How Copa América Moved the Needle for Latin Music in the U.S. (Guest Column)
Beyond the drama and debate surrounding this year’s Copa América, we at Round saw a different kind of news story emerge: How the oldest international football competition in the world is driving niche Latin American music genres to new audiences in North America.
Soccer is increasingly finding its footing in American culture, and its rise in popularity is reflected in the number of viewers this year’s tournament reeled in. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both Fox and Univision registered record viewership for the Euro 2024 and Copa America finals. The Spain-England game drew a combined 9.43 million viewers on Sunday afternoon, and in primetime, Argentina’s victory over Colombia averaged 11.63 million viewers across the two networks. Fox scored more than 6 million viewers for both matches, which, outside of the World Cup, became the most-watched soccer telecasts ever on the network.
Copa America’s record ratings were reflected on TikTok, where the #CopaAmerica2024 hashtag garnered 71.5 million views. The U.S. accounted for 13% of the content creation on TikTok around the event, second only to Mexico at 15%, according to data compiled by Round Technology, which can scrape social media platforms to provide proprietary data. Whilst conversation on social platforms was initially driven by what was happening on the pitch, we later saw audiences interact more than ever with Latin music, demonstrating how central music has become to the tournament.
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This year, Shakira’s halftime performance at the Copa America final infused Latin culture into the event despite initial reservations from Colombia’s national team coach, Néstor Lorenzo, about extending the halftime break for the show (soccer tournaments typically don’t have halftime shows, and if they do, they don’t extend beyond 15 minutes). Meanwhile, Colombia’s music elite rocked up to the tournament decider, with Feid, Ryan Castro, Karol G, Maluma, Blessd, Camilo, Fonseca and Juanes all in attendance. Impressively, those artists collectively represent more than a quarter of a billion monthly listeners on Spotify.
On TikTok, three tracks stood out as firm favorites for the platform’s users: Shakira’s “Punteria” (the official song of TelevisaUnivision coverage of the tournament); Ryan Castro’s reggaeton track “El Ritmo Que Nos Une” (the Colombian team’s official song); and MC Danone’s Brazilian funk tune “Vem Quebrando.” Together, those tracks have featured in nearly 550,000 TikTok creations since the tournament began on June 21. In comparison, across the pond in Europe, the official song of the Euros, “FIRE” by Meduza, OneRepublic and Leony, sparked just 70,000 creations, while England’s unofficial anthem “Three Lions (It’s Coming Home)” garnered 64,000 creations during the tournament.
Copa America’s surprising success on TikTok, coupled with its deepening connection to music, has been game-changing for artists by bringing attention to emerging genres. Take, for example, “Vem Quebrando,” a Brazilian funk song popularized by Colombian midfielder Richard Ríos, who performs a TikTok dance associated with the track whenever he scores.
Originally recorded by MC Danone, “Vem Quebrando” has seen a significant rise in popularity, racking up more than 85 million streams and highlighting the potential for niche genres to find a wider audience. With 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, MC Danone illustrates how local Latin American sounds are being funneled to American audiences via soccer and, ultimately, how TikTok has the potential to dictate the impact of an event.
Copa America 2024 has shown that soccer is more than just a game, bringing the sport further into North American homes and introducing a rich tapestry of Latin American music to a new audience.
As the dust settles on Copa America 2024, attention turns to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. With soccer’s popularity expected to continue growing in the States, the tournament presents a huge opportunity for local sounds from Latin America to make their way to American audiences. TikTok and other UGC platforms will undoubtedly be key accelerators for these hyper-local sounds, offering a pathway for a new wave of genres to find success in the North American market.
Ray Uscata is managing director of Round, North and South America. Round is a tech-enabled digital agency using content, creators and communities to place the world’s leading brands and artists at the center of culture.
