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@alexswilhelm
Julie Moe
Heather Hawke
Since Alex grew in a small town in Germany he didn’t know a single person in the music industry, let alone have access to any internships. When he graduated high school he wanted to attend NYU’s Music Business program, but since his family didn’t have enough money for college tuition it was out of the question.
ALEX WILHELM
Alex’s passion with music caught him often at times scouring the internet for 16 hours per day to find the best unsigned artists in the world. One of those unsigned artists was Katy Perry. He began to watch her rise two years before the major labels even took notice. “I came across Katy Perry and was following her for about 2 years just as a fan before she got signed to her current deal with Capitol Records. There was an independent A&R company and I tipped them off on Katy but they didn't want to get behind her.” After that incident Alex knew that he never wanted to be in a position again where someone else could tell him that a future superstar artist wasn't good enough. “That's why I started Crazed Hits. I wanted to have the power to take artists and make sure they'd get heard.” Power he definitely had. Alex knew he was onto something when only two months after launching Crazed Hits on February 2, 2008 he found the song “If I Were A Boy” through an unknown writer and artist named BC Jean. Beyonce ended up recording and releasing the song a few months later becoming her most successful single to date, which resulted in Alex gaining instant credibility in the music business and BC Jean earning a recording contract with Clive Davis' J Records. This would be the first of many times when the kid from Germany would go on to embarrass experienced seasoned major label executives by discovering major songs or talent out of a bedroom in Germany. Crazed Hits’ first year of operation brought artists such as LMFAO, Ke$ha, Owl City, Neon Trees and Drake who were then unsigned, into the spotlight. In 2009, Alex featured tracks on the site by artists such as Nicki Minaj, Mike Posner, Hunter Hayes, Kid Cudi and Brantley Gilbert. Alex would go on to find other major recording artists such as Macklemore, Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd, Capital Cities and The Neighbourhood, but it was during this early time that the whole industry was not only watching these artists featured on the site, but also watching the scouting and A&R capabilities of Alex himself.
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