List of best-selling Latin albums

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Momentos by Julio Iglesias is the highest-selling Latin album of all-time on the list.

Latin music has an ambiguous meaning in the music industry due to differing definitions of the term "Latin".[1][2] For example, the Latin music market in the United States defines Latin music as any release that is mostly sung in Spanish, regardless of genre or artist nationality, by industry organizations including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard.[3][4] International organizations and trade groups such as the Latin Recording Academy include Portuguese-language music in the Latin category.[5][6][7]

Music journalists and musicologists define Latin music as musical styles from Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America and from Spain.[8][9] Music from Brazil is usually included in the genre and music from Portugal is occasionally included.[7][10]

As a result of the conflicting views of defining Latin music, the list includes Latin albums defined either by language for vocal albums or genre for instrumental albums. Therefore, for an album to appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable source, the album must have sold at least 2 million copies with at least 600,000 certified units (the equivalent of a Latin diamond certification by the RIAA) and must either a) have at least 51% of its content in Spanish or Portuguese[a] or b) is a Latin instrumental album (or any of its subgenres). This information cannot be listed officially, as there is no organization that has recorded global Latin music sales. This list can contain any types of album, including studio albums, extended plays, greatest hits, compilations, various artists, soundtracks and remixes. The figures given do not take into account the resale of used albums. For albums recorded in multiple languages, only the Spanish/Portuguese version(s) will be counted towards the certified sales.

Certified copies are sourced either from available online databases of local music industry associations or a country with an established certifying authority (see List of music recording certifications). Online certifications in Latin America are not extensive and only date back to a certain time period. For example, the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON), the certifying authority in Mexico, only has certifications dating back to 1999 on its online database. Certifications from countries without online databases may be used if it has a certifying authority. In the case of sales of Latin albums in the US, primarily those released before the 1990s, certifications were awarded by the artists own record label rather than the RIAA with a lower threshold, a practice that was widely criticized by Latin label executives due to sales not being audited by an outside party.[13] In a 1989 article for Billboard, Carlos Agudelo cited the insularity of the Latin music market in the US for the lack of reliable sales numbers reported to the RIAA.[14] Therefore, only certifications listed on the RIAA database may be used for US certifications.

With estimated sales of 12 million copies worldwide,[15] Spanish singer Julio Iglesias's Momentos (1982) is highest-selling Latin album on the list. Mexican singer Luis Miguel currently has the highest number of albums on the list with 14, while Colombian songstress Shakira has the most by a female artist with four.


  1. ^ Edwards, Bob (13 September 2000). "Profile: Latin Grammys at the Staples Center in Los Angeles". NPR. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Defining exactly what Latin music is a slippery business. The US record industry trade group says it's any release with lyrics that are mostly in Spanish and that it's more popular than ever, comprising more than 5 percent of US record sales.
  2. ^ Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa (12 September 2000). "One Little Word, Yet It Means So Much". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b Cobo, Leila (6 January 2011). "2010's Latin Music Sales Down 26.8%, Digital Up 28%, Enrique Igelsias Is Top-Selling Artist". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. ^ Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa (26 December 1999). "The Loud and Quiet Explosions". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ^ Cobo, Leila (4 September 2004). "'The Academy's Big Responsibility Is The Diffusion Of Latin Music'". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 36. p. 62. Retrieved 30 September 2019. Q: What is LARAS's definition of Latin music? A: Music in Spanish or Portuguese.
  6. ^ Llewellyn, Howell (25 November 1995). "ShowMarket To Focus On Development of Latin Music". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 47. p. 72. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  7. ^ a b Flores, Juan; Rosaldo, Renato (2007). A Companion to Latina/o Studies. Oxford: Blackwell Pub. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-470-65826-0. Retrieved 10 September 2015. ...but the term "Latin music" continues to be used - by the music industry as well as in common parlance - as a catch-all phrase to describe all Spanish and Portuguese-language popular music...
  8. ^ Lawrence, Larry; Wright, Tom (26 January 1985). "¡Viva Latino!". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 4. pp. 53, 62. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  9. ^ Morales, Ed (2003). The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin music From Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond (1. Da Capo Press ed.). Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-306-81018-3. Retrieved 10 September 2015. Including Spain, there are twenty-two predominately Spanish-speaking countries, and there are many more styles of Latin music.
  10. ^ Arenas, Fernando (2011). Lusophone Africa: Beyond Independence. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-8166-6983-7. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  11. ^ "RIAA 2015 Year-End LATIN Sales & Shipments Data Report | RIAA". RIAA. 2015. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Membership Application" (PDF). Latin Recording Academy. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  13. ^ Lannert, John (29 June 1991). "Sales Awards a Certifiable Concern in Latin Industry" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 26. pp. 1, 84. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  14. ^ Agudelo, Carlos (22 April 1989). "Latin Notas" (PDF). Billboard. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  15. ^ De Souza, Tárik (22 January 1984). "O bis de Júlio Iglesias a 900 mil fãs Brasileiros". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022. Momentos, já somados 900 mil brasileiros, encontrou 12 milhões de compradores no planeta.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).