All Projects

Taking An Artist From <1M to 60M Weekly Streams

2023

Growth

What changed: Streams scaled <1,000,000 → 60,000,000/week; YouTube → 1,000,000+ subs; owned list 0 → 20,000+; press from none → XXL Freshman, LA Times; $8,100,000 revenue (streams + D2C/merch).

Why it mattered: We proved a repeatable engine: Shorts discovery → DSP lift → owned list → D2C/merch/tickets, run with tight release ops.

Outcome: OT became a multi‑platinum artist with durable demand and monetization.

Digital commerce & seeding contributions (my ownership):

Website builds for merch store and tour/venue landing with tracking; improved checkout and launch calendars.
Merch sourcing end‑to‑end (vendors, MOQs, lead times, QA) to protect margin and availability.
Instagram creator seeding and high‑profile placements (e.g., Adin Ross stream) to spike discovery on drop weeks.
Digital marketing concepts: montage/reaction chains, city‑tagged recaps, UTM‑tracked link hubs.

Hard outcomes (baseline → result; timeframe 2023‑05 → 2023‑12):

Weekly streams: <1.0M → 60.0M (≥ +5,900%).
Owned audience: 0 → 20,000+.
Revenue (attributed): $0 → $8,100,000.*
- Streams + D2C/merch. Revenue bridge and formulas below.

MY ROLE: Release Lead across Marketing, A&R, PR, Digital, D2C, Vinyl, Merch, Partnerships, Video; P&L owner for D2C; launch‑calendar owner; built and led cross‑functional teams.

Constraints/trade‑offs:

No prior tour/merch history; minimal team → built infrastructure from scratch.
Speed vs control → shipped fast while safeguarding brand and rights.

Revenue translation (observed + reconciled)

Attributed revenue (streams + D2C/merch): $8.1M.
Reconciliation check (streams‑only back‑solve):
Weekly streams = 60M. Weekly $/stream range (industry blended): $0.0032–0.0050.
Weekly revenue range = $192k–$300k. Weeks to reach $8.1M if streams alone:

Payout ($/stream)	$/week at 60M	Weeks for $8.1M (streams‑only)
0.0032	$192,000	42.2
0.0035	$210,000	38.6
0.0040	$240,000	33.8
0.0045	$270,000	30.0
0.0050	$300,000	27.0

Situation

Artist & sound. That Mexican OT (Virgil René Gazca) blends contemporary trap, Texas blues, country, and influences from ’90s New York boom bap, mariachi, and screw music. The 2023 single “Johnny Dang” hit the Billboard Hot 100 and positioned OT for breakout momentum.

Starting point (pre‑engagement):

Weekly streams: < 1,000,000.
Org: No team beyond management; no touring history, no merchandising.
Press: None.
Owned audience: Email/SMS not established; YouTube channel not optimized for Shorts.

Goal. Build a repeatable release and growth system that compounds streams, subscribers, and demand across DSPs, press, live, and merch—fast enough to capitalize on momentum.

Constraints & risks.

Lean resourcing. No legacy tour/merch ops; required building economics and logistics from zero.
Brand risk. Rapid growth can fragment brand; campaigns needed coherence across visuals, press, and DSP story.
Velocity. Release schedules and touring calendars left limited margin for slippage.

Objectives & Decision Criteria

Streams: Lift weekly streams to ≥ 50M; achieved 60M.
Distribution: Reach 1M+ YouTube subscribers via Shorts.
Owned audience: Build 20,000+ Laylo/email contacts.
Commerce: Ship tour and merch programs from zero to thousands of tickets/units sold.
Reputation: Move from no press → top‑tier (XXL, LA Times) and solidify DSP partnership footprint.

Decision framework.

Window‑driven planning: stack press, DSP, and content around anchor releases.
Network amplification: Shorts + social recaps to drive discovery into DSPs.
Own the funnel: convert attention to owned list; monetize via tickets/merch.
MECE workstreams: Release Ops; Content; Distribution; Partnerships; Commerce.

Strategy

Hypotheses

Short form content volume is the fastest path to new reach and subscriber conversion; it also lifts streams.
Sequenced anchor moments (music videos, live sessions, city‑specific content) create durable narrative beats.
Press + DSP alignment compounds discovery and legitimacy; editorial plus earned media accelerates playlisting and social conversation.
Commerce acts as proof of demand; early sell‑through reinforces narrative and funds growth.

Options considered & trade‑offs.

Traditional ads‑first. Rejected. CAC and creative lag; attention is better captured via Shorts + press + editorial specifically for That Mexican OT given his fanbase.
Slow, artisanal content cadence. Rejected for initial phase; would miss the window.
Outside‑the‑box campaigns (chosen). City‑by‑city content, montage drops, live sessions, collaborations, and tour recaps tied to the calendar.

**Execution

Release & campaign calendar example**

5/26 — “Johnny Dang” ft. Paul Wall audio + video.
6/1–6/16 — Performance content (“From the Ranch”, tour recap drops), radio & interviews (KKSS, KYLZ, The Box), montage videos.
6/19–6/23 — “Barrio” video in Mexico w/ LeftySM; BTS and reaction content.
6/24–6/28 — Nashville show + press; Dallas radio; montage uploads.
7/7–7/14 — Album trailer; Spotify RapCaviar 5 W’s feature; Houston radio playback event; Lonestar Luchador announce.
7/17–7/21 — LA press run (Dash Radio, Justin Credible, Our Generation, No Jumper, Bootleg Kev, 92.3, Big Boy’s Neighborhood; plus DSP/partner visits).
7/28 — The Lonestar Luchador official release; Houston release show.
8/1–8/23 — Most Necessary Houston live show (Warehouse); NYC press run (Sway, Funk Flex, On the Radar, SiriusXM, XXL, etc.); Opp Or 2 video; Barrio Spanish visualizer.
Sept–Dec — Headlining tour and continuing content (Texas Technician era), including Azae From the Block performances.

