Billboard names Hans Schafer to lead 2026 Latin Power Players

Live Nation executive Hans Schafer leads Billboard's 2026 Latin Power Players list.

The annual list was published on Oct. 9 and names the executives who run the Latin music business, from record labels to live promotion. Billboard places Schafer at the top of this year's selection. Live Nation is the concert promoter that stages tours and sells tickets, so its Latin operation touches routing, venues and crew jobs across the region and the United States.

The roll call includes Afo Verde, chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Latin-Iberia, and Jesus Lopez, chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula. Sony and Universal are two of the three majors, the world's largest record groups alongside Warner. Their Latin divisions sign artists, pay for recordings and work those recordings to radio, playlists and the charts. Verde and Lopez therefore sit at the point where creative decisions meet budgets and release dates.

The business year has had chart moments to match the boardroom moves. Romeo Santos and Prince Royce's collaborative album Better Late Than Never debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Tropical Albums chart, the weekly ranking for tropical albums. That No. 1 was counted by Billboard. A chart-top debut of that kind reflects sales, streams and airplay converted into a single ranking in the same tracking week.

Billboard published a separate 2026 Global Power Players list in March to honour senior leaders across the wider music industry. Four BMG senior leaders made that selection, including Chief Strategy Officer Johannes von Schwarzkopf. The global list also included Jorge Mejia, president and chief executive for Latin America and U.S. Latin at Sony Music Publishing, the arm that looks after songwriting rights and collects royalties for writers, and Nasra Artan, its head of international A&R, the department that scouts and signs songwriters and artists.

For fans, this means the link is direct. The people on these lists set release calendars, approve tour routes and agree deals with streaming services. A first-week total pays rent. A cancelled leg leaves a crew without work.

What makes this stand out is the timing. The Latin list has arrived just as the industry gathers to talk business in public. Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 includes a session titled "The Power Players: Managers Edition," which puts artist managers centre stage. Billboard lists that session as part of its final programme for the week.

The week closes with the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards gala on Oct. 22 in Miami. The ceremony will air live at 8 p.m. ET on Telemundo. The broadcast time and date were confirmed by Billboard and Telemundo.

Performers slated for the night include Becky G, Ryan Castro, Lupillo Rivera, SANTOS BRAVOS, Elvis Crespo, HaAsh and Jessi Uribe. Yahoo Entertainment names that group among the planned acts. Telemundo has also confirmed Paola Jara alongside Crespo, HaAsh and Jessi Uribe for the performance line-up. Telemundo