Walk The Moon makes it a dozen weeks at the top with “Shut Up And Dance” continuing its reign. The top ten is mostly unchanged, impacted mainly by Carly Rae Jepsen’s jump to the top five with “I Really Like You.” Cheerleader’s “The Sunshine Of Your Youth” is the week’s biggest mover, leaping 32 positions to #35 in its fourth week on the chart. Just below, Chris Stapleton enters with the highest debut, “Traveller,” at #36. Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson also make a debut in the chart’s upper half as their cover of The Phantom Of The Opera track “All I Ask Of You” reaches #50. Nine more debuts are led by Erik Hassle, another track from Handsome Ghost’s Steps EP, and two new tracks from the upcoming release of Alabama Shakes’ sophomore album, Sound & Color.

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Walk The Moon scores a ninth week at #1 with the top ten mostly unchanged, save a move into the top five by Nate Ruess and a #10 entry for Morgan Page and Lissie. Rachel Platten makes another big jump, up 27 to #13 in her third week on with “Fight Song.” Once again, Sam Hunt, Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato, and The Veronicas make double-digit jumps, as do Martin Luke Brown’s “Take Out Of Me” and Greg Holden’s “Hold On Tight.” The biggest chart entry this week is a re-entry, as CAFUNÉ’s debut single “Letting Go” returns at #83 after last charting at #99 at the beginning of February. Florence + The Machine lands another debut from upcoming album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, but the rest of the debuts are all from artists appearing for the first time: Years & Years, Handsome Ghost, Brandon Flowers, The Bros. Landreth, and Cheerleader.

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While many people flocked south to Austin, Texas last week for this year’s South By Southwest festival, which showcases more than two thousand artist performances alongside label presentations, technology reveals, and discussion panels, some of us had to settle for attending Couch By Couchwest from home. I spent the past week digging through a spreadsheet of 2,121 artists who were slated to play during SXSW 2015, and after whittling down the list and listening to 622 of them, I have selected 76 independent acts that warrant further attention now that the festivities have ended. Read a short blurb on each artist below along with a prime track among their discography, or skip ahead to the full playlist on SoundCloud by clicking here. Continue reading “76 independent artists to watch following SXSW 2015”