For many people, Joe Keery is the actor best known for playing Steve Harrington on the beloved Netflix show Stranger Thingsor Gator Tillman on FX's most recent season Fargo. What these people may not know is that he is also the creative behind music releases under the name Djo and has been releasing music for the past five years under that name through Sony owned AWAL. He began by licensing his music through the label's distribution service and, over the years, worked his way up through its tiered offerings to release two projects through his AWAL Recordings label.
The most recent of these projects was Decide, Djo's 2022 debut album to critical acclaim, garnering him his biggest music press releases to date. Now, two years later, the Decide The track “End of Beginning” has become a huge hit on TikTok. The song topped the TikTok 50 chart and “End of Beginning” landed not just a top 25 spot on the Hot 100 (currently at a new peak of No. 23) but a top 10 spot on both the Global 200 ( at No. 6) as well as the World Ex-US charts (No. 7), as the song explodes not only Stateside, but around the world.
This marks a huge success for Djo and serves as an example of how AWAL's multi-layered offerings can help an artist go from hobbyist work to global success. also helps win the CEO of AWAL Lonnie Olynyk its title Advertising sign's Executive of the Week. Here, Olinick talks about the success of “End of Beginning,” Djo's rise through the AWAL ranks, and how the label helped support the song's growth as it began to take off on social media. “We're seeing a lot of people who discover 'End of Beginning' and love the song and dig deeper,” Olinick says. “And when they do, finding out that the person behind it is so talented in so many different ways just strengthens their connection to the work.”
This week, Djo's “End of Beginning” moves into the top 10 of the Billboard Global 200 (No. 6) and World ex-US (No. 7) charts, his first global chart entry and first top 10. What key decision did you make to help make this happen?
Projects that create meaningful impact always start with the right A&R decision. You never lose when you work with artists who have a real creative vision, the desire to succeed and great music to go with it. This has been the case with Joe and this project since day one.
In terms of the success of this record, the way we've structured AWAL really allows us to mobilize on a global basis immediately. As we started to see the 'End of Beginning' react, we were able to spread the story to each country, connected to the specific way it was reacting. That meant everything from press to content creation to DSP partnerships to radio, depending on the market. Joe even went to the UK to present to the British and visit key partners, with only a few days notice.
Djo first started out distributing his music through AWAL and then moved up through the ranks of the label to now have full record deals with AWAL. How did you help guide this trajectory?
We're really lucky to work in a system that allows us to find the best way to work with the music we care about. Ultimately, projects help guide this process. It becomes quite clear when an artist raises their hand and is in the right place to be further supported. I think the traditional way of looking at it – that an artist goes from doing everything himself to counting on someone else to do everything – is not relevant in today's world. The ramp should be driven by the connection an artist has made with the audience and the ability to grow beyond that base.
In Joe's case, that's exactly what happened. When we started working with him, he needed distribution and marketing/content advice. If we had pushed to do more too quickly, we might have stifled the creative process and organic growth he was experiencing as an artist. By the second project, there was a more defined fan base and it was ready for our team to handle the marketing and promote the story globally. And then we have a moment with “End of Beginning” where we push every lever available to a label on a global basis. And most importantly with that, pushing them in a way that focuses on making Djo fans, not just “End of Beginning” fans.
“End of Beginning” was originally released two years ago, then caught a new wave on TikTok earlier this year. How were you able to take advantage of that to continue building on the song's success?
It is extremely important to let the artist and the art dictate what is possible. In this case, we started to see so much engagement around this song and amazing content being created. Joe was excited to continue the dialogue with the audience, so our job was to spread it in a way that respected the song and the artist. From there, we carve out the who, what and where of the moment. From creating new content to support the song, to DSP promotion, radio and press, and facilitating personal moments, our team created and executed this strategy on a global basis. And most importantly, it changes in real time as the moment unfolds.
But more importantly, it has to be guided and driven by the artist and that's what happened with Joe. And Joe is supported by an amazing manager Nick Sternwho always knew when to lean into moments and when to let the fans do their own thing.
The appearance of the song in the top 10 of the world charts speaks of the huge success it has not only in the USA, but also around the world. How did you work to help the song grow internationally?
First off, we don't care where an artist is signed or based. We let the fans tell us where there is an opportunity to pursue further. Since this is ingrained in our DNA, we look at each artist with a global perspective. This means our team has spent as much time focusing on what we can do in Latin America and Asia as what can be done in the US, UK and Europe. As it turns out, the audience for this song is all over the place and so our team was all over the place. But it's easy to say we want to be global. What's difficult is creating and executing a unique plan for each market, and that's exactly what our team has done.
Djo — Joe Keery — is also an actor that many people know of Stranger Things and Fargo. How has his success in other mediums helped you in his music career?
To be honest, that's one of the things that makes this work more meaningful, and it starts with Joe. Even when I was introduced to the project five years ago, I had no idea it was Joe. I heard the music and liked it and only found out about it after the fact. And that was the way Joe wanted to be. He puts the music first and doesn't want people to hear it or discover it because he's an actor. And because of that, he has first built an extremely dedicated music audience, many of whom don't know he's behind Djo.
It was interesting to watch this moment unfold. We see a lot of people discovering “End of Beginning” and loving the song and digging deeper. And when they do, discovering that the person behind it is so talented in so many different ways only strengthens their connection to the work.
What else are you looking to do to continue to promote Djo's song and career as a whole?
Career is the most important part of this question. We are relentlessly focused on using this moment to create new fans for Djo, versus just fans of “End of Beginning”. We're seeing a lot of engagement with his entire catalog and there are so many great songs he's released that are getting new exposure. We think there's a lot of life left in this song, but at the end of the day, we're spending a lot of time planning the next two years and continuing to build a story that's already been five years in the making. So many artists have moments that they're not ready for and you see that, quickly, it can just be about the song. In this case, we have an artist and his team who have done the work in so many different ways and are completely ready.
How has AWAL changed along with the music industry in recent years?
We've been fortunate to be ahead of where the industry is going for quite some time. We've always had fair deals and a model that allowed us to work with artists in different ways. And most importantly, we've always been a music company that prioritized dealing with artists we love and knowing how to really develop those artists. Our track record of developing major artists is truly unlike any other non-traditional label.
But this does not mean that we are in any way complacent. I think our team is hungrier than ever. And being part of Sony was an incredible accelerator of everything we planned to do. We've doubled down on the creative side of our business on both the music and content sides. The creative part of our job is what we're all here for after all. We have also further developed the global side of our business. We have new teams in India, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria with more offices opening in the coming months. I see the last eight years as the hard work of preparing for where the market was going. It's fun to see now how uniquely positioned we are, even as so many others are trying to adapt to this new musical world.
