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Romeo Santos, Daddy Yankee, Keityn and More Shine at the 2026 ASCAP Latin Music Awards
At an invite-only ceremony in Miami on May 5, 2026, ASCAP handed out its Latin music awards. Keityn nabbed songwriter of the year for a third time, Romeo Santos took songwriter-artist of the year, Karol G's 'Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido' was song of the year, and Daddy Yankee added his 63rd and 64th
Miami on a humid Tuesday night felt equal parts celebration and ledger-closing. Inside an invite-only ballroom where music executives traded congratulations between sips of something chilled, ASCAP handed out its 2026 Latin music prizes, and the room kept circling back to familiar names and surprising winners alike.
Colombian songwriter Keityn walked away with songwriter of the year for the third time, a quiet but insistent presence behind several of the year’s hooks. His fingerprints are on songs that kept radio and playlists humming: Karol G and Marco Antonio Solís’ ‘Coleccionando Heridas,’ Maluma’s ‘Cosas Pendientes,’ Feid’s ‘Doblexxó’ and Nicky Jam and Beéle’s ‘Hiekka.’ In a year when collaborations and cross-genre pairing rule the charts, Keityn’s win felt like a reminder that hitmaking still begins in the writing room.
Romeo Santos, the Dominican-born voice of modern bachata who still leans into the title he gave himself — King of Bachata — was named ASCAP Latin songwriter-artist of the year. His recent run, including ‘Ángel’ with Grupo Frontera, ‘Desde Hoy’ performed by Natti Natasha and ‘Khé’ with Rauw Alejandro, has kept his catalog in rotation across Latin radio and streaming playlists. Seeing him honored here is less about surprise than about the endurance of a star who has refused to plateau.
The night’s biggest songwriting trophy, ASCAP Latin Song of the Year, went to ‘Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,’ the summer single by Karol G written by ASCAP songwriter Rios. The track, published by Capital Music Puerto Rico LLC and Kobalt Music Publishing, dominated Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs at No. 1 for 14 weeks and even climbed back up to No. 6 after Karol G’s Coachella set — a reminder that festival moments still move charts.
And then there was Daddy Yankee. The reggaetón veteran added his 63rd and 64th ASCAP Latin awards, extending a streak that dates back to 2005. This year his wins for the uplifting ‘Sonríele’ and the sultrier ‘Latina Foreva’ (performed by Karol G) landed with the weight of history: he has now been recognized at every ASCAP Latin Awards ceremony in the modern era of the event. You felt the room acknowledge it — not with flash, but with a kind of industry respect that commands silence before applause.
On the publishing side, Universal Music Publishing Group picked up Latin music publisher of the year for a fourth consecutive run, buoyed by its roster that includes fresh hits from Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro. Representatives accepted amid the usual flurry of photos, and their win underscored how the big houses still play gatekeeper to global hits.
Other names sprinkled through the winners list read like a snapshot of current Latin pop and urbano: Julito Gastón earned his first ASCAP nod for co-writing Bad Bunny’s global hit ‘Baile Inolvidable’ with Antonio Caraballo. Feid was recognized for multiple cuts including ‘Doblexxó,’ ‘Háblame Claro’ and ‘Verano Rosa.’ Xavi, Natanael Cano, Tito El Bambino and Danny Ocean also picked up awards for recent songs — small trophies that point to long careers and steady streams of placements.
For fans, these awards are less about plaques and more about validation — the moments on stage that confirm what streaming numbers and packed concert dates have already shown. You could see that in the conversations afterward: managers comparing setlists, songwriters talking about co-writes, and fans online parsing which wins will nudge the next round of playlists and festival bookings.
It was a ceremony that didn’t rewrite the narrative of Latin music in 2026 so much as underline it: collaboration rules, legacy artists still matter, and the invisible labor of writers finally gets its evening in the light. For a music ecosystem built on hooks and features, ASCAP’s nods this year felt like an inventory of whose work will keep radio and stages full for the next season.
For the full list of winners and song credits, ASCAP posted the detailed breakdown on its site the next morning, as industry folks began turning those results into next moves and new alliances.
