10 artists who never made it in the Pre-YouTube world.
In the old days there was linear television and radio. Channels were owned by big businesses. They have limited time on air, so directors decided which content by which people was broadcasted. When you were young you had no other choice to apply, to make demos, to do audition.
Then some (most old white guys) people, which acted as gatekeepers, decided if it was good enough. If you didn’t fit in the picture you wouldn’t pass through. Commercialized one-size-fits-all trash. Maybe if you were extremely talented like Prince or George Michael you came to the surface and were permitted some freedom. But even those artists were restricted in many ways.
Lower the barriers
Though much can be said about the power of platforms they have very low barriers to post content. It’s a great thing that artists get popular completely by their own work with their own audience.
Young people making videos for young people. They don’t need a contract, they don’t need permission, they just do it. And still people say the old days were better…
1. Boyce Avenue
American cover band from Florida. Don’t need to go to L.A. or New York. Don’t need to write own music. Just excellent arrangements and emotions of music people love. 12 Million subscribers / 4,7 Billion Views. Genre: rock/pop/acoustic
2. Walk off the Earth
Not even from the US. An indie-pop band from Canada, stood out with creative performance. 3,6 million subscribers, 870 million views. Genre: Indie-Pop, Reggea/Ska
3. 2 Cellos
This cellist duo became popular by mixing classical music with pop and rock. Classical music from Croatia no problem to find millions of subscribers. 4,4 million subscribers / 1 Billion views. Genre: Fusion
4. PostmodernJukebox
The channel PostModernJukeBox gained attracting by covers in the style of music of the first half of the 20th century. 4 million subscribers / 1,2 Billion Views. Genre: Vintage
5. Pentatonix
Just with their voices, this a cappella group travelling all over the world to amaze people with their harmonies. Reached 4 billion views with 17 million subscribers. Genre: A cappella.
6. Kurt Hugo Schneider
Kurt is only 31 years. In the old days he probably become a producer somewhere in the background. Now attracting all kind of YouTube talent, performing in videos and being a creative force. 13 million subscribers / 3 billion views. Genre: pop/producer.
7. Igor Presnyakov
This guitar player from Russia have tons of videos with arrangements ranging from classical to metal, from Russian folk music to pop, from game music to the Game of thrones theme. His fans try to iggyfy. 2 Million subscribers 438 million views. Genre: Instrumental, Guitar
8. Lindsey Stirling
As the 2 cellos most combine cello with rock music, Lindsey takes another direction and has an unique mix of violin with electronic music. 2,6 billion views / 11 million subscribers. Genre: instrumental/electronic/classical.
9. David Garett
Another violist, but from Germany. Best known for his crossover which ranges from traditional classic to modern pop music. He does covers and creates original music. Has 1 million subscribers, 955 million views. Genre: Instrumental, Crossover
10. Jacob Collier
This English multi-instrumentalist musician would probably make it somewhere with music, but probably worked as music teacher, somewhere in the underground or in a studio. Now he has complete freedom to bring his own vision and experiment to his channel. Genre: Experimental, Crossover
In the mix
It’s also interesting to see how these musical talents cooperate with each for example Lindsey Stirling with Pentatonix.
A Capella, indie-pop, vintage, classical music, instrumental, electronic, experimental. All great genres to listen and learn new things!
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