Saturday Jan 06, 2024

Alex Akimov - Founder of Simple Social

In this episode of the Road to Growth podcast, we are pleased to introduce you to Alex Akimov. Alex migrated to the U.S. at age 19 as a touring guitarist before transitioning to music management. Alongside his wife, Lani, they utilized the emerging social platforms of the 2010’s to breathe life into the burgeoning boy band New District, which skyrocketed their global reach, landing them a Teen Choice Award nomination and tours with Fifth Harmony and Bebe Rexha. Alex saw a gap in the music advertising market that he decided to fill.

His success with New District attracted industry giants like Randy Jackson and Mike Caren, and through referrals alone, Alex began working with the top music record labels on social media marketing campaigns for world famous artists. In 2017 at the age of 31, Alex founded Simple Social, a digital marketing agency that revolutionized the way music artists are marketed to fans locally and globally. Simple Social offers music marketing services and analytics products used by major record labels, artist managers and talent agencies worldwide.

With a deep understanding of music and data science honed through studies at LA Music Academy and certifications at MIT, Alex introduced revolutionary concepts like "trigger markets.” Recognizing that emerging artists could gain traction outside of saturated markets like the U.S., Alex focused on data from other countries to create a compelling narrative for an artist's journey. By analyzing streams and social listening, he strategically allocated marketing budgets to these "trigger" regions, building momentum in smaller markets before breaking into major ones. This innovative approach allowed for a more global and organic growth trajectory for new artists.

In 2022, Alex founded his second company Sound.Me, a leading creator marketplace, uniquely positioned at the convergence of music promotion, influencer collaboration, and disruptive technology that has grown to nearly 1 Million users. The Sound platform is disrupting influencer collaboration by using fully trained AI technology to eliminate artist, agency and influencer negotiations by automatically assessing creator value through analytics analysis. This sets transparent compensation rates, ensuring artists and labels get the best promotional value for their investment. The platform's geo-targeting capabilities empower users to create hyper-localized campaigns, from promoting a song in Brazil to hyping a show in New York, all at the click of a button. Synthesizing Alex Akimov's vision, Sound.Me stands as the future of music and brand promotion, akin to the "Uber" in its industry, making high-impact influencer collaborations accessible and data-driven for all, regardless of budget.

Learn more and connect with Alex Akimov by visiting him on

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simplesocial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfeather/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexfeather

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexfeather/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3059872/

Website: https://advertising.me/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplesocialads/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/simplesocialads/

Simple Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimpleSocialAd

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@simplesocialads

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@playlisthouz