Kenneth W. Welch Jr., chief executive of Moxie Media Marketing
Accompanying article examines the production and distribution system Moxie created for a live-streaming performer, along with TikTok's own livestream-to-record initiative
The performer is everything. Construct around the performer, and the viewership, the income, and the sustainability will come.”— Kenneth W. Welch Jr., chief executive, Moxie Media Marketing
A feature on Kenneth W. Welch Jr., who leads Moxie Media Marketing, has been released by Tinsel Magazine, focusing on the company's production and distribution framework built around a live-streaming artist. Readers can find the piece at https://tinselmag.com/kenneth-welch-moxie-builder-behind-the-back-to-back/. It appears alongside the magazine's story on Jolene Burns, who claimed the United Kingdom title at TikTok LIVE's Music on Stage for the second year running and placed fifth worldwide at the Global Final on September 18.
As described by the outlet, Moxie Media Marketing, managed by Welch from a location north of Houston, positions itself as a hub for independent artists, offering production, distribution, strategic promotion, and exposure. Tinsel Magazine notes the company runs the Global Talent Billboard Directory, an artist platform introduced in October 2025 that the firm states currently hosts over 100 independent musicians. The story indicates that Welch's own history, per the company, involves producing, directing, and choreographing live stage shows.
The publication cites Welch outlining the challenge he aimed to solve during a January conversation with the British music outlet Neon Music. "There are artists who show up to these competitions, these platforms, with full teams behind them, managers taking percentages, budgets, infrastructure," he remarked. "Most independent talent just doesn't have that. They're showing up alone."
The article details what the company developed, drawing on its sources. According to Moxie's own statements, the firm transported Burns to Houston and later to Aruba, where she laid down three tracks and filmed three music videos alongside local producers, including Aruban producer Jonathan Vieira. The publication reports that the Belfast Telegraph has covered subsequent filming sessions in Antigua and Jamaica. Tinsel Magazine writes that in February, Moxie secured Burns a slot at The Space in Las Vegas alongside performers from the United States and Brazil, an invite-only event the company says reached capacity. The story adds that the company later announced it was constructing a professional recording studio near Houston with a price tag exceeding $500,000, and Moxie now confirms that studio is finished. The outlet reports that the Belfast Telegraph has since stated Burns signed a U.S. record deal with the company, two albums are ready for release, and recording will commence within weeks.
Tinsel Magazine highlights the timeline: the company built recording and production infrastructure for a livestream performer before that performer had issued a record.
The article notes that Welch has stated his position in writing. In the concluding installment of Talent First, a four-part Tinsel series on live performance economics published in August, he proposed a formula in measurable terms. "Does it have to be this destructive? An hour a day, an hour and a half, four days a week, with productive oversight of the system. Give sixty to seventy percent to the actual creator, so they can keep making beautiful and creative work for the world to see. Would that not create good revenues and incomes? You would be growing the talent pool instead of consuming it, saving the voices, keeping the talent available for the long term. A long-term productive system instead of a short-term burnout system."
"The performer is everything," Welch said in that same piece. "Construct around the performer, and the viewership, the income, and the sustainability will come."
According to the outlet, Welch characterized the company's structure in its own February announcement using language intended to set it apart from a record label. "I'm not building a label. Labels take things from artists. I'm building a platform that gives artists everything a label would give them and then lets them keep it."
The story also covers TikTok's related initiatives. When the company revealed the 2026 edition of Music on Stage on August 13, it described the program as focused on uncovering emerging artists and helping them transition from livestream performances to real-world music careers. According to Tinsel Magazine, top creators receive recording and release assistance via SoundOn, TikTok's music distribution and artist-services platform, along with performance opportunities at TikTok LIVE Fest, the All Things Go festival in New York, and the Breakaway Carolina festival. Shen Gao, TikTok's head of LIVE operations for the Americas, stated in the announcement: "This programme takes that one step further by giving emerging artists the opportunity not only to be discovered, but to develop sustainable careers beyond the platform." The publication notes that TikTok reports its 2025 winner, Angelyque Solorio, released a debut EP through SoundOn that generated more than 350,000 creator videos, increased her Spotify monthly listeners tenfold and surpassed 450,000 streams.
