Photo Credit: Billboard
The invite-only event took place at the Faena Theater in Miami Beach, Florida.
Miami, FL. (October 20, 2026) – Last night Billboard brought together the Latin music industry’s most influential artists, executives, and visionaries for the 2026 Latin Power Players event at the Faena Theater. This intimate event, as part of Billboard Latin Music Week, was dedicated to the annual list of honorees across various sectors of Latin music with networking, speeches and awards. The event highlighted the depth, diversity, and art of today’s latin music scene, serving as a standout moment of this year’s Billboard Latin Music Week.
The evening recognized key figures shaping the Latin music landscape.
Universal Music Latin was recognized as Regional Mexican Airplay Label of the Year, received by Angel Kaminsky. Nelson Albareda then presented Tito Nieves with the Legacy Award, sponsored by AARP. Rimas received the Hot Latin Songs Label of the Year, with Lucas Barbosa accepting the award. Ozuna took the stage to present Sony Music with Latin Airplay Label of the Year, which was received by Alex Gallardo. Tito Double P presented Top Regional Mexican Albums Label of the Year to Double P Records, received by George Prajin.
Hans Schafer of Live Nation then received Executive of the Year, presented by Live Nation’s Omar Al-Joulani. When receiving the award, Hans Schafer stated “I want to give thanks. Thank you to Leila. Thank you to Billboard for putting this on, for giving the space for us to celebrate and celebrate what we believe in, what our dreams are, and what we’re pushing forward constantly day in, day out. We move so quickly, and you know, all of this is because we all go through this, but we move so quickly that we rarely stop to take in the moments that we have achieved… And so for me, this is an incredible moment”. Schafer also shared one of his biggest defining achievements in Live Nation to date: “One of the things that I’m most proud of was Los Tacos — Marco Antonio Solís and Los Bukis. The Bukis reunited after 25 years, and the secret code was Tacos. We worked on building something that had never been done before, which is this Latin tour doing stadiums in North America. The story of the impossible seems impossible until somebody breaks the ceiling, and today we’re seeing Shakira, Karol G, Bunny, J Balvin…But what mattered was not the record. What mattered was the people, the people that I’ve worked with, the people that I’ve had the opportunity to push forward, the people who have entrusted in us.”
To end the evening, Street Mob received the 2026 Billboard Publisher of The Year, which was presented by Leila Cobo and accepted by JOP of Fuerza Regida. Leila Cobo presented the award, reflecting on her first interview withJesús Ortiz Paz: “The first time I interviewed Jesús Ortiz Paz, many years ago, he said that he was not only a musician, but a businessman… This year, I am so proud to say that he will receive his first-ever Billboard Latin Music Award, not as an artist, because he’s picked up plenty of those, but as an executive. The 2026 Billboard Publisher of the Year is Street Mob, and here to accept this award is its founder and CEO, Mr. Jesús Ortiz Paz, JOP.” While accepting the honor, JOP said, “First of all, I want to thank Billboard, Leila. I want to thank my team, my manager Moska, my partner Luis. I want to thank all my writers. I want to thank Sony Publishing… Our music’s been all over the world: Netflix, WWE, GT6. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.”
Partners of the evening included AARP, who presented the Legacy Award award to Tito Nieves, Harbourview Equity Partners, SharkNinja, who gifted Shark™ Depuffi™ devices to honorees and attendees, and Lincoln, the Official Auto partner, offering private chauffeur services to the event for select invitees.
The night was also presented by Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, who proudly supported Billboard Latin Music Week’s Latin Power Players, celebrating the influential leaders shaping the Latin music industry. Through this partnership, the Frost School reinforces its commitment to empowering the next generation of music industry professionals.
