Roundhay teenager who founded marketing agency Chillspot Music working with American artists from his Leeds bedroom

However, Chase Morman showcased his business savvy early on and began working on Chillspot Music at “13 or 14”. Now 19, he is helping artists across the pond in the United States of America boost their following and reach new ears with their music.

"I used to live in Manchester with my mum and needed a bit of pocket money,” he said. “I was always on Twitter and social media and I thought there might be a gap in the market, so I plugged it. I just scaled up from there really and turned it into something more official, more than just myself. I was about 13 or 14 so I've been running it for about five years now.”

Among the artists he has worked with is Atari Jones, a rapper from Cleveland who has previously collaborated with global star The Weeknd. “We help newer artists or people that are aspiring musicians find their feet,” he explained. “It's quite hard to be noticeable on social media these days. We help them try find people that are suited to their music. We're more tailored to new artists and we try to help them on their journey."

Chase insists managing a business as a teenager does present obstacles but wants to see more young people taking on the challenge of being an entrepreneur. “When I was a lot younger, I used to try hide the fact the business was owned by a teenager,” he said. “I always thought that would really impact peoples views and it did for some people. Some would see that and not want to go with the business but now, I've learnt to embrace it really and let the business speak for itself.

"I think it's a good thing but it's tough, especially networking with other CEOs and entrepreneurs. You do get judged quite quickly based on experience but I do have a lot of experience in building a business. It's a good thing because there's not enough young entrepreneurs, I always push the message that you should do what you want. Try it, there's not much to lose.”

The Covid-19 pandemic presented a significant challenge to the music industry but due to the online nature of Chase’s business, Chillspot Music was not hit particularly hard. “The online aspect of the music industry was booming during Covid, we saw massive growth because everyone was obviously online and that is our market,” he said. “We helped artists adapt to a changing market.”

Chase uses a variety of strategies to help introduce artists to people who could potentially be diehard fans. “We have quite a large following on Twitter because that was the platform we started on,” he said. “We do tailored pay-per-click campaigns and advertisements across Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels.

“We have a set budget for a certain artist if they are wanting to reach people who are interested in indie artists, we'll set up a campaign for them and get them sorted. I just want to scale it as much as possible. I want to grow, I'm letting it go through its growth phase and then seeing where we stand.”