this seems to also be emerging markets that are thriving from that. I guess one of the missions of AudioMac is also exposing or... bringing new music from maybe underexposed areas to other areas to expose it down. How do you go about deciding what to promote or stand behind as AudioMac? Do you have any policies for that?
Gineyda Cornelio
Yeah, so in contrast to a lot of other platforms, we have curators. I'm one of them. We actually sit there, we listen to the music, we research what's happening, what's going on. There's certain criteria of artists because we do have all the big artists available on the platform, but we consider ourselves a artist discovery platform where
Jakob
Please.
Gineyda Cornelio
We like to be the ones to find these hidden gems that are just starting and be the first one to support them and kind of celebrate their wins and their trajectory along the way until they finally become these big superstars. Like that's what's fulfilling to us. That's how we know we're doing our job right. And we're good at what we do when we support our artists from the very beginning and then they become these superstars. So I think it's not so much a formula. I just feel kind of like I have an ear for it. Sense and that's kind of the same with other curators. It's not 100 % of the time that we get it right but for the most part we do and when we do it's like so just gratifying because it's like yeah I believed in this project from the beginning you guys needed to catch up so look what's happening with their career now so it's cool. We do have different things that we do with the artists throughout like I said their levels of their career. It starts from you know editorial support, adding them to our editorial playlists and maybe giving them a playlist cover, doing some type of original content with them along the way until they finally, you know, blow up and just capture the rest of the world.
Jakob
So it's really hard for me to understand the dynamics of Latin music and what power artists might yield or you guys might yield. What's the situation when it comes to the power dynamics of the music industry and Latin music? Like is there a big presence in leadership? Is there a big presence in artists that are in control of, let's say, the careers that are making changes in the industry? How is that persistent right now?
Gineyda Cornelio
Yeah, I just say it's similar in a sense of like when you look at it from like these labels who are signing these artists, you have the major labels always, which is like the Sony, the Werner, the Universal. But we've also seen like a big, big momentum in like artists promoting independency and wanting to remain independent. So there's also came about these other like more boutique distribution companies that exist like OneRPM or Symphonic and for those listening to us that don't know what like a distribution company is basically our partners who make sure that we get the music to be able to have it for the masses. So, an artist creates a song, they partner or they find a distribution company and there's like from like a very independent type of distribution company like a Distro Kid or a Tune Core to like a United Masters, 1rpm, Symphonic who are more like independent distribution companies to more of like a 360 deal with a like a major label like I mentioned like a Sony or a Warner. So that's the different channels that deliver us the music to be able to have it available for our listeners. And it really, we've just seen a lot of artists just championing and wanting to stay independent. So they use these more independent distribution company and don't focus so much on getting a record deal, maybe getting a distribution deal. And so... Yeah, it's like different now to see that, but it's similar to what's happening with like American artists and I'm assuming artists in like Southeast Asia and in Europe. You know, there's all these different avenues for them to get their music to the masses or the types of artists that they could be, whether independent or whether signed to a label.
Jakob
Do believe that the independent mindset is more prominent in Latin music than others?
Gineyda Cornelio
I believe so. It's kind of the best example of that was música mexicana. Like I said, the recent explosion of Mexican music, a lot of them started off independent because their explosion really happened during the pandemic. So a lot of artists that depended on like touring and things like that and didn't focus so much on their royalties because they were signed. When the pandemic happened, they... weren't making as much money because they couldn't tour. Whereas all these other independent artists that maybe they didn't get a big deal at the time, but they were surviving off of their royalties, they were still surviving during the pandemic and not necessarily having to tour. So that's kind of what promoted also, I believe, as far as Latin independency, because they needed to survive. So that's how things happen with música mexicana. A lot of them remain independent, but throughout the years they became so huge. They started, you know. Getting these offers and some of them have transitioned to signing with major labels. But I feel like at the start you see that more. We see them focusing more now and trying to remain independent as long as possible so that when the time comes for them to do a deal with whoever, that it makes more sense to them.
Jakob
Is the financial reality of an upcoming artist similar for Latin artists than it is for, let's say, other territories? Basically, you know, there's financial differences around the world and also the appreciation for audiences to support an artist or being able to make money from touring might also differ. What's the financial realities of trying to make a career as a Latin artist?
