Latin Grammys See Increase in Viewership but No Big Boost in Sales for Performers at Event (Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Et Al)

Why do musicians appear and perform on awards shows? For sales of course. Although it seems as though everyone must have already downloaded "Fancy," Iggy Azalea still stands to reap in the rewards if she appears at the Awards to push her product. Meghan Trainor demonstrated the process best when she appeared during the Country Music Association Awards to perform her hit "All About That Bass," a very pop music song. All of the country listeners who weren't familiar with the track rushed out to buy it. The Latin Grammy Awards didn't have the same sort of success.

Bad viewership wasn't to blame. In fact, the show had great ratings when it aired November 20. The ceremony reached at least 10 million different viewers, maintaining an average of 4.8 million viewers throughout the evening. Host network Univision was the no. 2 network among adults for the evening.

That didn't help the performers featured on the show to sell much more than typical however. According to Billboard, only four performers—Ricky Martin, Camila, Wisin and Yandel—sold more than 1,000 downloads that could be attributed to the Latin Grammys. Martin was the only clear winner, as the track that he performed—"Adios"—sold more than 2,000 downloads (not as huge a jump as many performances during awards shows) while jumping up to no. 4 on the Latin charts from no. 15.

One theory as to why the show wasn't able to boost sales is that the Latin music community isn't providing enough new artists to perform at award shows such as the Latin Grammys. Simply put, viewers are already aware of the musicians showcased on such shows and therefore don't have reason to invest in downloads for up-and-comers.

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Ricky Martin, Camila, Yandel