2016 begins with Cam’s “Burning House” still on top and Adele occupying positions two through four, with “When We Were Young” moving to #3 ahead of “Water Under The Bridge.” Coldplay returns to the top ten with “Adventure Of A Lifetime,” with Lucius just behind. Tove Lo achieves the highest debut with a demo uploaded to SoundCloud called “Influence,” ahead of a re-entry from Elle King and debuts by Ra Ra Riot, newcomer Lostboycrow, and Birdy.
Coldplay
The top three is static for a sixth consecutive week, with the only movement in the top ten this week coming from Coldplay, whose “Adventure Of A Lifetime” moves 11-10. Two songs make high debuts in the top thirty: new Lucius single “Born Again Teen” and a new single from former chart-topper Lissie, “Don’t You Give Up On Me.” Troye Sivan adds three more songs from Blue Neighbourhood to his list of chart entries, while CAFUNÉ, Sophia Somajo, Ra Ra Riot & Rostam (of Vampire Weekend), Miike Snow, FLETCHER, and Coldplay also debut.
While the top ten holds steady, the bottom of the chart sees more activity, typical for the fourth quarter of the year. Ellie Goulding blasts in at #23 with the highest debut for Delirium album track “Codes,” beating out strong entries for Justin Bieber featuring Halsey and Alessia Cara featuring Sebastian Kole. Goulding and Cara each notch a second new entry, for “Around U” and “Overdose” respectively; A Great Big World and One Direction also add a pair of charting songs, while Meghan Trainor and Grizfolk add one apiece. Sara Bareilles and Jason Mraz have the biggest-moving song with “You Matter To Me,” up forty to #59, followed by big movers for Coldplay and Goulding. There’s a lot of movement just below the top 100 that could see entry next week…if it weren’t for chart-topper Adele’s 25 slated for release on Friday, which is likely to take over several slots on the next chart.
Adele holds for a second week at #1 with “Hello,” with Carly Rae Jepsen and Sara Bareilles steady in the top three. Bareilles is also the week’s biggest mover, as “Door Number Three” jumps from its #59 debut last week into the top twenty. (Speaking of the top twenty, a notable fact: Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” exits the top twenty this week for the first time in its 61st week on the chart). Coldplay scores the highest debut of the week with A Head Full Of Dreams lead single “Adventure Of A Lifetime,” in at #55 ahead of Lissie’s “Hero” at #62. Additional debuts include new entries from xoV, Tori Kelly, and Alessia Cara.
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”
