Brazil’s music market has been in full expansion over the last decade, with the fastest growing audience growth in the world. Genre bending innovation and accessibility to new mediums being the major cause, music business institutions like MPT Agency have taken a full plunge in the region and are collaborating with some of the biggest acts in town.
On the listener side, the music coming out of Latin America in particular, is getting immense coverage from international markets that are hooked to latin flare, be it in Pop, Rock and even HipHop. MPT Agency had just come out of their 2019 win at the Manhattan Music Awards and had tapped into the Latin music market earlier that year. The two founders checked the numbers and hedged their bets on the continent’s treasure trove of talent that had a unique capacity to drive stream-based traffic in what was to be streaming’s biggest consecutive years in history..
Fast forward to 2020, in the center of Brazil’s explosive hip-hop scene, a young rapper takes a step towards the unknown and releases a concept album that shakes the industry forever. Matuê, Maquina do Tempo, creates one of the most powerful brands to break through the geographic boundaries of Latin America to become a regular studio mentioned in the highly competitive US HipHop market.
With the follow-up single “Que Voar” in 2021, Matuê settled his presence in the local scene but needed to capitalize on his newfound American-made reputation. Beyond the beats, the rhymes and the post-apocalyptic music videos, the teams at MPT Agency put this brand together. Partnering up with Sony Music to deliver this unique campaign, the team understood the unique market scenario they were in, as well as the fact that they were dealing with an immense pool of mainstream listeners.
“We can feel a global shift in music markets since 2016 and the arrival of TikTok on the scene. Streaming platforms and music curation had already become the major royalty drivers of the industry, but the creator economy experienced a whole new world of opportunity when it had the chance to “sponsor” its tracks in the smörgåsbord of viral videos being spread.” said Anto Dotcom, Co-Founder & COO of MusicPromoToday.
Heavily focused on streaming conversions and platform specific engagement, MPT Agency looked to leverage Latin America’s viewership on key platforms like TikTok to create a massive cushion for the North American markets to build on. With over 240 million views, and charting at #75 on Billboard global, Matue’s Que Voar campaign set a new standard for Brazil’s HipHop scene. It demonstrated that there was a new highway artists can use to interact with American consumers, and its name was MPT.
The trick was timing the promo properly so that the wave of viewers could begin in Brazil and make their way to the US just as they enter their peak of performance. For Que Voar, breaking Spotify records became like clock work. Amongst the awards was Best Brazilian Debut Album, with over 4.2 million views flooding the airwaves within the first 24 hours of its release.
“Our experience working with Sony was an interesting exercise, as our professional experience and vision seem to match perfectly with what their army of market researchers was pulling out. It was reassuring to know that we were seeing the same thing for Matue’s rise to stardom.” said Raffi Keuhnelian, Co-Founder & CEO of MusicPromoToday.
An agency’s ability to break into new geographic markets is indicative of their maturity and understanding of industry currents. By successfully transposing the artistic process to a highly competitive market, MusicPromoToday has demonstrated 3 things.
- That all promo is a question of careful timing.
- That hungry fans are what create powerful cultural waves.
- And that the distance between an up-and-coming artist and their seat at the golden hall is the right marketing agency.
