0 to 1,000,000 Streams in 90 Days: Evan Jacobson’s Viral Blueprint for Musicians
Viral sax covers turned bedroom practice into arena‑packing musical movement
Here's a conversation with Evan Jacobson, my podcast guest this week on That One Time with Adam Metwally.
A New York‑based saxophonist famous for adding solos to songs that don’t need them, Evan’s Coldplay Sparks cover went mega‑viral, built 695 k TikTok followers, 190 k on Instagram, and landed his band Stolen Gin on festival stages like Gov Ball.
Below are some of the key concepts we explored in the episode:
– The repeatable three‑step test Evan uses to pick covers that cross 1 million views.
The lean posting rhythm that took him from 0 to 695 000 followers while keeping creative sanity.
The email‑list‑plus‑live‑show funnel converting 10 % of online fans into ticket buyers in every city.
Timestamps:
00:00 The viral saxophone journey
02:53 Authenticity in music and content creation
06:14 Balancing content and artistic integrity
09:00 From digital reach to live show fans
12:14 Building a strong live performance
14:50 Marketing strategies for original music
17:51 The future of music marketing
21:00 Converting viral moments into lasting connections
24:05 Overcoming imposter syndrome
26:53 Consistency over perfection
27:39 Building a brand identity
32:56 Navigating low‑engagement slumps
36:58 Honesty over people‑pleasing
39:04 Acts of kindness and relationships
43:21 Creating meaningful art
48:59 Upcoming projects and lessons learnt
It’s up on YouTube, Spotify, X and everywhere else.
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