When many his age are dreaming of one day becoming stars, Canadian highschooler Eric Luechter is busy making stars.
Luechter promotes underground musicians on social media platforms with aplomb. Till date, he has turned more than 500 previously unknown artists and brands into household names across Canada.
The Toronto teenager minces no words when he says, “I have grown rappers more effectively and faster than almost any other professional manager.”
The concept of digital marketing has been around since the inception of social media, but it picked up pace at breakneck speed after the world went into lockdown mode owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, although pandemic restrictions have been lifted in almost every part of the world, the dependence on social media for running marketing campaigns has only grown.
Luechter says he entered this business because he “saw many other successful entrepreneurs, and decided to give it a shot.”
“I gradually learned about the underground scene of artists, which is something I am genuinely interested in,” he adds.
Luechter promotes artists through Spotify and Apple Music playlisting, Soundcloud ad growth, YouTube music video marketing, TikTok and Instagram, while offering his clients a range of services such as endorsement deals, press coverage, blue tick verifications etc.
“Today, I have access to over 100 playlists with more than 20,000 followers,” says Luechter, whose Instagram page — @luechter — boasts a following of more than 100,000 people.
From being a regular school-going boy to becoming a marketing prodigy, the journey wasn’t easy.
“Definitely, finding the right method to grow each artist in the most efficient manner was a challenge initially,” Luechter says. But he feels he has “completely mastered it, from social media to streaming platforms and even radio.”
All it takes to succeed in this business is a little bit of friendliness, says the marketing guru in the making. “You need to be a sociable person. You need to treat clients like friends and not too professionally. It creates trust, and at the same time, makes work a lot more fun,” he says.
Luechter one day hopes to manage big stars. But even if that doesn’t happen, he doesn’t have any grudges, he says. “I work with talented artists, and I’m sure I can turn them into big stars.”
And If you have stars in your eyes, don’t hesitate to reach out to Luechter on his website www.ericluechter.com.