10 Massive Pop Stars Who Can Thank YouTube For Their Success
-Lucelenia Amparo
From chanteuses Lana Del Rey and Katy Perry, to pop princes like Justin Bieber, YouTube has been a haven for new artists to self-promote their music. Artists like Gotye and Karmin, gained so many views on the video sharing site that they were signed to record deals, made songs for movies, and even won Grammy awards. Guess all we have to do is believe! Read on for 10 huge pop superstars who owe it all to YouTube...
10. Greyson Chance
Chance not only awed his classmates but all of America with his rendition of the song "Paparazzi." A video of Chance performing "Paparazzi" for a talent show became so famous that Chance was signed to Ellen’s record label.
9. Rebecca Black
Though some may think Black doesn't have a musical career, she can still thank YouTube for her notoriety. Her song "Friday" was uploaded in 2011. Despite her haters on sites like Tumblr, she’s released two other singles and appeared in Katy Perry's music video "T.G.I.F."
8. Soulja Boy
Tell em', Soulja Boy! Everyone remembers to superman that *bleep*. In 2007, Soulja boy posted a video of his signature dance and song. "Crank That" became an instant hit in 2008.
7. Psy
"Gangnam Style" was THE dance and song of 2012. Korean rapper Psy took over American air waves in the fall of that year with his catchy hit and quirky dance. After uploading the music video unto YouTube in summer of 2012, Psy became an international pop star.
6. Karmin
Amy Heidemann, lead singer of the group Karmin, wowed YouTube viewers with her rapping speed and her ability to harmonize with swag, Fergie-style. Karmin's pop/ballad cover of Chris Brown's hit “Look At Me Now” gained the group national popularity. Soon after, they released an album with Epic Records and produced the hit song "Brokenhearted."
5. Lana Del Rey
From (allegedly) living in a trailer park in New Jersey to producing songs for huge movies like "Maleficient," Del Rey (a.k.a. Lizzie Grant) has sure come long way. After releasing her first album, Del Rey uploaded onto YouTube a music video for the song "Video Games." The video gained her so much online popularity that she was invited to perform on Saturday Night Live.
4. Gotye
In 2011, Gotye uploaded onto Youtube a clip of his landmark song "Somebody I used to Know." To date the song has 491,690,565 views! Two years later "Somebody I used to Know" snatched the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
3. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
The hip hop duo gained their fandom by posting music videos and songs onto social media sites like Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube. In the fall of 2012 when their self-produced indie album The Heist hit stores, their die-hard fans made The Heist a number one selling album in 2013.
2. Katy Perry
Perry spent the early years of her career trying to find her image, jumping through labels and musical genres. It wasn’t until the song "Ur So Gay" gained popularity on YouTube that she and the world knew Perry was destined to be a popstar. The song was posted online as a teaser for her pop debut album One of The Boys.
1. Justin Bieber
Bieber gained all of his #Beliebers on YouTube. Bieber’s cover of Chris Brown's "With You" went viral in 2007. Usher caught the vid and signed the kid up to his label. Since then Bieber is one of the biggest names in music with hits like "Beauty and a Beat" and "All That Matters." Good looking out, Usher!
[Photo: Getty Images/Capitol Records]