“30 years ago you could only access sound for the public through radios, but not now. Now everything is super democratized, everyone can upload their stuff to Spotify and if you go viral, it’s incredible. It seems like a luxury to me, acknowledged the Valencian artist. Guittaricadelafuente. The doors and opportunities that social networks, digitalization and globalization have opened to new artists are almost limitless.
Traditionally, radio stations have been the target of artists who wanted to make their way, but later television and broadcast formats arrived. talent shows that became popular in the late 90s and became the best launching platforms for artists who quickly achieved success and gained thousands of followers. For a few years now, These traditional media have to compete with social networks and websites like YouTubewhere, with hardly any budget and without castingyou can reach thousands of people and be part of their soundtrack by recording from your living room.
Pioneers in this experience were Justin Bieberand Pablo Albornbut also Beret, Valeria Castroeither Becky Gwhich belong to a 100% digital generationwho know how to move in networks, those who knew how to take advantage of that opportunity.
Justin Bieber
At 14 years old. While still a teenager, the Canadian musician began uploading versions of his favorite songs, which he performed with the guitar. In a few months Their videos began to spread on social networks and reached Scooter braunone of the most important American producers, did everything possible to contact his mother.
In 2009, just a year later, he recorded his first studio album, called My World, which went platinum in the United States and Canada, and which led him to sing in the White House. The phenomenon was born Beliebers.
Pablo Alborn
The Malagueo is one of the most important musicians in our country and YouTube was precisely the platform that made him known in Spain and Latin America.
Although Pablo Alborn had been using the social network MySpace since he was 14 to publicize the songs he composed, the video website was his true springboard. The video of his first big hit, Only youbroke the bookmarks and in a short time accumulated millions of visits, currently it has almost 10 million views.
This song, which immediately began to circulate on social networks, brought him closer to the producer Manuel Illán and the singers Diana Rubio and Sergio Dalma, who became the godfathers of malagueo.
Becky G
The American artist Becky Gwho signed two world hits with the songs Greater and Without pajamasalso made YouTube his best ally to make himself known.
In 2011, at only 14 years old, began to post versions of great songs on the web Later he would dare to write his own songs that caught the attention of producer DR Luke, who had already worked with Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, and he immediately offered him a record contract.
Shawn Mendes
The Canadian musician and model Shawn Mendes He owes his musical career to YouTube for two reasons: he learned to play the guitar thanks to the platform and it was the best showcase of the versions he performed.
In 2013, his version of As Long as You Love Me, Justin Bieber’s song, gained thousands of views in just a few weeks and Mendes began to gain popularity. From there everything accelerated and in April 2015 he released his first album, Handwritten.
Bely Basarte
In 2010, when she was only 16 years old, Belén Basarte Mena, real name of Bely Basarte She opened her YouTube channel because she was not willing to give up doing what she really liked, singing, and she hoped that from there someone would see her and give her the opportunity.
When I finished my degree in Business Administration and Management, He committed to uploading a version of a well-known song to the platform every Friday. He did not miss his weekly appointment until the big opportunity came. In 2017 she was chosen by Disney to sing the songs for the Spanish version of the film Beauty and the Beast and in 2018 he released his first studio album From my other room.
Beret
The Sevillian singer-songwriter BeretHe decided in 2010 to open his own YouTube channel to publicize his musical talent: First they were covers of famous songs and later they would be his own compositionswhich he produced himself, in which he mixed reggae, dancehall and rapmusic.
He self-published his first albums Vertigo, Ephemeral, pices until 2019 when he signed with the Warner record label and released Prisman album that became a success.
Valeria Castro
The Canarian artist Valeria Castrowho dreamed of being a singer since she was a child, is one of those voices that, thanks to social networks, has reached the ears of important musicians who have later acted as godfathers.
One of them was Alejandro Sanzwho shared his version of Broken heart. Then Leiva, Amaral and Sara Carbonero arrived. The journalist is a supporter of Valeria Castro and her music often provides the soundtrack to her publications.
Guitarricadelafuente
In April 2018, lvaro Lafuente Calvo real name Guitarricadelafuente He published his first original song on YouTube, Conticiniumrecorded with the microphone of the famous karaoke game Singstar, although he had been uploading some versions of his favorite songs to Instagram for some time now.
In July 2019, his collaboration with Natalia Lacunza, Sad Nanabecame a success, has more than 30 million views and placed him as one of the most promising young musicians.
Beln Aguilera
I tried it on TV: I participated in The voice and showed up at the casting Operation Triumph 2017but it was the magic of social networks that gave the real opportunity to Beln Aguilera.
The singer began covering famous songs on Facebook and Instagram, back in 2014, where she was known as The girl and the piano, a profile that no longer exists. In 2017 he dared with his first song, Your Monstersand then came his collaborations with Lola Indigo and Edurne. His legion of followers increased with the arrival of TikTok, a social network in which, in June 2022, his theme Antagonist It went viral and its listeners on Spotify reached 2,000,000.
Alaina del Castillo
At only 23 years old, the American artist with Mexican roots can boast of a well-established career in music that began with covers of their favorite songs on YouTube and some of them accumulate up to 8,000,000 views.
After finishing her studies, Alaina del Castillo moved to Los Angeles to continue her dream of becoming a singer. She has already released two EPs, she has a significant mass of followers on Instagram and TikTok, and she is a musical reference for generation Z.
