10 Musicians Who Were YouTube Discoveries

By Chitraparna | December 20, 2012

SSocial media is the new source for talent scouts to discover sensational stars and YouTube is one such social media who has given the world some hip-and-happening musicians.

Here is my selection of ten such musicians. Of course, there are many others so no favoritism here.

Here are they:

1. Justin Bieber

No matter how much he is criticized, he is truly the biggest musical discovery. In 2007, his mother started posting videos of his performances on YouTube for friends and family. Soon, Scooter Braun, his future manager, contacted him and got him a deal with Usher; rest is history!

2. Alyssa Bernal

She was in high school when she started to upload videos of her acoustical performances on YouTube. It got the attention of Pharrell Williams; he tracked her down and got her signed for Star Trak.

3. Greyson Chance

Chance had drawn up a cover for a Lady Gaga song for his school recital and uploaded it on YouTube. As ‘chance’ or ‘luck’ would have it, the popular American actress, show host and stand-up comedian Ellen DeGeneres saw his creation and invited him on her show and signed him for her new record label.

4. Esmee Denters

Esmee Denters is a songwriter cum singer who was spotted by Justin Timberlake through her YouTube uploads. He contacted her and signed her to his label.

5. Arnel Pineda

Previously a Filipino singer and songwriter, Pineda is now the lead singer of Journey, a rock band. He got noticed in 2007 due to cover song performances for Air Supply, The Eagles and others. Journey asked him to audition and he was finalized as the band’s lead singer by the end of 2007.

6. Andy McKee

Back in 2006, Andy’s uploads on YouTube got him 35 million views (astounding!) and he landed up with plum music deals.

7. Charice Pempengco

Charice should be thankful to the ardent fan for uploading her performances on YouTube and got her noticed. With a recommendation from David Forster, she landed on Oprah Winfrey’s show and she personally supported Charice with her career choice.

8. Julia Nunes

Nunes is a singer, songwriter and a player of instruments like piano, guitar and ukulele. Her career came into spotlight from her renditions of originals on YouTube. She opened for Ben Folds four times and has three independent albums to her credit.

9. Chantelle Redman

If not for her father, the world wouldn’t have known about Chantelle. Her father used to film her singing performances secretly and uploaded them on YouTube. With a couple of weeks, she became one of the most subscribed singers and later signed a deal with Agency Global Enterprises.

10. Cody Simpson

People equate Cody as the ‘Justin Bieber’ of Australia. His YouTube videos were noticed by Shawn Campbell, a known record producer, and later, he was signed by Atlantic Records for his first music album.