Kojo Osei, now the Director of Digital Marketing at Interscope Records, always knew that he wanted to pursue a career in music. Kojo attended business school, trying to figure out a way he could pursue both his education and his passion. There, he was able to take digital marketing classes which fed into his passion for helping artists, and wanted to be a person that could help them make a brand for themselves. Eventually, he started his career as an intern at 300 Entertainment while a senior in college. He worked with the company over two semesters, coming in two to three times a week, eventually leading to a full-time digital marketing position post-grad, being one of the greatest learning opportunities and stepping stones for his career. This experience led him to his position now as Digital Director at Interscope.
Since then, Kojo has worked with several artists, such as Young Thugg, Gunna, Ken Carson, and many more. While working with artists with different styles, sounds, and needs, Kojo has had to learn how to cater to and adapt to them but still uses fan marketing with all of them. “Every artist is different and over the years it’s definitely changed… It reaches different pockets and different audiences.” With the constant changes in social media, he’s experienced firsthand how promotion changes as different platforms become popular. Certain content styles and challenges that were once popular on Instagram are now more common on TikTok, forcing a shift in marketing approach for these platforms. “I feel like now, a lot of things have evolved and there are so many content creators on different platforms where you just gotta be able to be present in these platforms that make sense for the artist.”
Kojo has experimented with many different campaign methods, including memes, reaction videos, Discord, and even Roblox. He uses Discord so his artists can communicate with their fans more in a more intimate way, however, Roblox has been one of his most innovative methods when connecting with audiences. Interscope hosted Roblox concerts for Destroy Lonely, the first of which was May 12th of this year. The concert was in promotion of Destroy Lonely’s album “If Looks Could Kill,” and played to over 200,000 fans, which eventually led to the crash of the server.
Kojo has turned to these innovative methods as a way to help his artists stay engaged with their audience and stand out amongst all the other artists. “I think the main things will always be consistent. Fans being able to engage with the artists directly. Just being in tune with what the artist has going on.” Kojo acknowledges that digital marketing will always continue to evolve as platforms are constantly changing and being created, but it’s important to develop alongside them to ensure your artist’s success. “When you think about a successful artist, that artist has a very specific brand and storytelling that is the reason they are able to succeed and cut through all the music that is released.”
