In an ever-evolving music industry, it can be challenging for developing artists to find their way to a sustainable career doing what they love. Navigating the pitfalls of a business that’s notoriously peppered with scammers, sharks and shameless sellers-of-dreams (and only dreams) can be exhausting, costly and even dangerous, if you fall into business with the wrong people. Luckily, Billboard-charting music producer LX Xander and self proclaimed “dark trap messiah” has a solution.
“I’ve developed a process,” he tells us, glowing with pride. “Honestly, it’s taken years of trial & error. I’ve worked on hundreds of projects in a variety of different capacities, spoken with dozens of label A&Rs, managers, distributors, streaming execs, artists, producers… I’ve cracked it. I can take an artist from zero, up to a point where they’ll be taken seriously in this industry.”
LX’s story is pretty impressive. Born in a small town in the UK, Xander’s beginnings were about as humble as they could be. “My hometown is, across the board, low income.” he smiles. “It’s like, the cheapest place in the country to buy real estate, and ambition isn’t really particularly encouraged there. Very salt-of-the-earth. In many ways, I’m grateful to have come up around that kind of energy; it’s made me very realistic & pragmatic in my approach. I don’t ever have my head in the clouds, like some of these industry types.”
After cultivating a following online through creative branding, persistence and what he describes as “just hard graft”, our British-born maestro moved his operation to Los Angeles, California. “Talk about a switch up!” he laughs. “A lot of people back home thought I wasn’t even really here, like I was faking it somehow. But I went through the whole process – visa application, etc. I’ve been out here about four years now, back and forth. I also went to Atlanta recently for about six months and did a lot of work out there.”
Fast forwarding to today, Xander has worked with some serious heavy-hitters, only a few of which are: Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, Lil Xan, ppcocaine, Guapdad 4000, Thouxanbanfauni, Riff Raff, KXNG Crooked (Crooked I) and even 2000s rock band Alien Ant Farm. “I did a remix of their cover of Smooth Criminal through Cleopatra Records. It really went up! All organic, too. Zero paid promo.” he reminisces. “But a lot of the records I have with bigger artists never got released, or at least, they haven’t yet. That’s actually one of the reasons why I tend to gravitate towards working more with developing artists – with major artists, the process is so long & drawn out, you often don’t get paid until the very end and a lot of stuff just sits in the vault, or gets lost in the ether. It can be very frustrating, both creatively and as a businessperson.”
Moving into 2023, LX has just launched a new service for upcoming artists who are looking to really break into the industry with a bang. “It’s a four month process,” Xander begins. “It includes production, brand consultation, and most importantly; high quality, targeted promotion. I’ve designed the service to focus on growing specifically the numbers & metrics that labels, managers & investors really look for when considering taking on an artist. By the time I’m done, the artist will be in a position where they’ll really be taken seriously within this business, with the numbers, credibility & network to back up their talent.”
And he’s done it before; take a look through Xander’s career history and you’ll find several examples of artists with hundreds of thousands – and even millions – of streams, who had nothing going on before he got his hands on them. “It’s really about finding a great promotional team that you can trust,” he tells us, with a wry smile. “I just so happen to have very, very close relationships with some of the best in the industry. I get the highest quality service, at the best possible rates. That’s why nobody else in this business can do what I do at the price I can offer it. Nobody else has the combination of knowledge, particular skills & access that I do.”
“And I even have financing available,” LX adds. “I really wanted to make sure this service was available to anyone who’s really serious.
To learn more about LX Xander’s zero-to-hero artist development service, visit ghostcraftmusic.com, or find him on Instagram at @lxxander.thegr8.
