There are a lot of popular musicians out there, some of them discovered during talent shows, some of them discovered by various agents, and some of them discovered thanks to the Internet, which is why we’re going to take a look at the 6 most popular musicians who got discovered online.
Things have changed considerably over the years. Back in the day, in order to become famous, to get noticed by an agent and to score a record deal you had to put show after show in cafes that no one knows the name of, to send off tapes of you singing left and right, hoping one agent will think you are good enough to listen to a second time.
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Nowadays, mostly thanks to services such as YouTube, things have changed considerably. If you put together a channel on the site, you can upload videos of yourself singing various popular tracks, putting your own spin to them and so on. Once you get a little bit of traction, you gain more and more followers and soon you draw attention to yourself. That’s the theory at least and we’d say it’s a pipe dream, but truth is, it’s possible.
We’ve seen it done time and time again in recent years, as the stars we love online end up on the screens of our TVs, or, we end up discovering that the singer behind that cool new track we love hearing so much has actually had his or her debut on the Internet. Then we go search for whatever videos they’ve uploaded to see whether there’s more to them than meets the eye.
You may even check to see whether the artists you like are some of the 10 biggest YouTube sensations in 2015, although that list includes more than just musicians.
Keeping in mind how important the Internet is nowadays, there’s no surprise that more and more aspiring musicians try their hand at pushing their work online, hoping they get noticed. This has made new jobs within record companies for people who want to sit in front of the computer most of the day, listening to new talent on YouTube and other similar sites.
Not everyone gets the break they seek, that much is obvious, but some really do manage to become sensations both on and offline.
In order to create our list we took a look at stars we love nowadays that have their origins online and checked out just how popular they were. In order to determine just how popular they are we took into account three areas – number of Facebook fans, number of YouTube subscribers and number of views their channel has on the video site. All artists were ranked under each of these areas and received points accordingly, which were then added together, resulting in a list of the 6 most popular musicians who got discovered online.
6. The Weeknd
Points – 3
This Canadian singer is nowadays one of the most popular singers, managing to land songs on the soundtracks of some of the most popular movies, including 2014 50 Shades of Grey. Born in 1990, The Weeknd, or Abel Tesfaye which is his true name, started posting videos on YouTube in 2010.
His tracks slowly captured people’s attention, drawing attention left and right. When rapper Drake posted some of the videos to his own followers, fame was just around the corner.
In 2011 he released three mixtapes called House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were well received not only by the public but also by music critics.
In 2012, The Weeknd signed with Republic Records and released a compilation album called Trilogy in collaboration with his own label XO. The album includes thirty tracks out of which only three were new songs, while the rest were remastered versions of the mixtapes.
A year later, Kiss Land is his debut studio album which landed him the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart.
The Weeknd has 4.5 million fans on Facebook and 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube, while his videos have gained 1.3 billion views in total on his official channel alone.
5. Avicii
Points – 9
The world’s favorite Swedish DJ found his fame on the Internet as well. Tim Bergling, which is his real name, started making music around the time he turned 18, creating tracks on his laptop. The results were then leaked on various blogs, which go him noticed pretty quickly. In 2007 he was signed by Dejfitts Plays label, launching several tracks that reached fame across Europe.
Three years later, however, he moved on with EMI Music Publishing and that’s when he really started to get noticed around the world. In 2012 he ended up collaborating with famous DJ David Guetta and getting nominated for a Grammy. His success has only grown ever since then and he’s now one of the best selling DJs around the world. Nowadays he collaborates with the likes of Jon Bon Jovi, Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Chris Martin and Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, to name a few.
He’s been nominated for countless awards for the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Echo Music Awards, various MTV shows and, as mentioned, the Grammys.
Avicii has over 19.1 million fans on Facebook, 8.3 million subscribers on YouTube and over 2.6 billion views to his videos.
4. Skrillex
Points – 10
American electronic music producer, singer, songwriter and DJ Skrillex, real name Sonny John Moore, was originally in a band called From First to Last, which he left over a decade ago. When he started making music on his own he used some of the traction he had from the band and released his first EP for free on MySpace, that social network that’s more or less a zombie nowadays.
It wasn’t long before he became more and more known and ended up being signed by mau5trap recordings and touring with Deadmau5, the famous Canadian dubstep producer.
His music has gained attention all over the world and his tracks and videos are quite popular online. He’s been nominated for numerous awards, including the Grammys and the various MTV awards.
Skrillex has nearly 19.5 million Facebook fans and 11.6 million subscribers on YouTube. His videos on this channel alone have brought him over 2.5 billion views.
3. Adele
Points – 10
Who doesn’t know Adele? She’s a worldwide phenomenon with a huge voice and a personality to match. In 2006, Adele was a graduate from the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Somehow (read that “thanks to a friend”) one of her demos ended up on MySpace and it soon got discovered by a music industry insider. In no time she was being offered a contract by XL Recordings.
One year later she was already swooping in and receiving awards such as the Critics’ Choice at the Brit Awards.
In 2008 she released her first album, titled 19, which also was a hit among fans and critics alike. It has been awarded seven-times platinum in the UK and two-times platinum in the United States.
Ever since then she’s released two more albums, 21 in 2011 and 25 in 2015, taking a break in between them to raise her newborn child. Her voice remains the same, however, and her songs continue to touch hearts everywhere. She has won 10 Grammys, 13 Billboard Music Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song in a movie — “Skyfall” from the synonymous 2013 James Bond movie.
Adele has over 62.4 million Facebook fans, 8.2 million subscribers on YouTube and her videos have over 2.6 billion views on the original channel alone, which makes her one of the 6 most popular musicians who got discovered online.
2. Nicki Minaj
Points – 13
Nicki Minaj owes her fame to MySpace too. While she may be seen as an outlandish rapper and songwriter nowadays, Nicki Minaj used to be a backup singer who posted her own music to the network in her free time.
She released three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 before landing a recording deal with Young Money Entertainment. Her first album was launched in 2010 and it brought her instant fame, going as far as turning her into the first solo artist to have seven singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.
She has won numerous awards ever since her debut and she is widely appreciated for her catchy tunes.
Nicki Minaj has 42.6 million fans on Facebook and another 9.7 million subscribers on YouTube. Her videos have over 3.6 billion views on the official channel alone.
1. Justin Bieber
Points – 18
We can’t have a list of musicians who got discovered online without having Bieber on the list. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s managed to make the most of it all after being discovered on YouTube.
His climb to fame started when he was only 12 when his mother uploaded a clip of him from a local singing competition, followed by other videos of her kid singing various covers. Scooter Braun, former market exec, accidentally clicked on one of Bieber’s videos in 2007 and the rest is, as they say, history. When he was only 13, Bieber started recording demo tapes and within a week he was singing for Usher, who also decided to sign him up for a deal.
His career skyrocketed from there on out and he’s released hit after hit ever since, bringing in hundreds of millions of views for each clip on YouTube and creating a mania among teenagers who instantly fell in love with the singer.
Bieber has over 73.6 million fans on Facebook and over 15.4 million subscribers on YouTube. His videos have amassed over 7 billion views on the official channel, which puts him at the top of the list for the 6 most popular musicians who got discovered online.