Gineyda Cornelio
Yeah, I think it all depends. A lot of artists is different. Some of them, they find someone who can invest in their career from the beginning and they don't have to go through all those burdens. But I feel like it's similar. Mean, being an artist, eventually they are able to make a lot of money, but you spend a lot of money trying to make it. It's not all glitz and glamour. You know, you have to, there's a lot of ways that you have to spend the money to be able to make the money. And finally you reach that point where your goal viral, your notice, by one of these companies that are going to give you a good deal.
Jakob
Yeah, no, it's really difficult. I don't think it's easy for anyone. What is the future of Latin music? Do you think that it's gonna take an even bigger place than it has now? Because obviously it's been dominating charts for many, many years. But it seems like it's not slowing down. What's your impression of the whole genre?
Gineyda Cornelio
Yeah, like I said, it's still starting. We're still at the beginning of it. So I see more growth. I see us capturing more territory around the world, more people listening to our music. And we have artists so far that... We have seen those artists that have toured in places like Japan, that's like, wow, like our music made it this far. And I still, I feel like there's still room and potential for that and to reach even more corners of the world.
Jakob
And what is AudioMax Pro and that whole journey? Where are you guys in Latin America right now? Where are you present? What are you going for?
Gineyda Cornelio
Well, we're looking for the same thing. Like I said, we celebrate and we champion artists. So if we grow, they grow. And if they grow, we grow. We've always seen ourselves as a partner in our artist's career and the artists that we champion. So that's really what it's all about. It's growing more and being able to kind of be a channel to funnel this music across more territories.
Jakob
Yeah, because that sort of approach you have, which is sort of very pro-autist and discovery, it's an interesting model. It's not because there's anything wrong in the model, but traditionally speaking, companies in the music tech space has grown differently than the way you're approaching now. Do you believe that is a viable method going forward? That have very hands-on, very invested in the assets? Is that something Audimax is going to continue doing?
Gineyda Cornelio
Of course, because traditionally, like when you think of how artists were discovered. Before the digital era you had A &Rs that would go and search for these artists. Now with the digital era that doesn't happen as much because you can discover your next artist on a platform like TikTok and they go viral and things like that. But we still like to keep that A &R aspect in a sense as curators and going out and researching. I am out at events and just like my other colleagues we're out looking for these artists going to these showcases and listening to these underground artists and seeing what's next. We still very much believe in the beauty of that and it's because we are passionate about music. So we still follow those guidelines and just doing the extra research, not letting just the algorithms tell us who is everyone listening to and who's gonna be the next artist. We still find passion in going to the showcases and looking for them and finding those hidden gems.
Jakob
Amazing, and I think that's one of things that's really, really difficult nowadays is really, oftentimes for vibreality, you need to hit a moment and you need to do something very specific. Oftentimes it's not related to artistry really. Sometimes it is. So I think the amount of luck and timing you need to be discovered in the age of algorithms is... extremely perplexing and often times it's just a random struggle flock of the right trend, the right moment, the right content and having a different playing field than just playing into that I think is important. I think some of the best talent is not afforded the opportunity of that. Actually I was listening to this song on the radio a couple days ago and I listened to the song from what I didn't know what to be a Norwegian artist. And I literally said like, this is the best song I've heard in 2025 hands down, like best song. Nothing appears to it. I tried to, when I was done driving, I tried to find the song and then I discovered it's like this small Norwegian artist with 1400 Instagram followers and you know, a hundred thousand streams of the song, but like hands down the best song of 2025 in my opinion. And for me, though, it just struck me, wow, okay, we're still living in that, where you have such a maintenance. I don't know her journey forward. I DM'd her, like, hey, if you need any help, I don't know what I can do, but let me know. It's my favorite song of 2025. And for me, I'm missing out on what you're talking about. The way that I consume music, it's very much the big streaming platforms and very passively. But there's so much value, but it's really hard to see the food and noise. And this was just a random moment on Norwegian radio. But I can imagine that happens all the time. And AudioMax Role, I guess, is partaking in that and making sure that can also be translated into a viable chance of a career.
Gineyda Cornelio
Absolutely. It's like that moment that you had is a perfect example. It's like we like to find artists like that, give them the opportunity to be part of like our discovery playlist where our listeners that are looking for their next new favorite song of 2025 by artists that they don't know of, then you know, they have the resource there to be able to do so. I also feel like fans tend to be jealous at times. They also have that aspect where like they want to be the first to discover or the first to support an artist. So it's cool and that's a lot of our users have that mentality. Like they want to be there from the beginning. So they know that they can count on AudioMag for that to showcase them artists that they might not find on other platforms yet because they're not as big, but they're super talented and have all the potential.
