Music Sin Fronteras New Years, 2026

I am back from the holidays, which were spent, among other things, listening to new music, which is starting to emerge for the new year.  In my earphones were songs like SLOW  from the Chicano indie/alt band ChicanoMosh,  the Tejano Outlaw Band’s  Quiero Volver Contigo, and songs from  Julietta Vanegas, Xavi, and Los Tigres del Norte.

 So what does 2026 hold, musically speaking.  It’s too early to tell, but my crystal ball sees a few trends shaping up.

First, more global collaboration.  Platforms like Soundtap, BandLab,  Kompoz ,Boombox.io, Vampr, and Splice have so many users that artists are beginning to grouse that they are saturated.  But, given that they facilitated hits like Doja Cat’s Say So, Dua Lipa’s  Don’t Start Now, Kendrick Lamar’s FEEL, and Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road, they look to be here to stay as a powerful tool that will increase the number of collaborative hits.

Second, women are moving into Mexican and Chicano music in ways that would have been hard to imagine even a generation ago. Nowhere is this more evident than in regional music and the folk-rooted traditions of  Mexican music, where women are reshaping both the sound and the stories on both sides of the border. I think we will see an increasing number of women fronting banda,  son jarocho, son huasteco, and ranchero bands, or even forming all-female bands, like they have in mariachi. Artists from Becky G to Lupita Infante, Ángela Aguilar, and a younger wave of Mexican American performers are insisting that the genre’s future cannot be all hats, boots and testosterone.

In the Chicano and Latina/o U.S. scene, that pressure is even more pointed because regional Mexican has become a key soundtrack of identity for a young bilingual audience. Selena’s fight for space in Tejano and Jenni Rivera’s run in banda and corrido are now read as precursors to a broader movement, one where daughters, granddaughters and spiritual heirs treat regional music as terrain to reclaim, not just to inherit.  Groups like Caña Dulce y Caña Brava, made up mostly of women from Veracruz, have become emblematic of a growing female presence in son hurocho, touring internationally and being celebrated at festivals precisely as “women of jarocha.”

And of course, there is The Warning, who are the opening vanguard of women storming into Roc de Mexico.

My third crystal ball vision is not so rosy; it is about AI. AI  has a strong foothold in the music world and is reshaping nearly every layer of the industry, from how songs are written and produced to how they are marketed and discovered. AI tools can now generate melodies, harmonies, beats, and even convincing vocal performances in the style of specific genres or artists. This lowers technical and financial barriers for emerging musicians, who can sketch out professional‑sounding demos with a laptop instead of a full studio.  But it also adds more competition and lowers prices for songs and licenses.

However, AI also drives how music reaches listeners and earns money. Recommendation algorithms on streaming platforms decide which songs appear in playlists and “radio” feeds, heavily influencing what becomes a hit. Labels and managers use AI‑driven analytics to forecast trends, test audience reactions, and fine‑tune release strategies. These systems can advantage artists who understand how to work with data and metadata, but they also raise concerns about homogenization—if algorithms favor familiar patterns, they may narrow what breaks through. Plus, it means artists have to become online AI marketing specialists, instead of just being artists.

Then there is the jobs question.  For every AI song produced and sold, a musician loses an opportunity. Every film or TV soundtrack created with AI means a musician loses an income source. Plus the legal and moral questions about copyrights and payment for scarped songs have to be sorted out. AI is unquestionably a growing force in music, but I think what will result, at least in the short term, is litigation, conflict, poorer music and poorer musicians. The lawyers and investors will make money; artists, not so much.

So, overall for 2026, I see more women in music, more global collaboration in music, and more AI in music. But, given a growing population and wider distribution technologies, there will be more music.

Banner: The Warning, Mexican rock band, the future of rock?

Patrick O’Heffernan