[1] He is considered to be one of the principal Latino composers of the day, having worked with artists such as David Bisbal, Cristian Castro, Thalía, Chayanne, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Torres, Davi Wornel, Alejandro Fernández, Olga Tañón, Bacilos, José Luis Rodríguez «El Puma» and Gloria Estefan among others.
[5] He moved to Bogotá in 1987 where he worked as a jazz bassist[6] and wrote his first song, "El jardín de mis amores" (The garden of my loves), at age 33, that was dedicated to his parents.
[4] In 1993, he met Colombian musician Estéfano, who offered to collaborate with him on an album for José Luis Rodríguez «El Puma», composing his hit "Diosito Santo" (Dear God Holy).
During this year, he composed and produced six songs for the album "Me Estoy Enamorando" (I'm In Love) for Alejandro Fernández, who was nominated for a Grammy and sold more than three million copies worldwide, making the transition from Ranchero to the Pop music market.
In 2002, Santander received the Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year for his work on the tracks "Perdidos En La Noche", "Por Ti Yo Iré", "Que No Me Pierda", "Quisiera", "Si Tu Te Vas" and "Soy De La Gente" by Diego Torres, and the albums Azul by Cristian Castro and Una Vez Mas by Jaime Camil.
During the same year, Santander also produced for artists such as Chayanne, Amaury Gutiérrez, Illegal, Jaime Camil and Cristian Castro, whose single "Azul" reached the top of the charts in USA and Latin America, and remained at number one in Billboard's Hot Latin Songs for 11 consecutive weeks.
[3] In 2003, Santander produced the new album "Prohibido Olvidar" (No Forgetting) for Ricardo Montaner, "Natural" for Noelia, "As de Corazones" (Ace of Hearts) for the Spanish Raúl and "Caramelito" for Rocío Dúrcal.
On Thursday, March 10, 2011, Santander received in Las Vegas the President Award, the highest distinction of delivering the Latin BMI.
In 2002 he was named Chairman of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.,[10] and he is very involved with the talent show Operación Triunfo (a program of which he became director in 2005 and 2006).
[11] In 2005 Santander moved to Barcelona, Spain where he created BATUKA,[12] a group fitness workout method with original music he composed.
BATUKA was launched on the Spanish market in July 2005 and became an instant phenomenon selling more than 1.5 million DVDs in the first 16 months in Spain only.
BATUKA created a new trend in the way to do group fitness and started expanding to other European countries such as Italy, Germany and France.
BATUKA is going through an aggressive expansion phase with the creation of six new fitness programs for the health club market as well as its own nutrition method created and developed by Miriam Nelson, one of the most respected authorities in nutrition in the US, as well as its own " Batuka Philosophy" created by Santander, which is a way to educate people about how to achieve a more balanced way of life and a more harmonious inner state.
[13] In 2007, Santander also partnered with the renowned musician, composer and producer Mark Portmann to start a company to create music for film and television.
The book comes with a CD with the "Cancionero de su vida" (in Spanish: song of his life) in which the composer sings the themes that more thrill him.
The repertoire ranges from a lullaby his mother sang to him, to hits like "Quiero perderme en tu cuerpo" (I wanna get lost in your body) (David Bisbal).