Does the Music Industry Hear New Music Through The Grape Vine?

Fifteen minutes, I mean six-seconds of fame is the new way into the music industry. Move over YouTube, Vine is the place to be. These looped six-second videos prove you don’t need a three-minute song or to be found by A&R staff. Here are a few Vine artists that paved the way.

Shawn Mendes is a Canadian singer turned Vine star. Mendes rose to fame by posting song covers on Vine. He has since been singed to Island Records, released an EP and studio album, won the 2014 Teen Choice award for Webstar, and headlined his solo tour.

Us the Duo, the husband and wife pop-folk duo, Michael and Carissa Rae Alvarado, took Vine by storm with #Us6SecondCovers. Us the Duo became Vine famous by performing medleys of top pop singles. In March of 2014 Us the Duo signed with Republic Records, as the first Viners signed to a major label. Us the Duo went out on their first headlining tour, reached #9 on the iTunes Pop Albums Chart, and has been featured on many daytime talk shows.

Tori Kelly slowly gained recognition posting videos on YouTube, but her career skyrocketed after her six-second “Sun Is Out” Vine video. Tori Kelly has toured with Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. Kelly also wrote and recorded the song “Silent” for the big screen hit, The Giver. In 2014 she was featured on MTV’s Artist’s to Watch. Kelly plans on releasing her debut album in the spring of 2015.

Vine is just one example of how the music industry has discovered new talent. Vine was quoted as being the new Demo of 2014. It makes sense in a time when the music industry has shrinking budgets, with less time and money. It is no wonder why Vine has become an A&R’s dream with six-second videos. YouTube once shared the same value that Vine now does for music discovery. However, YouTube became saturated with wannabe artists with no talent. The saturation destroyed the true potential that YouTube had to be able to discover new talent.

The list of artists to be discovered on YouTube was endless, for example Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Karmin, and Soulja Boy. Vine seems like a great way to find new talent. However, I fear that Vine will share the same fate as YouTube. The music industry needs to find new outlets and tools to discover new talent, just as they need to find new ways to distribute music. Maybe people who find new talent should be less transparent and not share the great success stories of Vine and YouTube. I know for certain the music industry needs to find a new outlet to discover new talent with longevity.

Jason Ventura

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