The Billboard Latin Music Awards honor the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales and radio airplay data that informs Billboard’s weekly charts during a one-year period from the issue dated February 12, 2005 through this year’s February 4 issue.

Finalists, and the eventual winners, reflect performance of new recordings on Billboard’s sales charts, including Top Latin Albums, and radio charts, including Hot Latin Songs, with album categories confined to titles that did not chart before Billboard’s Nov. 13, 2004 issue but excluding finalists from the prior-year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards. Based on sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and radio information monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, Billboard’s charts are the world’s most authoritative music charts.

Also presented on the show are Billboard’s prestigious discretionary awards including Spirit of Hope for humanitarian contributions, and the Lifetime Achievement award, and Telemundo presents its Estrella award to a top superstar in the industry as well as a People’s Choice award which is voted for on-line by viewers. The Billboard Latin Music Awards are produced and televised LIVE on Telemundo on April 27th at 8pm EST.