On September 6, 1986,
Billboard premiered a Latin music singles chart, the Hot Latin 50. During the late 1980s, musical data was compiled by the
Billboard magazine-affiliated chart and research department, with information from 70 Spanish-language radio stations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Those radio stations were selected based on their number of listeners, being asked to report their playlists for the week. Since 1994, this data has been compiled by
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), which electronically monitors radio stations in more than 120 music markets across the United States. Before The Hot Latin Songs chart's inception, the Latin music information on the magazine was presented only in the form of the biweekly album sales chart, or
Top Latin Albums, which continues to be listed separately. According to the
Billboard electronic database, the first number one song on the Hot Latin 50 was "
La Guirnalda", by Spanish singer
Rocío Dúrcal, on September 6, 1986. However, in the listings included in the first printed publication of the chart, on October 4, 1986, the first number-one song was "
Yo No Sé Qué Me Pasó", by Mexican singer-songwriter
Juan Gabriel. In 2016,
Billboard stated that the chart was introduced on the issue dated October 4, 1986, but the magazine's official website recognizes the previous issues from September 6, 1986, to September September 27, 1986, as well as Rocío Durcal's number one on the debut issue. Due to the increasing popularity of downloads sales and streaming data,
Billboard updated the methodology for the Hot Latin Songs chart on October 11, 2012, to include digital sales and streaming activity in addition to airplay, as well as making only predominantly Spanish-language songs eligible for inclusion and increasing airplay data to more than 1,200 radio stations across the United States. The chart's previous methodology was formatted to the
Latin Airplay chart with the Latin genre-charts now being component charts of the Latin Airplay chart.
Component charts There are several component charts that contribute to the overall calculation of Hot Latin Songs. These are: • Latin Digital Song Sales: The chart measures the best-selling Spanish-language digital songs. It was established on January 23, 2010. "
Loba" by
Shakira was the first number-one song on the chart. "
Danza Kuduro" by
Don Omar featuring
Lucenzo is the longest-running number-one, with 94 non-consecutive weeks from May 14, 2011, to July 20, 2013. • Latin Streaming Songs: The chart measures the most-streamed Spanish-language songs and videos on selected online music services. It was established on April 20, 2013. "
Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring
Wyclef Jean was the first number-one song on the chart. "
Bailando" by
Enrique Iglesias featuring
Descemer Bueno and
Gente de Zona is the longest-leading number-one, with 66 non-consecutive weeks from May 17, 2014, to April 30, 2016. • Four subgenre charts: Hot Latin Pop Songs, Hot Regional Mexican Songs, Hot Latin Rhythm Songs, and Hot Tropical Songs, which rank the best-performing songs (combining airplay, sales and streaming) on their respective genre charts. It was established on April 8, 2025. ==Compilation==