As the music industry wakes up from its holiday slumber and begins the new year, attention shifts to developing new artists whose careers are beginning to build. Below are forty hand-picked artists of varying genres and current levels of success. Some are completely independent, while others have already topped charts. Regardless, all of them show potential to be even bigger names, particularly in America, in the coming year. Listen to the artists through this SoundCloud playlist, and check back later in the year to see how these predictions turned out. Continue reading “Class Of 2015: 40 promising artists to watch this year”

The GRAMMY Awards are often described as Music’s Biggest Night. While the awards ceremony typically lives up to the moniker with star-studded performances and gramophone trophies for hundreds of artists across many genres each year, iTunes charts also show how music sales are impacted, providing the year’s first prominent sales increase following the post-Christmas bump fueled by gift card redemptions. Many of the songs featured during the 56th GRAMMY Awards broadcast on January 26 received significant jumps on the iTunes song chart throughout and following the show, and numerous songs heard in its music-centric commercials felt the benefit of exposure as well. The statistics below reflect positions on the US iTunes chart of about 1500 songs, tracked from the beginning of the broadcast in the Eastern time zone at 8:00pm to the end of the Western time zone broadcast at 2:40am Eastern. Continue reading “iTunes sales surge for Daft Punk, John Legend, and more following the 56th GRAMMY Awards”

2012 has brought a lot of new music for me to discover and enjoy, from a multitude of genres and artists. This year marked a conscious shift in my tastes from typical teenage pop/rock to an expansion that included practically all genres, from folk and blues to hip-hop and R&B. There’s a whole lot of great music out there, and being open to all different types and artists has allowed me to discover many more gems than I have in previous years. This year alone, I listened to at least 100 new albums and EPs from veterans and beginners alike, finding many new artists to champion and new music to put on my ever-expanding playlists. Many of these new discoveries were rewarding, with some of my favorite releases of 2012 coming from artists who were completely unknown to me beforehand. This week, I’m sharing fifty of my favorite albums of the year, with the hope that you will find something new to discover and enjoy as well as the year comes to a close. The list kicks off today with albums #50 through #41.

Continue reading “Kurt’s Favorite Albums of 2012: #50–41”

Though Adele still has a firm grasp on the top two, The Band Perry jumps to #3 with “If I Die Young” as P!nk is unseated all the way down to #9. Just below, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals vault 33-10 with “Paris (Ooh La La),” followed by two debuts: “Alligator Sky” by Owl City featuring Shawn Chrystopher and “Long Goodbye” by Michelle Branch featuring Dwight Yoakam.

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Adele and The Script maintain their positions in the top two, with P!nk’s “Perfect” ascending to #3. Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield make a top-ten achievement look “Easy” as they move into the #10 spot, with a big mover from Florence + The Machine just below. Neon Trees has the highest debut at #31 with “1983.”

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