Thanks to the Internet and social media, so many people have had big breaks and transformed the trajectory of their careers. Before all the fame, fortune, and millions of Spotify followers, some artists owe it all to social media. From YouTube to Soundcloud, there are opportunities to promote yourself, and these guys did that to get their work out there.

Ed Sheeran

It’s impossible to find anyone who has not heard of Ed Sheeran, the English singer who started on YouTube. Looking back, he did his performances in his backyard or even at home, but that did not stop fans from seeing right through him and noticing his charisma. Almost everybody knows him for his amazing guitar skills, beautiful songs, and appealing voice. His social media accounts, like YouTube, show great records, and in addition to that, he is an Instagram icon.

Charlie Puth

Most people learned about Charlie Puth after he collaborated with Wiz Khalifa on "See you again." His journey, however, started way back in terms of musical background, and his mother taught him the piano. Puth attended the Manhattan School of Music and later wrote jingles for people who owned YouTube accounts. This gained him recognition when Ellen DeGeneres' record label signed him briefly. This happened after she heard his version of Adele's Someone Like You on one of his YouTube Vlogs. 

Calvin Harris 

After uploading to MySpace, one of the first well-known social media platforms, Calvin gained notoriety and attention. Luckily for him, a talent booker, Mark Gillespie, noticed him during a Global Gathering and pushed his career forward. From there onwards, he grew bigger and has become one of the top DJs in the world.  

Alessia Cara 

She has had a passion for music since high school, and today, she has morphed it into a remarkably successful career. Her early years found her uploading her versions of popular songs on social media. Through his daughter, EP entertainment founder heard of her music, and she got the big breakthrough to change her life. The rest is history; Cara released three studio albums, making over 11 million.    

Loren Gray

When she was 13 in 2025, Gray uploaded videos on TikTok, slowly gaining a following. Later, Loren moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career as an influencer and musician. Since then, she has released over five singles and got up to 100 million online streamers. Her genre is the new pop music wave, which is also quite empowering. Lore has 51 million followers on TikTok, 3.78 million on YouTube, and over 20 million on Instagram.

Conclusion

These stars got to where they are not just by sheer luck but because they put effort into their craft and leveraged social media to get noticed. If you are an upcoming artist looking to follow in their footsteps, you will have to work harder because today's competition is quite stiff, unlike when the guys we mentioned started. Nevertheless, you shouldn't give up. People still grow with social media today if their content is unique and appealing.