Miguel was more involved with the songwriting on this record than on earlier albums and was assisted by composers including Arturo Pérez, Armando Manzanero, and Juan Carlos Calderón.

Despite the popularity of his contemporaries Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias who crossed over to the English-language market, Miguel preferred to sing and record in Spanish at the time.

Four singles were released to promote the album: "Sol, Arena y Mar", "O Tú o Ninguna", "Dormir Contigo", and the title track "Amarte Es un Placer".

Amarte Es un Placer debuted at number one in Spain and on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States.

[13] When asked why he opted to not record an English-language album, like other Latin acts such as Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin had successfully done, Miguel replied: "I think that Spanish is a good language.

"[13] He was also asked about the lack of a duet with his then-girlfriend, American singer Mariah Carey, to which he responded he does not like to mix his personal life with his career.

[6] "Sol, Arena y Mar" is a horn-driven uptempo track with jazz influences, which describes the "pain of separation" of a love that "disappeared as quickly as the foam at the seashore".

[1][21] "Te Propongo Esta Noche", the album's only dance number,[1] begins as a "smooth" R&B track until it changes to percussion-driven club music halfway through the song.

[22] The song caused controversy when Mexican composer Marcos Lifshitz accused Calderón and Miguel of plagiarizing his composition "Siento nuestro aliento" which he wrote in 1997.

[24][28] In the same month, the music video for the fourth single, "Amarte Es un Placer", was directed by Alberto Tolot and filmed in Bel-Air, California.

[34] A concert was planned for the San Jose Arena in California on New Year's Eve but was canceled because the gross income would not meet Miguel's requirements.

[39][52] His hour-and-a-half show consisted mainly of pop songs and ballads from Amarte Es un Placer and his earlier career, as well as medleys of boleros from the Romance-themed albums.

[53] During his concerts in Monterrey, he was joined by Cutbert Pérez's band Mariachi 2000 and performed live covers of Mario De Jesús Báez's "Y" and Rubén Fuentes "La Bikina".

[39] Of Miguel's performances in Los Angeles, The Orange County Register editor Daniel Chang commented that he "delivered a classy show that was as much fun to watch as it was to hear".

He noted that Miguel "emotes a contagious energy through dramatic facial expressions, fetal-position-like contortions and physical outbursts in time with the music," and complimented his dance moves and the visual sets.

AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis gave it two-and-a-half out of five stars, noting that from the title "one can deduce that the material consists of romantic music, mostly in the form of ballads".

[1] John Lannert of Billboard magazine was unimpressed with the record; he panned "Sol, Arena y Mar" as a "vapid, uptempo dance number".

[61] The Houston Chronicle's Joey Guerra gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying that he was underwhelmed with the production for sounding too similar to Miguel's previous recordings.

[17] Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News wrote a more positive review of the album, complimenting "Te Propongo Esta Noche" and lauding ballads like "Dormir Contigo" and "Ese Momento" as "sensual and solemn".

Tarradell ended his review by describing Amartes Es un Placer an "enjoyable balance between high-brow ballads and hardwood workouts".

Cobo also commented the tracks suffered from a lack of "strong hooks or melodies" despite Miguel having the ability to "elevate pretty much any style".

[6] Fred Shuster of the Los Angeles Daily News rated the record three out of four stars and complimented the arrangements which he found to be "gorgeous".

[15] The Los Angeles Times critic Ernesto Lechner gave the album two-and-a-half out of four stars, lamenting it "continues Latin pop's disheartening search for the glossiest production imaginable".

[58] Richard Torres, who wrote a more favorable review of the album for Newsday, said that Amarte Es un Placer continues Miguel's talent of infusing "lushly orchestrated torch songs with genuine passion".

[18] Daniel Chang of the Orange County Register rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and touted the delivery of Miguel's voice as well as the songs which help him convey his message.

[62] At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000, Amarte Es un Placer received a nomination for Best Latin Pop Performance,[63] which went to Tiempos by Rubén Blades.

[69] Miguel received two nominations at the 2000 El Premio de la Gente in the categories of Male Pop Artist or Group and Album of the Year;[70] he lost both awards to MTV Unplugged by Maná.

[77] It ended 1999 as the fifteenth bestselling Latin album in the US and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping 500,000 copies.

[16] Adapted from the Amarte Es un Placer liner notes:[16] Brass Chorus Concert masters Drums Guitars Keyboards Orchestra director Percussion Viola Violin Cello Bass Wind section French horns Harp Additional musicians