Jakob
Hmm.
Jakob
Think one of the things that I believe will happen in the music industry in the next couple of years, in general in society, it's going to be the reaction to technology and AI, pursuing the moments that are as real as possible. And not just interaction between us as the fan, but also platforms that can create a human experience, if that makes sense. And I've been intrigued by Audimax journey for a while, but I think even more so now, not because my opinion matters, but I believe what you guys are doing is the way to build businesses in the future. It is that human element. I think as technology progresses, the human element will become more important and the argument for using you instead of. Other things or you in addition to other things becomes even stronger than it was before. Think as I understand the proposition of this sort of curative music and discoverability and also having these sort of focus on growing territories, maybe in the past more so was about the type of person you wanted to be in curiosity in order to really buy into that notion. Again, this is my own interpretation. But I think that's gonna be part of popular culture mentality much more in the future. And I think that's probably like a big blessing for you guys as culture shifts towards your model. That's my assumption. Does that make sense?
Gineyda Cornelio
Yeah, absolutely. You're right on the bar right there right on the money. I just feel like also that's why Not just as a platform, but I'm able to create these relationships with artists that, you know, they depend a lot on me for advice. And lately that's what I've been telling them is like, don't steer away from that human element, you know? And like I said before, really focus on creating community, having that really knowing and connecting with your fan base because your music isn't gonna be for everybody, but 1 % of 500 million, that's pretty good. 1 % of even 5 million, like think about it. There's a lot of times where, you know, there's these artists that have millions of followers on social media and then they can't sell a hundred tickets. They can't fill a venue. So it's about that. It's really just shifting to creating community and knowing that you don't have to be the number one. You don't even have to be the top 10 most streamed artists to still be a successful artist. Just focus on your community and give your listeners what they want to hear.
Jakob
Hmm.
Jakob
Yeah. And I think that's the most interesting mentality in music in general. I've had a lot of guests in the podcast, you know, talking about gaming and the model and what they've nailed. And that's basically that niche audience, but also in Southeast Asia, that's also what they have nailed. Like I've been in talks about, you know, for example, K-pop and these fascinating statements of like, they don't build to scale. They don't build careers to... have exposure, they build it to go really deep in relationships. And when they market stuff, it's with the intent of a persona, and then they're going for that persona only. And I think that mentality is very, different from what's been prevalent in the last 10 years in the Western charts. But I'm excited to see that happening more and more because it's the... It's the only thing that makes sense financially, really. Like, of course, if you can have something number one at scale, that's still a really, really good business. But generally speaking, anything but that is not that great. And the only thing that really makes sense is what you're talking about. So, great. I love it.
Gineyda Cornelio
Awesome.
Jakob
It's been great talking to you and I am still very, new in understanding Latin music and I want to understand it more because as I've said a couple times this episode, I'm very, very interested in seeing where can you make money from music as an industry. And the reason for that is, you know, despite of popular belief, it's not a great industry to be in as a business person, to create innovation and invest in. And I think the opportunity is looking to markets that are emerging or genres that are emerging and saying, okay, where can we take from that? What can we borrow from that? Where can we invest in that to have opportunities? And just getting to know a tiny bit more about that music for me is a great step in that direction.
Gineyda Cornelio
Well, you have a great platform. You focus on education. And I feel like for the live music industry as a whole, that's still... a lot of what lacks. You go into a lot of these countries and you have very, very successful, or like, talented artists that don't have the education or the business knowledge of the industry compared to more established genres like American artists, you know, they have the business down pat, but that's still what's lacking when it comes to Latin. So there's also opportunity there. I'm big on educating artists. Like I said before a lot of them come to me for advice. So that's a big avenue there and it's still growing So there's gonna be more and more fans that are gonna be consuming this music. So I'm excited I know it's going to be even bigger than I can imagine when I decided back in like 12,007 that I really wanted to be involved with the Latin music industry I knew in my heart that it was going to become what it is, but I had no idea that it was going to happen this way. So it's exciting and I know that I'm just gonna be able to see even more growth of the genre.
Jakob
Janaya, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for being on the podcast.
Gineyda Cornelio
Thank you so much for having me.
