It’s no longer news to say ‘Hey! There’s a new breed of musicians on Vine!‘ – labels have been talent-spotting on Twitter’s shortform video network for some time now. The latest Vine star to get a major deal is Shawn Mendes, whose 2.5m followers brought him to the attention of UMG subsidiary Island Records. He’s the third most-followed musician on Vine, apparently, and is now preparing to release his debut single later this month, then an EP in the summer. Island is stressing that it’s not a gimmicky signing though: “Our reason for getting involved with Shawn is not specifically because of his following online,” president David Massey tells Billboard. “It’s great when an artist has a platform, but I think we would have signed Shawn if we just discovered him a different way. His talent, industry, and intelligence are all factors that contribute to wanting to be involved with someone who’s so young, and so talented, and so driven.”
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…