Each week, dozens of songs and albums from up and coming (or just plain unknown) bands debut on the pop charts. Some of these bands will never be heard from again; some of them may become the next little thing. That's why every two weeks Chuck Eddy will be exploring the world of Billboard's Heatseekers and Hot Shots, looking for diamonds in the MySpace rough. For the initial installment, we'll let the man himself explain his methodology:
So the concept here, this week and every fortnight hence, is a scorecard for artists new to the charts—generally ones nobody never heard of before, though somebody must be buying their music. The means of selection will be simple: Go for acts with the goofiest names, which in a best-case scenario will correspond with entertaining stuff on MySpace pages and in YouTube videos. If true artistry is stumbled on in the meantime, I'll admit it.
A disclosure, before I start: The charts I'm using, inevitably, come from Billboard—a publication where, until recently, I toiled as a senior editor, and where I occasionally still do freelance editing work, though I promise that fact will not sway my choices.
Ready, set, go!
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Idolator
Each week, dozens of songs and albums from up-and-coming (or just plain unknown) bands debut on the world's music charts. Some of these bands will never be heard from again; some may become the next little thing. That's why every two weeks Chuck Eddy will be exploring the world beyond the Billboard 200, where he'll look for diamonds in the MySpace rough. This week, his roster of up-and-comers includes a trio of country-singing sisters from California, Europe's self-proclaimed "Hottest Guitar Player," some unlikely beneficiaries of Jay-Z's press, Viking metal from the Indiana tundra, a mysterious London 8-bit musician, and an Arizona outfit that actually wants to be known as "Internet famous."
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