Leila Cobo, executive editor for Latin content and programming, Billboard

Please respect that the discussions in this lecture series are off-the-record, with a no social media policy.

Latin music has a long, rich history in the United States and around the world, from habanera-influenced jazz through samba and salsa crazes and straight into the present-day pop charts. In this week’s Rezak lecture, we are incredibly fortunate to host one of the world’s leading experts on the business of Latin music, Leila Cobo. Having published the definitive book “Decoding ‘Despacito’” earlier this year, and fresh from last week’s Billboard Latin conference and awards show (she programs and hosts the former and is a key advisor for the latter), Cobo is coming prepared to discuss the state of Latin music. Yes, it’s been an explosive growth sector in the past decade or so. But what does the future hold? How does the Latin sector differ from the music business at large? Who are the stars of tomorrow, and what are the lessons we can build on from yesterday? All this and much more await.

Leila Cobo – Executive Editor for Latin Content and Programming, Billboard

A Fulbright scholar from Cali, Colombia, Leila Cobo is a classical pianist, novelist, TV host and executive editor for Latin content and programming for Billboard.

Cobo is considered one of the country’s leading experts in Latin music. This spring, Cobo published “Decoding ‘Despacito’,” the top-selling, critically acclaimed, definitive oral history of the creative and business stories behind the world’s biggest Latin hits. Under her tenure Billboard has expanded its coverage of Latin Music to unprecedented levels both on its print and digital platforms. Cobo also works closely with broadcast partner Telemundo on the Billboard Latin Music Awards and programs the yearly Billboard Latin Music Conference, the largest gathering of the Latin music industry in the U.S. She hosts the conference’s renowned exclusive “Q&As” with Latin music’s biggest stars, which have included Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias. Under her leadership, Billboard also launched its Spanish-language website, Billboardenespanol.com.

Cobo is host and executive producer of “Estudio Billboard,” the acclaimed TV show that features in-depth interviews with artists like Gloria Estefan, Pitbull, Laura Pausini, José Feliciano and Maná among many others. She has published two novels that have won multiple awards, leading her to be named one of the Top Latino Writers to Watch in the United States.

She has previously been named Hispanic Woman of Distinction in South Florida and one of the Top 25 Latin Women in Media by Latina Magazine. She has also been named “one of the most influential people in Latin music” in publications such as Gatopardo, Revista Fuchsia and Ocean Drive Magazine, which named her one of its “Power Brokers.” She won the Nielsen President’s Award for Excellence and she was the recipient of the Journalistic Excellence Award from Premios Orquidea, which honors Colombians abroad. She has served as jury of renowned international music competitions including the Viña del Mar Music Festival in Chile and Objetivo Fama in Mexico.

Cobo holds dual bachelor degrees in journalism (from Bogota’s Universidad Javeriana) and in piano performance (from Manhattan School of Music in New York). She concertized extensively before getting her master’s degree in communication management from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California.

Prior to Billboard, she wrote for the Los Angeles Times and was later the pop music critic at the Miami Herald. She’s written liner notes for Ricky Martin, Shakira, Julio Iglesias and Selena among others and collaborates closely with Grammy in the Schools and Teach for America, among other projects.

Cobo is also one of the authors of the Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music and a guest writer on the anthology “Quinceañera.”