This is the first in a series of spotlights on Youtube musical acts.
Youtube makes it easy to share a home-movie, a prank, or whatever you were lucky enough to catch on film with the world. As long as you have an internet connection and a free Youtube account, you can post a video (if you're brave enough). This opportunity has allowed up-and-coming musicians and musical geniuses to put forward their renditions of pop music for the world to hear and judge.
It is my privilege to find and report on some of the most popular Youtube musicians in the world. Here's how this will go down: first, I'll provide some background information (upload views, a biography, an interesting fact or two), and second, I will discuss why they have become popular (production, vocals, etc.).
Let's get started.
CHANNEL: KurtHugoSchneider
TOP 5 VIDEOS:
"Just A Dream."
"Michael Jackson Medley," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Love The Way You Lie- MASHUP,"
"Hold It Against Me."
ALSO CHECK OUT:
"I Will Follow You Into The Dark,"
"King of Anything."
Some of the more professionally produced musical covers on Youtube come from KurtHugoSchneider's channel. This channel, owned by Kurt Schneider, has received over three-hundred million views, including five videos with more than ten million views. Although Schneider produces the songs and videos, he isn't usually the lead vocalist. The majority of the channel's videos feature Schneider's friend Sam Tsui singing.
According to the Yale Herald, Kurt Schneider and Sam Tsui attended Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania before being accepted to Yale University. The first videos Schneider and Tsui posted were three cover songs and a web-series based off of the popular "High School Musical" franchise. Their thirteenth video, Tsui's cover of "Don't Stop Believin'," was recorded in spite of Glee. The video became immensely popular and has been watched over twenty-five million times.
Schnieder's video production is superb. In his most-watched video, a cover of Nelly's "Just a Dream" sung of Tsui and fellow Youtube-star Christina Grimmie, Schneider shows off his musical arrangement and features both singers at the same time by using multiple camera angles within a split-screen format. In the music video for Tsui's original song, "Don't Want an Ending," Schneider produces a video on par with something you might see released by a pop artist.
Schneider loves shaking up arrangements. On the mash-up "Love The Way You Lie- MASHUP," Schneider combines Rihanna's chorus with Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" and Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." The arrangement of "Dynamite" has a more upbeat and celebratory feel to it than the original. And lastly, on "Hold It Against Me," Schneider strips the song to just piano and drum pad, giving the song a more intimate feeling.
Even the best of covers can't reach insane levels of popularity without an amazing vocalist, and Sam Tsui fits the bill perfectly. His powerful, raw, emotional, yet controlled vocals are showcased in songs such as "Born this Way" and "Just a Dream," which are perhaps his best vocal performances to date.
KurtHugoSchneider gives viewers an opportunity to hear pop music with a twist by giving a new organic meaning to electronic pop and releasing original songs with flawless production. Check them out on Youtube and iTunes.
A FEW THOUGHTS
•According to Billboard.com, the number one song on this date in 2005 was "Gold Digger" by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx
•My lyric of the week comes from Panic! At The Disco's "Oh Glory:"
is a member of the 
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