0 to 1,000,000 Streams in 90 Days: Evan Jacobson’s Viral Blueprint for Musicians

How do you turn a viral video into fans who stream your songs and buy tickets? I sat down with New York saxophonist Evan Jacobson, whose series Adding Sax Solos to Songs That Don't Need Them took off when his cover of Coldplay's Sparks went viral.

Evan shares why he posts in bursts instead of five times a week, how covers bring people in before they find his original music, and why a strong live show turns viewers into fans. He tells me what he'd do after a first viral hit (an email list, a website and music on Spotify), why the same room, framing and text at the start of every video help people know it's you, and what Taylor Swift's graduation speech taught him about the fear of being cringe.

His big lesson: people connect with music that makes them feel something, not music that shows off.