For music artists, the marketing possibilities of digital media have opened up new opportunities independent from the major music industry. MICHAEL AHLERS has examined this process using the German Gangsta rapper Kollegah as example. As Ahlers describes in this video, his research team conducted an interdisciplinary two-part study in focusing on Kollegah’s skill set and knowledge in one part and in the other one on the reaction of the media to Kollegah. They established diverse strategies that make the rapper both successful and controversial in his genre but also in mainstream media. This study is the first proof of concept of the success of musical self-marketing. Conducted in 2017, the results of the study don't take into account the events in the aftermath of the 2018 German Music Award "Echo".