Music distributor Oplaai is expanding to become a one-stop-shop that now offers label and management services to Mexican music acts, the company tells Billboard.
Founded in 2018 by Marylu Ramos, the company is behind Carin Leon‘s viral success on digital streaming platforms (he boasts of 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify) that have catapulted his songs on the Billboard charts. Now, the Los Angeles-based distributor is focused on “signing artists that need guidance and we know are talented but don’t have a team,” says Ramos, and offering its clients a suite of services.
Initially, Ramos’ vision of Oplaai didn’t include a management or label service but it evolved over the years to meet today’s demands of a distributor’s ever-expanding role. “The whole vision was to basically cater to a market that major record labels wouldn’t necessarily focus on. Since the very beginning, we launched to help [Mexican Music] artists that had signed to a big label but didn’t have personalized resources to grow their music. Now, they can have a whole team that will be 100% dedicated to them seven days a week. They don’t have to be one in a million anymore.”
Back when they launched, Ramos and her business partner Victor Zambrano skipped the traditional route (which typically included radio and television promo before anything else) building Leon as a digital artist first given his versatility as a singer-songwriter and the momentum Regional Mexican music was having on DSPs.
“Carin came onboard very early on because of Victor, who decided to help him out record the first album and videos,” explains Ramos. “He had just started his project as a soloist and knew we had just started the distribution company so he launched his project with us. Afterwards we signed a contract but we didn’t know what was going to happen and from then they’ve been very loyal. It’s been easier for Carin to do what he wants because he doesn’t have a major label or a major distributor that puts so many rules. Our motto is ‘everything goes, let’s just try it.’”
As a distributor, Oplaai’s clients include strictly indie labels Tamarindo Rekordzs (Leon’s label), Edén Muñoz‘s 2709 Music, Alianza Records and JG Music, among others. “For us it’s been important to stay small, in a sense, and we’ve had offers from two major labels for a partnership or to buy us out but that is not option for us,” says Ramos, who started her career in radio and has worked at Sony Music Latin, Del Records and briefly at Spotify before returning to Oplaai to spearhead the company’s expansion. “For now, we want to stay independent and cater to the right clients and grow together.”
As for their clients under management and label services, Ramos tells Billboard that they’re still closing deals but most recently welcomed 21-year-old artist and influencer Katia Morales, who has nearly 28 million followers across social media platforms and signed a record and management deal with Oplaai.
“I hope for us to be the biggest indie management and distributor company for Mexican music that offers to the client without being stuck in a major label,” Ramos says.