Are the Latin Grammys influenced by the major record labels ?

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      This is a well-known and established "effect" by which major record label executives "negotiate" with the
      president of The Latin Grammy which artists will participate in the award show. For example, the label
      may   say, "I give you this artist ( famous ), but you have to include this other one".
      Record label executives and employees are permitted to sit on the "selecting committees". Selecting
      committees are made up of people that know about music (artists, songwriters, producers, record label  
      employees and executives) .
      If an employee of a major record label has an artist of the same record label that is competing, it is 
      obvious this member will benefit his artists. This is  a "conflict of interest".
      Mr. Gabriel Abaroa has to know about this type of practice because nothing is done unless it is approved
      by him. Because the Independent artist has nothing to offer ( except his talent), they rarely go into the
      second round or nomination.
      Another fact is the positioning and manipulation of songs within certain genres. Maybe a song from a
      major record artist will encounter too much competition within a category, so that song is included into
      another less difficult category.

      An interesting effect is the one of "marriage". Marriage meaning that the Latin Academy of Recording Arts
      "marriages" an artist, for example Shakira and Juanes, both of which have won  multiple awards. There is
       no room for new artists. The only new artists participating are the ones that are backed up by "strong
      managers", who have influeces within the Academy.
      An example is that of Warner Music Mexico in which new artists have a very good chance of winning. Is
      it because  Alejandro Abaroa ( Gabriel Abaroa's brother and Warner Music Mexico manager of new
      talent) has  very good new artists almost every year ? or is it because there is favoritism ?
      It has been established that major record labels are the ones calling the shots; they continue to pay
      payola in a sophisticated way .
     For example, lets take Wireless Latin Entertainment (WILAEN),  a Florida Corporation that deals with
     the download of music. It is well known, WILAEN has been in business at some time with Sony, Warner
     and Peermusic
     Until recently, Mr. Gabriel Abaroa was the  president of this corporation. It seems
     that after the discovery that during the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards, 19 of the artists performing and
     presenting were featured in Mr. Abaroa's private business website (WILAEN). Interestingly, this evidence
     has been discussed in multiple Facebook forums. Eventually,  Mr. Abaroa's  name was deleted from the
     corporate documents. The fact of deleting his name from  the corporate documents sent a strong 
     message.
     The way I interpret this : The Latin Academy of Recording Arts( LARAS) realized there was an obvious
     "conflict of interest", for which they asked Mr Abaroa to delete  his name.
     Whoever thinks that Mr Abaroa  is not involved with WILAEN anymore is out of his mind !
     Conflict of interest arises whenever the personal or professional interests of a president of an
     organization, such as The Latin Grammys (where he has power)  is also president of another company ,
     such as WILAEN (where he also has power). The example is clear: if you do business with my private
    company ,you'll participate in the Award show.
    Loss of public confidence, credibility  and a damaged reputation are the most likely results of a poorly
    managed  conflict of interest. Because public confidence is important to most organizations, boards 
    should  take steps to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Even though that is probably what
    happened here, I would have approached differently. I would have send a press release stating the
   "conflict  of interest", and that by itself would have had resolved the issue.
    


    

A Latin Grammy Award is a music award  the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS) uses  to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The  Latin Grammy honors music produced anywhere around the world that were recorded in either Spanish or Portuguese. The winners of the  awards have to go  through a nominating and voting process, in which the selections are decided by peers within the music industry which are members of the Academy.
Laras was formed by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS)  in 1997. It was founded by Michael Greene and Mauricio Abaroa. The 1st Annual Latin Grammy Award took place in 2000 in  Los Angeles, California . During the first five years the show was broadcasted by CBS but in 2005 the show  was moved to Univision. Voting members live worldwide and  to be eligible a recording must have been recorded in Spanish or Portuguese during the  eligibility period of July 1 to June 30. Recording are first entered and are reviewed to determine into which category they are eligible for. Following that process, nominating ballots are mailed to voting member of the academy. The votes are counted by an accounting firm and finally the  winners are announced at the Latin Grammy Awards. Mr. Gabriel Abaroa has been the president and CEO for the past few years.
Importantly, there is a general field consisting of four genre award categories:

• Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.
• Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.
• Song of the Year is awarded to the writer(s)/composer(s) of a single song.
• Best New Artist is awarded to an artist without reference to a song or album.