Vine Stars Shawn Mendes and Us the Duo Storm Social 50 Chart
Vine stars-turned-major-label-signed-act Us the Duo caps their breakthrough year by debuting on the Social 50 chart at No. 45.
With just barely any time left in 2014, Vine stars-turned-major-label-signed-act Us the Duo caps their breakthrough year by debuting on the Social 50 chart at No. 45.
The Social 50 ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Wikipedia, Myspace and Instagram. The chart’s methodology blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with artist page views, song plays and reactions as measured by music analytics company Next Big Sound.
Us the Duo (married couple Michael and Carissa Alvarado) first gained traction on YouTube (795,000 subscribers to date), then on Vine where they have amassed 4.6 million followers with their six-second covers of popular songs. In March, Us The Duo made headlines after they became the Twitter-owned video sharing platform’s first major label signing, when the act was picked up by Republic Records.
Taylor Swift’s Spotify Breakup Is Us the Duo’s Gain
During the charting week ending Dec. 28, Us the Duo got into the spirit of the season by posting a holiday-themed clip on Vine and Facebook each day counting down to Christmas day (Dec. 25), where they released the entire “12 Days of Christmas” as a compilation on their YouTube channel (76,000 views to date, through Dec. 31). On Dec. 30, they performed this same tune live on NBC’s Today show.
The activity driven by the Christmas countdown led to a 65 percent increase in Us the Duo’s Twitter mentions during the week, causing them to receive a bump in follower acquisition (more than 130,000 added across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
As Vine became the new demo tape in 2014, another one of the platform’s successes, Shawn Mendes, also re-enters the Social 50 in the week ending Dec. 28 at No. 44. Following his performance at the Z100 Jingle Ball on Dec. 22, Mendes kicked off a social-media campaign asking fans to submit their emails in order to get an invite to special events during 2015. The initiative helped spur a 185 percent rise in fan reaction for the week, enabling Mendes to add more than 128,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Shawn Mendes: The Billboard Photo Shoot
To recap the Social 50’s top 10, Taylor Swift spends yet another week in the No. 1 position while Ariana Grande bounds (5-2), just over Justin Bieber (4-3) and Katy Perry (7-4). Nicki Minaj tumbles (2-5) along with Selena Gomez (3-6). Beyonce ascends (8-7), as does Miley Cyrus (11-8) and Demi Lovato (13-9). One Direction slides (6-10) to anchor the region.
Over on the weekly Billboard Twitter Top Tracks chart, notable debuts include two of the six pre-released songs from Madonna‘s upcoming album Rebel Heart. “Living For Love” (No. 24) and “Bitch I’m Madonna” feat. Nicki Minaj (No. 45) bow following the album’s release as a pre-order on Dec. 19. The chart’s top debut is “Earned It” by the Weeknd, his track from the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey film (due out Feb. 14, 2015).
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