Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
I've featured plenty of artists here who became famous on YouTube, and even one who made his name on Instagram (though he is yet to have a hit). Could Canadian 15-year-old Shawn Mendes be the first worldwide music star from Vine? It's pretty impressive to win over a big enough fanbase from six-second clips to propel your song into iTunes charts around the world. His debut single is a simple piano ballad, showcasing his strong, soulful vocals – somewhere between Ed Sheeran (who flew to Canada just to meet Shawn) and Erik Hassle. Shawn isn't just a cute kid autotuned to sound listenable – he's got talent. Life of the Party is the work of an unknown producer, and Island are clearly testing the water before spending too much. This is Shawn's chance to prove he has what it takes to succeed, even without a big budget, and he's doing it. Life of the Party is predicted to reach the top 25 of Billboard's Hot 100 this week. It hit no.1 on iTunes in Canada and the US, and went top 10 in 20 other countries.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W5m4bNyK4c]