Manuel Abud And Enrique Pérez On The Latin Grammys And Their Friendship

The Latin Recording Academy — or LARAS — produces the annual Latin Grammy Awards, often called “The Biggest Night in Latin Music.” CEO Manuel Abud stepped into his role at the international nonprofit last year. Now, he’s hired Enrique Pérez as Head of Partnerships & Client Solutions. The two worked together at Telemundo and Azteca.

The men share thoughts about the explosion in Latin music’s popularity, such as Bad Bunny’s recent #1 worldwide ranking on streaming service Spotify. They also reveal secrets few in the industry know about the other.

This Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.

The two of you are like something out of a buddy movie, working together at Telemundo, Azteca, and now again at LARAS. How did you meet?

Enrique Pérez: Manuel was General Manager of KVEA Channel 52 in Los Angeles. I was working in radio but being recruited by Telemundo. They had me go by the Los Angeles station to meet with the Station Group President. Typically, as these things go, he was running late. They said we’d love for you to meet Manuel Abud. I welcomed the opportunity because my wife was working on Manuel’s team and was just raving about him. Like she still does today.

Manuel Abud: There’s something you don’t know about, Enrique. When I was looking for a head of sales, I said to [Telemundo COO] Alan Sokol, ‘KVEA should have the best salesperson out there. Who’s that?’ Alan said, ‘You can’t afford him because we’re bringing him to run the station group. His name is Enrique Pérez.’ I said, ‘Well, I still want to meet him.’ That was 20 years ago.

There’s clearly so much trust between the two of you. Was it instantaneous?

Manuel Abud: No, trust is something that builds over time. You can’t buy it. You can’t design it. It cannot be by decreed. It must be earned—and you can lose it in an instant.

The two of you have a personal friendship, but also a professional relationship. How do you navigate the two?

Enrique Pérez: One of the great things in business is that when you are great colleagues, you have each other’s back, and that transcends a business or personal relationship. Manuel will challenge you. He will agree or disagree with you but he will always hear you out. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him in the office, when you’re out working in the market—outside of that closed door—you know you have each other’s back. Navigating both comes very naturally, very easily, because you have that trust.

Manuel Abud: It goes back to trust, right? At the end of the day, when we have these jobs, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your organization. You’re going to do what you have to do, right? We’ve had some very difficult conversations, but because of that trust, we both know there’s nothing personal.

What’s one thing about the other that few people know?

Manuel Abud: I always love Enrique’s story about the birth of his radio personality. What’s your professional name in radio, Enrique Pérez?

Enrique Pérez: Rick Thomas.

You have a radio name?

Enrique Pérez: When I was in college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, I was studying broadcasting. My professor said a local AM radio station was looking for an overnight DJ host. I applied. The station’s owner asked what my name was. I played my audition tape. He said, ‘Well, Enreekee, there’s one thing you’ll have to change if you’re going to work at KFLAG. Your name has to be Rick Thomas.’ I looked at him and I go, ‘Well, this is Rick Thomas, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.’

That’s awful, but funny.

Enrique Pérez: Next thing you know, I was working from a eleven in the evening to five in the morning on Friday and Saturday nights. This station was so country, we didn’t have a call-in line. We had a CB radio where the truckers would request song.

Manuel Abud: Doesn’t that story tell you everything you need to know about Enrique Perez?

What’s something about Manuel?

Enrique Pérez: No one realizes that Manuel—with his family—takes the most exotic vacations. Whether he’s going to the Arabian Desert or Vietnam, he meticulously plans it—just like he does his work—from the very beginning to the very end. You really get to see it every year in his holiday cards. He’s also a very good and avid photographer, capturing all those moments exquisitely with his camera.

Manuel Abud: I really enjoy time with my family and believe in comprehensive experiences. It’s not only the three-star Michelin restaurant, which is great, but also the street food in Vietnam or the bus ride in China with no English signs. I believe in understanding the world through those experiences.

Changing direction, how do you think that TikTok and new social media channels are affecting Latin music?

Manuel Abud: We focus on the inspiration and the art. The more ways and platforms that artists have to express themselves and put their craft out there, the better. We should embrace, applaud, and support all sorts of different platforms, whether it’s live performance in a cafe or a TikTok account with a gazillion followers. That’s the beauty of what we do at the Latin Recording Academy. We focus on excellence in music, whether it’s a minute-long TikTok post or a 20-minute album.

Bad Bunny is Spotify’s number one artist globally. His album “Un Verano Sin Ti” received 10 Latin Grammy nominations, including album of the year. He’s achieved this success performing in Spanish. Does the attention make conversations with brand partners easier?

Manuel Abud: Absolutely. Latin music has always been around. It’s nothing new. But to the point about Bad Bunny, the Latin Recording Academy focuses on music in Spanish and Portuguese, and therefore, to have these artists being so successful in our language keeps our brand and our presence so relevant.

Enrique, in your conversations, how are brands reacting to the amazing success of today’s Spanish-language artists?

Enrique Pérez: One of the conversations I’m having with a lot of brands is that partnering with the Latin Recording Academy shouldn’t be about a sponsorship of the Latin Grammy Awards or the Latin Grammy Week. We should be partnering with brands to make sure Latin music helps them connect with consumers year-round. That conversation isn’t about just sponsoring an event. It’s about using us as part of a brand’s marketing strategy, a very different conversation.

An example is an initiative called “The Leading Ladies of Entertainment.” It was a brunch that the Academy has done for the last six years, and even kept going virtually when we weren’t doing in-person events in Las Vegas. Moving forward, that initiative will start with the digital series in October. We’ll still have the recognition event in Las Vegas during Latin Grammy Week, but then we hope to continue it all the way through March and wrap it up with Women’s History Month.

How does today’s social awakening impact the Latin Grammys?

Enrique Pérez: I’m the guy that just started. My eyes got really wide about the number of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that we have, especially around our digital content series.

Manuel Abud: We’re very proud of our Grammy DNA. We are a Grammy brand, but we take it to our community by recognizing Latin music. That makes it very relevant to the Latin artists because they are being recognized by their peers. Having the Grammy brand helps us be very relevant also in the general market side. In a time when Latin music is breaking glass ceilings, having the support of a Grammy recognition is so big, so important to an artist.

The Latin Recording Academy has been involved in equity and justice work for a long time. With artists like Bad Bunny ruling the music charts, the payoff and exposure has arrived.

Manuel Abud: This is about opportunity. Bad Bunny is there on his own merit. We’re here to celebrate him but it’s even more important that we provide opportunity to the next Bad Bunny. For Cinco de Mayo, I was at the White House talking to the guy producing all the events. We were talking about producing something with the Latin Grammy brand. He said, ‘Bring your A-listers.’ I told him, ‘Look, you don’t need me for that. If you want a Bad Bunny or Maná, call them. What I can do is bring you the next Maná or the next Bad Bunny.’ Bill Clinton said talent is equally distributed in the universe, but opportunity is not. Now, I have the privilege of working for an organization that focuses on expanding opportunity in the music industry. And that’s beautiful.

Listen to The Revolución Podcast full episode featuring Latin Recording Artist executives Manuel Abud and Enrique Pérez with co-hosts Kathryn Garcia Castro, Diego Lastra, Linda Lane González, and Court Stroud, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon
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