Billboard has learned that reggaeton star Daddy Yankee sold some of his master recordings to Thank Music and its financial partners around 2021, laying the groundwork for Thank to reissue his 2004 breakout album “Barrio Fino” and five other LPs on vinyl later this year.
Sank declined to disclose any details of the purchase to Billboard, and no other information about the transaction was available. The sale of some of Daddy Yankee's master recordings was confirmed by multiple independent sources but was not reported at the time.
According to sources, Daddy Yankee retains ownership of his publishing catalog, which is managed worldwide by Sony Music Publishing. In the United States, Spirit Music manages several of Daddy Yankee's songs, including the hit “Gasolina.”
A major acquisition has been hinted at for several years: In 2021, Jason Peterson, chairman and CEO of Cinq Music's parent company GoDigital Media Group, told Billboard that the company had acquired “the largest and most culturally significant” Latin music catalog, without disclosing the names of the artists.
ThankMusic and Daddy Yankee have worked together in various capacities over the years, and in 2018 ThankMusic partnered with Janet Jackson to release the single “Made For Now,” featuring Daddy Yankee. Since 2017, ThankMusic, headed by Barry Daffern, has raised $410 million in music acquisition funding, including $250 million secured in February. After its latest round of funding, the company said it now manages $300 million in assets across 80,000 recorded music and publishing rights.
Cinq Music has broken its silence about its involvement with Daddy Yankee's catalog, announcing on Monday that to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Barrio Fino and “Gasolina,” it will release a bhangra remix of the song by Tesher on July 26. According to a press release, the remix will be featured on the cover of a number of playlists on the music streaming platform, as well as on Spotify-branded outdoor billboards in Mexico City.
“Barrio Fino” and two other albums, “El Cangri.com” (2002) and the compilation album “Los Homerun-es” (2003), will be reissued on vinyl by Cinq Music on August 16th. Three more albums, “El Cartel: The Big Boss” (2007), the “Talento de Barrio” soundtrack (2008) and “Mundial” (2010), will be reissued on vinyl on November 15th.
“Gasolina” reached No. 32 on Billboard's multi-genre Hot 100 singles chart in 2005, No. 10 on the U.S. Hot Rap Songs chart, and No. 11 on the U.S. Rhythmic Airplay chart. Billboard cited the song's “unforgettable hook” and “revolutionary” beat when ranking it No. 22 on its 2020 list of the Top 50 Greatest Latin Songs of All Time.
Ironically, “Gasolina” never reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart, only peaking at number 17. Although the song was a breakthrough for Daddy Yankee and helped bring reggaeton to a wider market, its chart success was limited due to the fact that few radio stations played reggaeton at the time.
Barrio Fino was the first reggaeton album to debut at number one on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart (July 31, 2004) and won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album in 2005. The album spent 24 weeks at number one on Top Latin Albums and an astounding 358 weeks on the chart in total. On the multi-genre Billboard 200, Barrio Fino peaked at number 26 in 2005 and stayed on the chart for 54 weeks. To date, the album has sold 2.2 million equivalent albums in the United States, according to Luminate.