Keityn, Romeo Santos and the song ‘Si antes te hubiera conocido’, performed by Karol G, topped Tuesday’s American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards for the top Latin music creators of the past year.
Also recognized at the awards ceremony in Miami were Daddy Yankee as the most awarded Latin songwriter of all time and Universal Music Publishing Group as Latin Publisher of the Year.
Keityn was honored with his third ASCAP Latin Songwriter of the Year award, thanks to a string of chart-topping hits including ‘Angel’, ‘Coleccionando heridas’, ‘Cosas pendientes’, ‘Doblexxó’, ‘El amor de su vida’, ‘Hiekka’ and ‘Mi refe’.
“I think all of us here should feel happy, proud and privileged that we are a very small percentage of those who can make a living from this,” said the Colombian.
“The award is for all songwriters,” added Keityn, who said he will continue to “do his bit to keep Latin music going as far as it is going.”
Romeo Santos, who was not present at the ceremony, received ASCAP’s Latin Composer/Artist of the Year award for the third time. The so-called ‘King of Bachata’ stood out with songs such as ‘Angel’, ‘Desde hoy’ and ‘Khé’.
The Latin Song of the Year award went to ‘Si antes te hubiera conocido’, performed by Karol G and written by composer Rios.
The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for 14 weeks and recently re-entered the ranking in sixth position after the artist’s performance at Coachella.
Keityn and Romeo Santos, the big winners at the ASCAP Awards
One of the highlights of the ceremony was the recognition of Daddy Yankee, who extended his legacy by becoming the most awarded Latin songwriter in ASCAP history.
The artist added his 63rd and 64th awards for the songs ‘Sonríele’ and ‘Latina foreva’. Since 2005, the Puerto Rican has been recognized in every edition of these awards.
“For me it is an honor to continue making music, writing, sharing with all of you many blessings always. God bless you,” said the singer-songwriter.
Other winners included Julito Gaston, who won his first award for Bad Bunny’s ‘Baile inolvidable’; as well as Feid for ‘Doblexxó’, ‘Háblame claro’ and ‘Verano rosa’; Justi Barreto for ‘NUEVAYoL’; Xavi for ‘En privado’ and ‘Flores’; Natanael Cano for ‘Presidente’; Tito El Bambino for ‘EoO’; Selena Gomez as co-author of ‘Ojos tristes’; and Danny Ocean for ‘Imagínate’.
Meanwhile, on the publishing front, Universal Music Publishing Group was named Latin Publisher of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, driven by an extensive list of hits such as ‘Ángel’, ‘Baile inolvidable’, ‘Carita linda’, ‘Cosas pendientes’, ‘Desde hoy’, ‘Doblexxó’, ‘DtMF’, ‘El clúb’, ‘En privado’, ‘EoO’, ‘Flores’, ‘Háblame claro’, ‘Khé?’, ‘KLOuFRENS’, ‘Moscow mule’, ‘NUEVAYoL’, ‘Ojos tristes’, ‘PERFuMITO NUEVO’, ‘Por mi México (remix)’, ‘Qué pasaría’, ‘VeLDÁ’, ‘Verano rosa’, ‘Voy a llevararte pa PR’ and ‘WELTITA’.
The ASCAP Awards recognize the songwriters and publishers of the most performed Latin songs of the year, reported Agencia EFE, based on data from radio airplay and plays on digital platforms.
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