ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the 'fit' between the category of 'Latin music' and the social groups, which include both Latin Americans and US Latinos, assumed to be producing and consuming it. It explores the impact of transnational migration–a key but often under-appreciated aspect of globalization–on Latino popular musics in the United States. In Spanish, Latin Americans-Latino Americanos–are sometimes referred to as Latinos, as a shorthand term. The ethnically-oriented record companies, refer to their musics in genre-specific ways –as tejano, salsa, merengue or cumbia–rather than as 'Latin music.' The chapter focuses on the reluctance of the music industry to recognize the cultural differences between these groups, as it continues to lump Latino and Latin American music together as if they were one and the same. The arrival of massive numbers of immigrants from Mexico, however, has complicated the musical landscape of Latino Los Angeles. The chapter examines some of the aesthetic developments characterizing Latino musical production in the era of globalization.
