Get the latest gossip

How the Founders of Broke Records Turned YouTube Savvy Into Streaming Hits


Broke Records founders Andre Benz and Brandon De Oliveira turned YouTube savvy into music streaming hits.

Working from his childhood bedroom in New Jersey, Benz created the YouTube channel Trap Nation, where he featured a curated selection of dance music and remixes of popular songs. Now 27, Benz says his goal is no less than building “the best independent record label in the history of the music industry,” and he takes inspiration from the digital-driven approach of Mike Caren’s APG and Elliot Grainge’s 10K Projects, which he says showed him what indie success can look like. “Andre gave me this framed printed chart as a Christmas gift to commemorate the label’s launch,” De Oliveira says, “so we’d be able to look at it and grasp the level of growth the company has had over the next year.” Jamie Pearl

Get the Android app

Or read this on Billboard