Furthermore, it just makes more business sense. A white Puerto Rican will have more culturally in common with a black Puerto Rican than a black New Yorker or a black Jamaican.
Totally agree. That is why the much smaller Black population in Puerto Rico dislikes being called "Afro American" as they are "Afro Antillean" in heritage, tastes and customs.
The real musical taste setter in Latin American demographics is economic status. Which is problematic but in a completely different way. Latin America will admit to using it as a stat but that's a complete non-starter in any US jurisdiction. And really, a UPR law student nowadays is just as likely to enjoy Bad Bunny as much as someone from public housing.
In fact, in nearly every nation in Latin America ratings are first delivered by socioeconomic levels, not age groups. This is because the buying power and product interests of the different levels are widely different. For example, in Mexico the services use A, B, C, D and E, with A being upper income, B being upper middle, C being lowest middle and highest low income, D being low income and E being economically nonproductive. For further segmentation, they now speak of C+ as well, with that being the more consumer active of that group.
A station can barely be in the top 10 overall, but #1 or #2 in A & B income levels and bill better than a #1 station that is all concentrated in C, D and E levels.
Reggaetón and its brothers like Trap have the demo appeal in Puerto Rico that salsa did in the 70's and 80s... broadly popular from teens to 35, falling off after that. But with the average age in Latin America and Puerto Rico being 10 to 15 years younger than that of the continental US, that is a huge segment.
The depth of reggaetón varies by nation. In the Caribbean Basin, with strong Afro-Antillean musical heritage, it is very powerful. In non-gulf parts of Mexico, it is much less significant, as it is to an even greater extent in the Southern Cone of South America where the heritage is more related to Indigenous heritage and influences.