Carly Rae Jepsen makes a big jump from #14 to #2 with “Run Away With Me,” leaving her with three tracks in the top five. Leon Bridges and R5 make double-digit jumps again, as do two Kacey Musgraves album cuts. Debuts are led by the new single from A Great Big World, “Hold Each Other” featuring Futuristic. CAFUNÉ, R5, CHVRCHES, Lianne La Havas, Rob Thomas, (formerly Dale Earnhardt) JR JR, and Francesco Yates (with Robin Schulz) all return to the chart with new songs, and pop singer-songwriter Clairity scores her first entry with “DNA” at #98.

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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”

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars easily score the week’s highest debut, entering at #7 with “Uptown Funk.” One Direction scores another big entry with a #33 debut for new single “Night Changes,” while the rest of the debuts include chart newcomers Six60, Bahamas, Francesco Yates, BØRNS, and CAFUNÉ.

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