In this weeks edition of the Pandora Predictions Chart, we look at rising stars such as French singer-songwriter Jain, baby-voiced That Poppy, bluegrass adjacent group The Dead South, and others.
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Guest Post by Emily Blake on Medium
A promising female rapper, a hardcore punk group and a slightly absurdist YouTube star with a penchant for baby talk? It may sound like an odd bunch, but all of them — and more — are on this week’s Pandora Predictions Chart, and they’re getting along just fine. Read on for more of the standouts off this week’s charts, which ranks 20 up-and-coming artists that we at Next Big Sound think are about to make it big.
Jain takes #1, That Poppy rises
French singer-songwriter Jain has been, as she might put it, walking on the sky of her dreams since her debut album, “Zanaka,” was released Stateside late last year. She returned to the Predictions Chart on December 9 at #4 after a months-long hiatus, and now, she’s spending her second week at #1 after a 82.5% week-on-week increase in Artist Station Adds and a 55.6% week-on-week increase in Track Station Adds. In the past month, her standout single Come has been soaring on Pandora, seeing over 120,000 Spins — a big jump from the previous month’s total of around 15,700.
And That Poppy, the baby-voiced enigma of the YouTube world, makes her strongest appearance so far this week, at #3. On Pandora, Poppy’s 2015 reggae-influenced Lowlife remix, which features Travis Mills, saw a week-on-week 53.4% increase in Spins. Poppy also saw a week-on-week +107.7% increase in Track Station Adds and added over 4,200 Twitter followers.
The Dead South awaken
With their uniform of suspenders and traveller hats and affinity for the banjo, Saskatchewan natives the Dead South surely look like your average bluegrass band. But there’s nothing typical about the amount of growth they’ve seen in the past month on Pandora and social media as they tour promoting their November album, “Illusion & Doubt.”
This week compared to last week, the band — composed of Nate Hilt, Scott Pringle, Colton Crawford and Danny Kenyon — saw a 531.6% increase in Twitter followers, a 672.6% increase in YouTube subscribers and a 275.3% increase in Facebook page likes. On Pandora, they hit 1,000 weekly Artist Station Adds — a handsome uptick from the previous week’s total of 259. They also saw a 295.2% week-on-week increase in Track Station Adds, on top of a nice increase — 214.6% week-on-week — in spins. In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company — off their 2014 album “Good Company”— saw a week-on-week 148.7% increase in spins, while Down That Road, Long Gone, Honey You and more all tripled their spin counts from the week before.
Vesperteen and Seeb debut
Vesperteen is the buzzy synth-pop project led by Columbus, Ohio, native Colin Rigsby. While the group is plenty popular in the Buckeye, they’re also starting to see some buzz across the country as they tour nationwide, promoting their self-titled debut EP. On Twitter, their leading states — by mentions — are California, Ohio, Texas and Michigan. This week, the group sneaks onto the chart at #20 after seeing an uptick in reach and engagement on social media and Pandora, with a week-on-week 60.7% increase in Artist Station Adds and a 74.3% increase in Instagram Likes.
And Seeb, the Norwegian production trio who cracked the Billboard charts and showed Avicii they were cool with their remix of Mike Posner’s I Took A Pill In Ibiza, debut at #11 this week. Various versions of What Do You Love, their latest single that features U.K. singer Jacob Banks, are gaining steam on Pandora, while the trio saw a week-on-week 109.7% increase in Artist Station Adds and a 47.6% increase in Thumbs up, too.
Elsewhere on the Predictions Chart, we welcome A$AP Twelvyy, a member of A$AP Rocky’s A$AP Mob crew, and Pittsburgh punk rockers Code Orange — formerly known as Code Orange Kids — debut this week at #15 as their latest album, “Forever,” wins over fans and critics alike.