Music Business

16 Musicians To Watch In 2014 From Spotify

Zombie-eyeball-kellys-kustom-pinstriping-flickrEarlier this week I shared Top 23 Musicians To Watch In 2014 based on the contrasting lists from The BBC and Shazam. Yesterday Spotify released its Spotify Spotlight for 2014 featuring 16 artists with BANKS now the only artist to appear on all three lists. BANKS is somebody I'll be checking out much more closely, among others, and it's a reminder that these lists can be great discovery tools.

The official announcement of Spotify's Spotlight on 2014 list says it's "based on new global artists who had a strong showing on Spotify’s viral charts in 2013, and who Spotify has been working with and supporting over recent months." Clearly it takes its name from Spotify's Spotlight artist marketing program.

Spotify’s Spotlight on 2014 Global List

BANKS

LA-based songstress BANKS blends a hypnotic fusion of beats and pianos. Coupled with her heart piercing lyrics and growing fan base, BANKS is certainly one to watch in 2014.

Betty Who

Born in Australia, the synth-pop princess moved to America with her family as a teenager to attend a performing arts school where she went on to create her own brand of pop.

Bipolar Sunshine

Originally co-vocalist with Manchester six-piece Kid British, Adio Marchant a.k.a Bipolar Sunshine is an artist with a soulful, vulnerable and euphoric voice and with his debut album nearing completion he’s tipped for success.

Circa Waves

Front man Kieran Shuddal told himself to either get a real job or give music ‘a proper go’. We are glad he chose the latter, with the Liverpool four-piece Circa Waves producing upbeat indie-pop that everyone will be humming throughout 2014.

Dan Croll

A British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Dan Croll, whose Spotify Session is now live, combines blending folk elements and classic Paul Simon-like melodies with electronic beats, African polyrhythms, and guitar hooks.

FKA twigs

London artist FKA twigs hails originally from Gloucestershire and has been compared to Portishead and the XX. She’s already enjoyed success with soulful songs such as Water Me and Papi Pacify.

G-Eazy

G-Eazy has spent the past couple of years finishing school in the US while building up a grassroots fan-base. He’s played live shows from the smallest of Midwest clubs all the way up to arenas on dates with Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and Drake.

Glass Animals

Hailing from Oxford in the UK, this indie quartet were the first act signed to Paul Epworth’s label Wolf Tone and are tipped to emulate the success of other acts the producer has worked with.

Hozier

Big-voiced Irish solo artist Andrew Hozier Byrne, better known simply as Hozier, has been creating a big stir amongst his growing online followers since posting his track Take Me to Church in September 2013 and having featured in Spotify’s Spotlight on 2013 playlist.

Joey Bada$$

A Brooklyn born and bred hip-hop rapper whose earliest rhymes were written in the first grade released his first mix tape 1999 last year at the age of 18 and has already attracted some high profile fans.

Jungle

West London best friend duo, Jungle, make groove heavy electronic soul and amassed fans with their release Platoon earlier this year.

Luke Sital-Singh

Festival favourite British singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh released his extremely successful first EP, Fail For You, in the summer of 2012 – prompting fans to compare him to Ben Howard and Bon Iver.

Danish singer and songwriter Karen Marie Ørsted a.k.a MØ is a sultry electro-pop artist who has been compared to Lana Del Rey and Grimes and is best known for featuring on Avicii’s recent hit Dear Boy.

MØ was featured on Spotify’s Spotlight on 2013 playlist.

S O H N

London born, but now Vienna resident, S O H N is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer whose melancholic music has been dubbed electronic soul.

Tori Kelly

Californian Tori is of Irish, Puerto Rican, Jamaican and German ancestry and cut her teeth on Star Search and America's Most Talented Kids.

Tove Lo

Swedish songbird Tove Lo has been making waves in her homeland and is set to go global following the release of Out Of Mind which received critical acclaim.

Bonus:

Jungle – Platoon ft. B-Girl Terra

This was the coolest thing I've found due to this list so far.

Note: descriptions of artists are from Spotify's announcement.

[Thumbnail photo via Kelly Norwood.]

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Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is building a writing hub at Flux Research. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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