The article mentions that the celebrity press has described the company's operation in its own language. In March, Star magazine referred to Moxie's network as "one of the most formidable creator-to-consumer ecosystems in the livestreaming economy." Welch told the same publication: "Artists aren't waiting for gatekeepers anymore. They're building global careers in real time, directly with fans."
Welch explained what he recognized at the beginning. "Everybody looked at that phone and saw content," he said. "I looked at a woman who could walk into any room, hold it for two hours and have the same people back the next night, and I have spent my life around stages, so I knew exactly what that was worth. Everything after that was carpentry, and I am good at carpentry. You don't wait for the industry to agree with you. You build the studio, you book the room, you write the records."
On the second consecutive win: "The first title told me I was right about her. The second told me I was right about the system. I build for the tenth year, and the tenth year is where the voice and the money both still exist."
Burns described the company's involvement in similar terms. "Moxie showed up in the unglamorous parts. The strategy calls. The scheduling," she told Neon Music in January. On Welch: "Ken built me a studio before I had a record that deserved one, and then he made sure I wrote the record that did. He never once asked me to be somebody else to sell it."
The story ends with Welch's stated vision for the model. "She is the first artist through that door," he said. "The door stays open. Every studio, every stage, every system we built for her, we built so the next one never has to show up alone."
The complete profile is accessible now at https://tinselmag.com/kenneth-welch-moxie-builder-behind-the-back-to-back/. The accompanying piece on Jolene Burns is located at https://tinselmag.com/jolene-burns-second-verse-same-crown/.
— Sources Referenced in the Tinsel Magazine Feature —
Neon Music, profile of Kenneth W. Welch Jr. and Jolene Burns, January 31, 2026 – https://neonmusic.co.uk/kenneth-w-welch-jr-jolene-burns-independent-artists-winning?ref=tinselmag.com
Star, on Burns at TikTok LIVE Fest, March 12, 2026 – https://starmagazine.com/jolene-burns-took-on-the-biggest-names-at-tiktok-live-fest-heres-how-she-held-her-own/?ref=tinselmag.com
Belfast Telegraph, Roisin Gorman, August 12, 2026 – https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-tiktok-star-signs-us-deal-after-internet-trolls-death-threats/a/159922394.html?ref=tinselmag.com
Tinsel, Talent First, Part Four: The Correction, August 19, 2026 – https://tinselmag.com/talent-first-part-four/
TikTok Newsroom, TikTok LIVE's Music on Stage returns for 2026, August 13, 2026 – https://newsroom.tiktok.com/tiktok-lives-music-on-stage-returns-for-2026-to-discover-the-next-generation-of-global-music-stars?lang=en-GB&ref=tinselmag.com
Full source list published with the article: https://tinselmag.com/kenneth-welch-moxie-builder-behind-the-back-to-back/
— About Moxie Media Marketing —
Moxie Media Marketing is a media and talent firm led by chief executive Kenneth W. Welch Jr., running from a base north of Houston, Texas. The company provides independent artists with production, distribution, and promotional services, and manages the Global Talent Billboard Directory, an artist platform launched in October 2025. Find out more: https://moxiemediamarketing.inc/
— About Tinsel Magazine —
Tinsel Magazine is a digital culture publication covering entertainment, style, internet culture, and the individuals shaping modern life. Based in Los Angeles, Tinsel produces original editorial highlighting creative figures, cultural movements, and industry changes that define contemporary media. The magazine's Tinsel Exclusive series features profiles of creators, artists, and cultural figures whose work is transforming their fields. For additional details, visit https://tinselmag.com/
