Also known as Vil Drmz

OLIVIER ELBHAR

Rhythm Obsessive  ·  Digital Builder
Multi-Discipline Creator  ·  Paris

Olivier Elbhar DJ set at La Bellevilloise Paris
Who I am

I heard James Brown's Funky Drummer at age 8.
That was it — the beat grabbed me and never let go.

Thirty years later, I still chase rhythm — in music and in systems. I've spent my career building digital products where precision, creativity, and scale have to coexist: content platforms processing 90K+ releases/month, AI detection engines, automated supply chains, validation pipelines.

I grew up on hip-hop, punk, jungle, D&B, dubstep, Detroit techno. In the early 2000s, I founded NXTEP — France's first printed magazine dedicated to sound system culture, jungle and drum & bass — at a time when nobody was covering this scene seriously. I collect drum machines. I produce under the alias Vil Drmz. I DJ.

But I'm also a multi-discipline creator: event promoter, tour manager, social media strategist, marketing operator. I've promoted festivals, put on club nights, managed international artists on the road, and built communities around music before "community" became a buzzword.

I'm now looking for a role where my obsession with music technology and my track record of shipping complex projects — digital or live — can finally live in the same place.

What I do best
01
I turn complexity into clarity.
Regulated environments, multiple stakeholders, ambiguous briefs — I've shipped products in all of them. From the French State's digital archives to global music distribution, I thrive where others get lost.
02
I build things people actually use.
AI engines, automation platforms, mobile apps, digital supply chains, editorial products — from concept to production. 40% manual review reduction. 1M+ paid downloads. 90K releases/month.
03
I ship projects across disciplines.
Product, events, marketing, social media, live production — I don't stay in one lane. I've promoted festivals with DJ Feadz, Marvy, Houzemon and Big Dope P. I've managed Paul Johnson and Robert Armani on tour. Rhythm and execution, at every scale.
04
I think in concepts, ship in reality.
Music gave me a native understanding of rhythm, timing, and feel. Product gave me the tools to make it tangible. I speak both languages — fluently.
Experience
2019 → Present
Senior Product Manager
Believe / TuneCore — Paris
Own the product strategy and roadmap for Believe's global content quality & copyright control platform — 90,000+ releases/month across Europe, LATAM, US, Asia. Built the entire internal supply chain through a suite of interconnected tools: automated validation rules, Salesforce CRM integration, monitoring dashboards (Datadog, PowerBI), KPI frameworks, and a GenAI detection engine (audio fingerprinting + automated hard-reject workflows) aligned with Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and major labels. Reduced manual review by 40%, reallocating 20 FTEs to higher-value work.
AI · Supply Chain · Scale
2016 → 2019
Scrum Master / Agile Coach
Ministry of French Culture, National Archives — Paris
Embedded on VITAM — France's inter-ministerial digital archiving program for long-term preservation of state and sensitive public records. Coached cross-functional teams through agile delivery in a highly regulated, multi-stakeholder environment. Bridged product, operations, and tech across ministries.
Agile · Regulated · Complex
2012 → 2016
Product Owner
Cellfish Media / Alchimie Group — Paris
Led product lifecycle of white-label mobile apps and digital media platforms for telecom operators and global media partners — TF1, Hachette, Marvel, FOX, NFL, NBA. Drove UX optimization and performance monitoring across multiple mobile services.
Mobile · B2B · Media
2010 → 2012
Head of Digital Production
Awyse Agency — Paris
Directed production and product strategy for entertainment applications, achieving over 1 million paid downloads across app store deployments.
Production · Apps
2008 → 2010
Digital Marketing Manager
Editions 1633 / Rolling Stone & Men's Health — Paris
Managed digital strategy and editorial platforms for media brands and telco operators. Increased website engagement by 25% through strategic editorial management and targeted marketing activations for 6 telecom operators.
Editorial · Marketing
2004 → 2008
Digital Content Manager
Microsoft / Zune Music Department — Paris
Oversaw the editorial platform management for music curation and marketing initiatives. Elevated listening engagement by 35% by implementing a data-driven editorial calendar. Music + data + product — before it was a trend.
Music · Data · Editorial
Early 2000s
Founder & Editor — NXTEP Magazine
Independent — Paris
Founded and edited France's first printed magazine dedicated to sound system culture, jungle and drum & bass. Also served as tour manager for Paul Johnson and Robert Armani, two legends of the Chicago house and techno scene.
Press · Live · Culture
Skills & Tools
Product
Product Strategy
Product Discovery
Roadmap Leadership
Backlog Prioritization
Stakeholder Management
GTM
Data & AI
LLM Tools
N8N Automations
Agentic & RAG
API Design
KPI Frameworks
Audio Fingerprinting
Tools
Jira Suite
Datadog
PowerBI
Figma
Salesforce
Google Cloud
Creative
Event Promotion
Social Media Strategy
Online Marketing
Editorial Direction
Tour Management
Music Production
Certifications
GenAI & Automation for Product — AI Discipline FOCUS Product Discovery — Discovery Discipline Professional Scrum Product Owner — Scrum.org Professional Scrum Master — Scrum.org
Music & Creation

This isn't a hobby section.
This is who I am.

30 years in underground music culture — hip-hop, punk, jungle, D&B, dubstep, Detroit techno, Baltimore club. Founder of NXTEP, France's first printed magazine dedicated to sound system culture. Active DJ and producer under the alias Vil Drmz. Launching BROEKN, an independent label built on a 70–80% artist revenue model. In 2025, promoted the BMC Festival in Saint-Ouen alongside DJ Feadz, Marvy, Houzemon and Big Dope P.

Also on Spotify — Vil Drmz
Current Setup  ·  Elektron Digitakt 2  ·  Roland TR-1000  ·  Analog Heat FX  ·  Pioneer DJM-750
Writing
Music & AI: Towards a New Model
for Digital Distribution
From Timbaland training Suno on beats he doesn't own, to Deezer admitting 18% of monthly uploads are AI-generated — the music industry is at an inflection point. What would a fair, blockchain-native distribution model actually look like?
Read on Medium →
Let's talk

Got a
project?

Music tech, product strategy, creative direction,
event production, or just a good conversation about beats.

olivier.elbhar@gmail.com