Independent Latin music company The Wave Music Group has signed a long-term distribution agreement with Capitol Music Group (CMG).
The deal with the Puerto Rico and Miami-based label was announced on Tuesday (April 18) by The Wave Music Group owners Angelo Torres and Caleb Calloway and CMG Chair & CEO Michelle Jubelirer.
CMG’s deal with The Wave Music Group follows last week’s news that Latin music officially generated more than $1 billion in US recorded music revenue in 2022.
Total retail revenues generated by Latin recorded music in the United States reached $1.09 billion in 2022, an increase of 23.8% YoY.
The first music under the new agreement comes from Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter Young Miko, whose first single under the new pact, Lisa, has already amassed more than 50 million audio streams and 20 million video streams.
The track has also been used in more than three million TikTok UGC creations that have generated 475 million views.
Under terms of the agreement, according to the announement, CMG will also provide The Wave Music Group with “myriad services in support of its releases”, supplementing the company’s in-house functions that have been built and developed since its founding in 2021.
The Wave Music Group was formed by Torres and Calloway in 2021, after Torres had worked as a manager for top Latin talent for many years, representing Mexican-born singer, songwriter, and performer Mariangela and Puerto Rican rapper Alvaro Diaz, among others.
He was also an A&R Director for Magnus Media, the company founded by music star Marc Anthony and veteran talent agent Michel Vega.
Torres also worked as the A&R director on the Grammy award-winning album Dharma by Sebastian Yatra. Calloway has amassed more than 22 billion streams across his many production credits, which includes work with artists such as Bad Bunny, Sebastián Yatra, Rauw Alejandro, Anuel, Arcángel, Sech, Álvaro Díaz, J Balvin, Zion & Lennox and The Martinez Bros, among others.
He has served as a producer on three Grammy award winning albums including El Último Tour del Mundo by megastar Bad Bunny, awarded Album of the Year and Best Urban Music Album in 2021, and Dharma by Sebastian Yatra, awarded Best Latin Pop Album in 2023.
Calloway is the producer of the new single Panties y Brasieres by Rauw Alejandro and Daddy Yankee.
“Their entrepreneurial spirit and solid foundation, combined with CMG’s expertise and passion, will make for a great partnership in the years ahead.”
Michelle Jubelirer and Jeremy Vuernick, CMG
According to Jubelirer and CMG President of A&R Jeremy Vuernick, Angelo Torres and Caleb Calloway, “have built The Wave into a proven force for developing and breaking artists in the Latin Music space.
They added: “Their entrepreneurial spirit and solid foundation, combined with CMG’s expertise and passion, will make for a great partnership in the years ahead.”
“Caleb and I have always felt like creators of moments within our industry that have marked a before and after. Helping artists reach success is our number one priority.”
Angelo Torres
Torres said: “Caleb and I have always felt like creators of moments within our industry that have marked a before and after. Helping artists reach success is our number one priority.”
Music Business Worldwide
