The 13th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the fifth time the awards was held at this venue and in Las Vegas. It also marks the last year in the Latin Recording Academy's contract where the Mandalay Bay Events Center hosted. It is unknown if the awards will continue to be held at this location beyond 2012.

The Latin Grammy Awards are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been released in Ibero-America. Ibero-America, as defined by the Latin Recording Academy, encompasses Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the Latino population in Canada and the United States. Submissions of products recorded in languages, dialects or idiomatic expressions recognized in Ibero America, such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian, Nahuatl, Guarani, Quechua or Mayan may be accepted by a majority vote. Both the regular Grammy Award and the Latin Grammy Award have similar nominating and voting processes, in which the selections are decided by peers within the Latin music industry.