México Canta is turning up the volume for its second season, tapping the music streaming service Spotify to give the cross-border contest’s top singers even more exposure.

The partnership will give the 14 semifinalists from Mexico and the United States an official Spotify playlist and offer them a career-development master class, and the three winners will be invited to a Spotify flagship event for emerging artists, the Mexican government said in a press release.

México Canta (Mexico Sings) is a federal initiative led by the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Mexican Music Council.

Open to Mexican and Mexican American artists ages 18 to 29, it is akin to “American Idol” with one overriding rule: It seeks songs promoting themes such as love, tradition and culture rather than glorifying violence, drugs, discrimination or misogyny.

Unlike last year’s inaugural contest — which staged semifinals in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Tijuana, Oaxaca and Mexico City that blossomed into must-see TV — this year’s whittling-down process was left in the hands of the Mexican Music Council. It reviewed online auditions to determine the best of more than 16,000 entries (about 1,200 more than last year).

Of the 5,760 U.S.-based registrants, seven were chosen for the first semifinal, which was Sunday at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. It produced three finalists.

The second semifinal is scheduled for Sunday at the Ángela Peralta Theater in Mazatlán, where three more finalists will be selected, plus a wild-card from either semifinal. The contest drew 10,528 registrants from Mexico.

The finals are set for Sept. 13 at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, where winners will be selected in three as-yet-unnamed categories. Last year’s titles were for best performer and best song, alongside a wild-card pick.

The agreement with Spotify comes during a boom in regional Mexican music.

Global listening to the genre on Spotify has risen 450% over the last five years, while consumption in Mexico increased 560%, the Ministry of Culture noted. Moreover, more than 70% of Spotify Mexico’s daily Top 50 is made up of Mexican artists compared to 10% a decade ago, the ministry added.

Also, for the first time, Mexico has entered the world’s 10 largest recorded-music markets, noted Spotify representative Karen Duque.

“A decade ago, it was quite difficult to imagine that Mexico would become one of the most important powers in the world of the music industry,” she said.

Following the finals in Mexico City, the three winners will be scheduled to perform during Mexican Independence Day celebrations on Sept. 15.

With reports from La Jornada and Informador