After a record 27 weeks at the top, Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” falls to #2 as Carly Rae Jepsen takes over with “Run Away With Me,” her first #1 hit. Alessia Cara and Matt Nathanson also move upward within the top ten, and Lianne La Havas posts two big jumps for Blood album cuts “Midnight” (61-12), “Ghost” (93-35), and “Tokyo” (92-44). Just below, Robin Thicke scores the week’s highest debut with “Back Together,” his new single featuring Nicki Minaj. Also making appearances are the remaining two tracks from La Havas’s album, Calvin Harris and Disciples, James Bay, a pair of tracks from Tame Impala, newcomer Hailee Steinfeld’s debut single “Love Myself,” a re-entry from Ashley Monroe, Gavin James, another Jepsen cut, and Young Brother.

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Though Walk The Moon scores a third week on top with “Shut Up And Dance,” Ellie Goulding creeps ever closer as “Love Me Like You Do” is now a single spot away. Alabama Shakes enter at #3 with “Don’t Wanna Fight,” the lead single from upcoming sophomore album Sound & Color; another cut, “Future People,” debuts at #73.

Christina Perri continues to edge forward with “The Words,” which reaches #13 in its fifteenth week on the chart. It has moved up on each of the fifteen charts on which it has appeared, beginning from its #97 debut back in early November.

Florence + The Machine scores the second-highest debut at #27 with “What Kind Of Man,” the lead single from their upcoming third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. After two weeks off, Zac Brown Band returns with a brand-new peak for “Homegrown,” re-entering at #68. Along with the aforementioned trio of debuts, eight more entries include new tracks from Tor Miller and Youth Club, as well as newcomers Lucie Silvas, Charlie Puth (featuring Meghan Trainor), and James Bay.

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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”