"Salsa romantica" is a style of Salsa music that emerged in the late 1980's. Despite criticism from Salsa purists and varied reception from music critcs, it has been the most commerically successful form of Salsa for over 20 years. This style of Salsa that emphisizies romantic tones and sentiments arose at a time when classic, big-band salsa, the kind popularized by Fania Records in the late 1970s and early 1980s, took a severe beating on the Latin record charts, owing to the merengue boom and the rise of Latin pop. By the late 1980's to early early 1990's, several Salsa romantica artists started to recording and quickly found massive success in the United States and abroad. These artists include Eddie Santiago, La India, La Palabra, Giro Lopez, Frankie Ruiz, Luis Enrique, Willie Gonzalez, Lalo Rodríguez, Tito Nieves, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Rojas, and Jerry Rivera. All of these artists were able to establish themselves firmly after their initial breakthrough hits. The record labels Rodven Records, PolyGram, and RMM were some of the most dominant labels during this era. Salsa romantica popularity wavered briefly during the mid 2000's when Reggaton was picked up by radio. By the end of the decade, Salsa romantica regained its high popularity level. The strict lines between salsa romántica and classic salsa have been blurring in recent years. Several performers have succeeded in blending elements of salsa romántica and more hard-driving, traditional salsa, including La India, Tito Rojas, Eddie Santiago, Anthony Cruz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, and Víctor Manuelle. They have gained both critical and commerical success with this blend of sounds. In the 2010's, the most well known performers of salsa romántica La India, Luis Enrique, Giro Lopez, Marc Anthony and Víctor Manuelle. Young salseros gravitating to the form include Anthony Cruz, Frankie Negrón, Kevin Ceballo, Charlie Cruz, and Jay Lozada among others. .