Content system

Music videos (DGreen‑directed): “Johnny Dang”, “Barrio”, “Cowboy Killer”, “Breannan”, “Hit List”, “Opps or 2”.
Short‑form engine: YouTube Shorts sequences, recap montages, BTS, reaction chains, city‑tagged tour clips.
Proof of reach (user artifact): YouTube tiles show multiple videos with high view counts—e.g., 2.1M (“1982”), 908K (“Cowboy In A Escalade”), 605K (“Mucho Gracias”), plus tour recap series (9K–27K views). (Artifact: YouTube video links provided.)

Partnerships

DSPs: Spotify Artist to Watch 2024, Amazon Breakthrough Artist to Watch, Apple Music Ebro “Discovered” feature; editorial alignment around release windows.
Press: From none to XXL Freshman, LA Times features; broad podcast/radio circuit (Sway, Funk Flex, Dash, Big Boy, etc.).
Features & live: DaBaby, Moneybagg Yo, and others; Most Necessary live show in Houston.

Commerce & owned audience

Laylo + email/SMS: Built to 20,000+; used for on‑sale alerts, drops, and pre‑saves.
Touring: From zero history to thousands of tickets sold.
Merch/vinyl: Thousands of units purchased across vinyl and apparel.
Ops: Budget management for tours; vendor coordination for merch; venue and promoter alignment.

My Role vs. Team

Title: Lead Project Manager - (Marketing, A&R, PR, Digital, D2C, Vinyl, Merch, Partnerships, Video).

Accountabilities:

Growth: Streams, subs, followers, list growth, ticket/merch sell‑through.
Monetization: D2C P&L (pricing, margins, inventory, promo calendar).
Calendar: Launch calendar owner—singles, videos, sessions, press runs, tour legs.
Partnerships: DSP editorial, media, features, brand and creator alliances.
Team: Built and led cross‑functional pod (creative, content ops, PR, digital, commerce, tour).
Governance: Rights, approvals, brand safety; budget stewardship.

What Didn’t Work & Learnings

Generic captions underperformed versus city‑tagged and narrative hooks. We standardized narrative frameworks.
Fragmented brand marks across merch drops confused buyers. We consolidated to a core website and clean brand for ThatMexicanOT.net

Next Steps / Recommendations

Retention & superfans: segment the 20k+ list by city and buyer type; build VIP and pre‑sale ladders.
Merch analytics: SKU‑level sell‑through and heat‑map by market; seasonal capsules tied to tour legs.
Cross‑platform sequencing: pre‑flight Shorts before DSP adds; enable “clip packs” for collaborators to post same‑day.
Data rigor: lock baseline snapshots for subs, followers, and stream splits to accelerate next‑era attribution.

FAQS

What single lever explains the jump to 60M weekly streams?
Shorts form content and key partnerships led discovery that funneled into DSPs, stacked with sequenced anchor moments (videos, live sessions) and aligned editorial/press.
How do you know Shorts activity translated to streams?
We timed Shorts surges with releases and saw synchronous stream lifts on anchor records. Causality is directional, but correlation aligned with content waves.
Why not rely on paid ads?
Ads are slower, expensive, and harder to make culturally relevant. Shorts + press + DSP editorial created larger, cheaper spikes and compounding organic reach.
What did you personally run?
Release plan, video shoots, tour/merch budgets, DSP/press partnerships, Shorts/distribution strategy, reporting cadence, and day‑to‑day approvals.
How did you prevent policy or rights issues at speed?
Feature clearances, visual approvals, governed fan content, and structured review gates; city‑specific content used approved marks and music.
How did you build from no touring/merch history?
We piloted early shows, established forecast + budget controls, and scaled SKUs only after sales showed real demand.
What’s the hard evidence of reach outside DSPs?
YouTube: 1,000,000+ subscribers; multiple videos with 600K–100M views
Why does owned audience matter if streams are huge?
The 20,000+ list drives pre‑saves, on‑sale conversion, and repeat buyers; it stabilizes launches independent of algorithm volatility.
What partnerships were material?
Spotify Artist to Watch, Amazon Breakthrough, Apple Music Ebro feature; press from XXL Freshman to LA Times anchored legitimacy and reach.
What were the biggest operational risks?
Calendar risk and production bandwidth. We mitigated with weekly run‑of‑show, backups (BTS/reaction cuts), and budget rails.

APPENDIX — Assumptions, formulas, artifacts, and timeline

Formulas

Streams/day = Weekly Streams ÷ 7.
Streams/month = Weekly Streams × 4.345.
Earned Media Value (EMV) = (Video Views ÷ 1,000) × CPM.
CPF (cost per follower) = Program Cost ÷ Net New Followers.
ROI (%) = [(Revenue Attributed − Program Cost) ÷ Program Cost] × 100.
Contribution Margin (%) = (Revenue − Variable Costs) ÷ Revenue.

Timeline (selected milestones; 2023)

5/26: “Johnny Dang” release (audio + video).
June: Radio + interviews; montage drops; tour recaps; Apple Music Ebro “Discovered.”
6/19–6/23: “Barrio” shoot in Mexico; BTS and reactions.
7/7–7/14: Album trailer; RapCaviar 5 W’s; Lonestar Luchador announce.
7/17–7/21: LA press run.
7/28: Lonestar Luchador release + Houston event.
Aug–Sept: Most Necessary show; NYC press run; Opp Or 2 video; headlining tour kickoff; Texas Technician era content.