The Frost School of Music joined the Latin music world’s top industry event in October, the annual Billboard Latin Music Week in Miami, strengthening its connections to an important and growing musical genre with which the school has a long history.
The Frost School cosponsored a VIP event, Billboard Latin Power Players, showcasing alumni and supporters who’ve made an impact in Latin music, with one, publishing executive Jorge Mejia, B.M. ’96, receiving an award from Billboard alongside other top industry leaders. Students, alumni, and faculty and staff members attended the conference, held Oct. 20 to 24. The Frost School was the only educational institution at The Industry Roundtables, a networking event where conference attendees met one-on-one with representatives from companies such as international music festivals, PR firms, and concert giant Live Nation. And an article in Billboard magazine highlighted the Frost School’s role in the Latin music world.
Leila Cobo, Billboard chief content officer, Latin/Español, welcomed the Frost School at the Latin Power Players event on the conference’s opening night, where the magazine presented awards to some of the most influential figures and companies in Latin music, including the heads of Universal Music Latin and Interscope Capitol Miami.
The invite-only party, at Casadonna, a glamorous outdoor venue overlooking Biscayne Bay, included executives from streaming companies, record labels, publishers, distributors, and the Latin Grammys. They mingled with stars like J Balvin, a Colombian urban and electronic artist; Peso Pluma, a Mexican singer and rapper; and legendary producer Emilio Estefan, a Frost School supporter, honorary doctorate recipient, and Dean’s Advisory Board member who was highlighted by Billboard as the top Latin music producer of the 21st century.
“So many executives from our business are graduates from the Frost School,” Cobo told the crowd. “I invite you to look at the display in back, where you’ll see all those people that you know and have worked with.”
Frost School alumnus Jorge Mejia, president and CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin America and U.S. Latin, accepting his Latin Power Player award. Photo courtesy of Billboard, LLC.
The Frost School joined the Billboard event as Latin music continues to be one of the fastest-growing and most influential genres in the U.S. In October, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported that recorded music revenues for Latin music outpaced other genres, growing nearly 6 percent over the past year, making it a half-billion-dollar sector that is now the fourth-largest genre in the country.
This is the 12th year in a row that Latin music has expanded, demonstrating not just its strength among Hispanics, who make up 19 percent of the U.S. population, but also its increasing appeal to general audiences. The music’s popularity can be seen in the success of acts like Bad Bunny, the global superstar headlining the 2026 Super Bowl—with whom Frost School triple alumnus Carlos “Carlitos” Lopez collaborated to lead an orchestra for the star’s 2024 U.S. tour—and Shakira, with whom alumnus Brendan Buckley, B.M. ’96, has played drums for over a quarter century.
“Latin music in the U.S. continues to gain popularity and generate increased value thanks to the incredible artists whose music connects across language and geographical barriers,” RIAA vice-president of research Matt Bass said in a statement.
Legendary music producer Emilio Estefan, an honorary degree holder and member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the Frost School, poses with his photo on the display of Frost School alumni for Billboard Latin Music Week. Photo courtesy of Billboard, LLC.
Mejia, a Latin GRAMMY-nominated classical pianist and composer who is the president and CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin America and U.S. Latin, thanked the Frost School and paid tribute to Latin music’s successes as he accepted Billboard’s Power Player award for his company as publishing corporation of the year.
“This award also has the name of this Latin music industry that we have all built together,” Mejia said. “It’s amazing what we have become and what we are becoming.”
Mejia was one of several Frost School alumni showcased at the conference, hosting a songwriter Q&A with Sony artist Danny Ocean, a star singer-songwriter. Fellow alumnus Julio Reyes Copello, M.M. ’00, one of Latin music’s top producers, joined Spanish pop star Pablo Alboran in the “Making the Hit, Live” panel, one of the conference’s top daytime events. An Icon Q&A featured Emilio Estefan and his wife, Gloria, the pioneering Latin pop crossover star who holds an honorary doctorate from the Frost School and has become a strong supporter and frequent collaborator.
The display of Frost School alumni at the Billboard Latin Power Players event. Photo courtesy Billboard LLC.
The Frost School’s long history with Latin music goes back to the 1980s, when multiple alumni played or worked with the Estefans’ Miami Sound Machine. One of them was singer Jon Secada, B.M. ’83, M.M. ’86, whom the Estefans launched as a multi-million-selling crossover star in the early 1990s.
As Miami became the capital of the U.S. Latin music industry in the 1990s, home to most of its major labels and numerous top acts, Frost School graduates naturally found opportunities here. In addition to Buckley, they’ve included Julio Bagué, M.M. ’93, a producer and top executive at peermusic, the world’s largest independent music publisher; Lee Levin, B.M. ’89, a multi GRAMMY-winning drummer, producer, and musical director for numerous stars; Lester Mendez, B.M. ’82, a GRAMMY-winning producer and songwriter with the likes of Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez; and George Noriega, B.M. ’95, a songwriter, producer, and independent label owner who’s worked with stars such as Juanes and Maná. One of the school’s leading and longest-serving professors, Reynaldo Sanchez, B.M. ’79, M.M. ’82, is a former music director for Latin pop star Chayanne and continues to connect students with the Latin music world.
That history, as well as Miami’s continued prominence in the Latin music world, continues to draw bicultural and genre-crossing students to the Frost School. More recently they’ve included leading producers, such as Lopez; Copello; Federico Vindver, B.M. ‘’08, whose eight 2025 Latin GRAMMY nominations include one for producer of the year; and Natalia Ramirez, M.A. ’17, an A&R manager and Latin GRAMMY-winning engineer; as well as executives like Pablo Ahogado, M.M. ’14, the vice president of A&R for Concord Music Publishing, which just opened a Miami office for its Latin music teams. Frost School alumni regularly feature among the nominees for the annual Latin GRAMMY Awards.
The partnership with Billboard is part of recent efforts by the Frost School to expand and highlight its relationships in the Latin music world. For two years, it has hosted the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation’s annual scholarship awards ceremony at the Knight Center for Music Innovation. This year, it cosponsored a four-year, $120,000 scholarship with the nonprofit organization, for singer and songwriter Irenda Arano Diaz.
