Music business students realize project with Bamboo Artists
24. July 2025
As part of their Music Business BA degree at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, students Sophia Walter, Sina Mücke, Lisa Binnewies, and Maximilian Kitzberger took part in an exciting and practical project: together, they developed an innovative marketing strategy for the artist Ritter Lean, who is signed to Bamboo Artists. The aim of the collaboration was to develop strategies that would enable Ritter Lean to reach new target groups for his upcoming EP – deliberately going beyond traditional social media approaches. The project was led by Max Fellner (freelance product manager) and Popakademie graduate Isidora Eror (Bamboo Artists).
Ritter Lean is one of the most successful newcomers in the German-speaking music industry. With almost a million monthly listeners on Spotify and several viral songs, he has built up an impressive reach. He had his definitive breakthrough with the song “Outfitcheck,” which has now been streamed over ten million times on Spotify. The official sound has been used in over 16,000 videos on TikTok. Ritter Lean's authentic lyrics, his feel for trends, and his unique sound appeal primarily to a young, digitally connected target group. His upcoming EP is likely to mark the next big step in an already promising career. Although Ritter Lean already has a strong social media presence, the goal of the collaboration was to significantly expand his reach and tap into alternative marketing channels. The project by the Popakademie students and Bamboo Artists therefore began with a comprehensive analysis of Ritter Lean's previous online presence and his existing target group approach. This was followed by a creative process: the team developed various innovative marketing approaches and three concrete strategies specifically aimed at expanding Ritter Lean's reach beyond his existing target groups. The question that always remained was: How can an artist grow sustainably in today's music market?Thanks to the close collaboration and experience of project managers Max Fellner and Isidora Eror, the students' fresh perspectives could be directly tested for feasibility and immediately put into practice. The collaboration with Bamboo Artists impressively demonstrated how valuable practice-oriented learning is at the Popakademie - and how important it is for future music business professionals to engage with the real demands of the industry at an early stage.