The Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists, nationally and internationally. The award is given to solo artists or groups that first establish an identity to the public as a performer and release a Spanish or Portuguese language recording during the period of eligibility. In 2012, the Academy announced the category would include ten nominees to reflect changes within the music industry.

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.