Memes To Promote Music

See Example

Lil Nas X initially gained popularity on Twitter by posting memes, amassing 30,000 followers.

Building a Social Media Following

  • Lil Nas X initially gained popularity on Twitter by posting memes, amassing 30,000 followers.
  • He found that promoting his music directly wasn't effective, so he decided to create a song that could be promoted through memes.
  • "Old Town Road" was the result, and he paired it with a viral video of a dancing cowboy, which gained significant traction.

Leveraging Virality and Charts

  • The song's success on Twitter led to its spread on TikTok and eventually onto Billboard’s country music charts.
  • Billboard removed the song for "not being a country song," which ironically made it a national talking point and helped it reach No. 1.
  • Lil Nas X exploited a Billboard loophole by releasing remixes, which counted towards the original song's chart placement. This strategy helped him break Mariah Carey’s record for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1.

Strategic Planning

  • Lil Nas X was very intentional about his marketing; it wasn't just luck.
  • He used various strategies like changing the song title on YouTube and SoundCloud to match viral video lyrics and posting on the NameThatSong subreddit to make it easier for people to find the full song.

Key Takeaways

  • Lil Nas X's success is attributed to his creative and strategic use of social media and understanding of the music industry's loopholes.
  • He started as a college dropout with a negative bank balance but managed to achieve extraordinary success through calculated moves.