The Latin Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are given each year by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Recording Academy has been around
for more than fifty years. The awards are to honor achievements in the various categories of the recording arts.

Unlike many other awards, the winners are not based
on album sales or chart positions. The awards are based on votes by artists and technicians in the recording industry.

The Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was founded in 1997 and is based in Miami. The LARAS basically also follows the same rules as the National Recording Academy does except music eligible for awards can be both inside and outside of the United States. The membership is also multi-national.

Music must be Latin in style, but the words can be
in Spanish, English, or Portuguese. There are 17 different fields and 49 different categories. They
have their own program to recognize the winners each year.

Like other award programs, there has always been controversy about the representation and winners.

The annual awards program has moved around to Miami, New York, and Las Vegas as well as Los Angeles.

Recent winners included Juanes in the category Best Latin Pop Album
(La Vida .. Es Un Ratico). Best Latin Urban Album went to Wisin y Yandel
for Los Extraterrestres. Reuben Ramos & The Mexican Revolution received an award for Best Tejano Album.

Gloria Estefan has always been a big supporter of the L.A.R.A.S. since
the beginning. She was honored in 2008 as their “Person of the Year”.