Which artists are building momentum beyond Spotify?

Kristian Gorenc Z

Jul 12, 2026

A new artist rarely breaks in one place only. A song may start gaining traction on Spotify, then appear in more playlists, draw more YouTube activity, or begin showing up in radio rotation. Sometimes those signals move together. Other times, one metric rises while the rest stay flat.

That distinction matters because a single number can make momentum look broader than it is. Monthly listeners can jump after a playlist placement, a viral clip, or renewed interest in one song. But if video activity, playlist exposure, and radio do not move in the same direction, the growth may be more concentrated than it first appears.

This analysis from Viberate looks for the less common pattern: artists whose recent growth spread across several measurable music channels at the same time.

3 artists gained across all 4 channels

For Spotify to qualify, an artist needed stronger growth in monthly listeners, followers, and streams during the recent period. YouTube required increases in both views and subscribers. Playlist exposure was assessed through playlist reach and the number of active Spotify playlists featuring the artist. Radio was measured through airplay spins.

Gat Putch, Kidd Carder, and Wyatt Flores met every requirement.

Gat Putch

Philippine hip-hop artist Gat Putch ended the study period with about 4.1 million Spotify monthly listeners.

The artist added roughly 590,000 monthly listeners during the earlier 90-day period. That increase grew to approximately 2.6 million during the recent period.

Gat Putch generated about 48 million Spotify streams during the earlier window and nearly 72 million during the second. YouTube views rose from approximately 6 million to almost 16 million, while subscriber additions more than tripled.

Playlist exposure showed one of the clearest changes. Gat Putch’s Spotify playlist reach increased only modestly during the previous period but expanded by more than 10 million during the recent one. Growth in active Spotify playlists rose from fewer than 50 to more than 150.

Radio activity increased at a slower pace, from about 360 spins to just over 500.

The increases were distributed across the study period. No single week accounted for more than 60% of the positive movement in any qualifying indicator.

Kidd Carder

Nigerian artist Kidd Carder finished the period with approximately 2.2 million Spotify monthly listeners.

Monthly listener growth rose from around 360,000 during the earlier period to nearly 1 million during the recent one.

The artist generated about 16 million Spotify streams during the first period and more than 50 million during the second. YouTube views increased from approximately 1.7 million to 2.6 million, accompanied by faster subscriber growth.

Kidd Carder’s playlist reach expanded by about 7 million during the recent period, compared with an increase of roughly half a million previously. Growth in active Spotify playlists rose from fewer than 70 to more than 260.

Radio spins increased from approximately 380 to more than 630.

Kidd Carder’s largest gains appeared in Spotify streams and playlist activity, but the artist also passed the study’s requirements for audience growth, YouTube, and radio.

Wyatt Flores

U.S. country artist Wyatt Flores ended the period with about 4.6 million Spotify monthly listeners.

His monthly listener growth rose from approximately 440,000 during the earlier period to just over 1 million during the recent one. Spotify streams increased from about 49 million to 62 million.

YouTube growth was considerably narrower. Views edged up from approximately 1.43 million to 1.45 million, while subscriber additions increased from about 2,400 to 2,700.

Both measures remained above the study’s minimum activity requirements and passed the concentration check.

Playlist exposure showed a more substantial change. Playlist-reach growth increased from about 1.1 million during the earlier period to more than 10 million during the recent one. Growth in active Spotify playlists rose from approximately 400 to nearly 600.

Radio spins increased from roughly 2,800 to more than 4,500.

Flores’ results show that cross-channel qualification did not require equally large gains everywhere. His YouTube improvement was limited compared with the changes on Spotify, playlists, and radio, but both selected video indicators still moved upward.

7 more artists accelerated across 3 channels

Another seven artists qualified across three of the four measured channel groups.

They are presented as a cohort rather than ranked from fourth through 10th. The combination of qualifying channels differed by artist, making a precise overall order less informative than the breadth of each result.

Serkan Nişancı and Bayaan gained across streaming, video, and radio

Turkish pop artist Serkan Nişancı recorded some of the largest increases in the sample.

His Spotify monthly listener growth rose from about 220,000 during the earlier period to more than 4 million during the recent one. Spotify streams increased from roughly 6 million generated during the first period to more than 71 million during the second.

YouTube views rose from approximately 13 million to more than 93 million. Radio activity also increased, from just over 1,000 spins to about 3,000.

Playlist exposure did not qualify because one week accounted for more than 60% of the positive recent-period playlist-reach movement.

Pakistani rock band Bayaan also qualified across Spotify, YouTube, and radio.

The group moved from losing roughly 370,000 Spotify monthly listeners during the earlier period to gaining more than 2.3 million during the recent one. Spotify streams increased from about 14 million to 23 million, while YouTube views rose from approximately 7.5 million to 11.7 million.

YouTube subscriber additions grew from about 9,000 to 28,000. Radio spins also increased.

Bayaan’s playlist reach was excluded for the same reason as Nişancı’s: Most of the positive movement was concentrated in one week.

Large weekly changes can reflect genuine breakout moments or major playlist placements. They may also result from data backfills, account relinking, or the addition or removal of data points. The analysis, therefore, favored movement that was distributed more broadly across the 90-day period.

Four artists gained across Spotify, YouTube, and playlists

Aksomaniac and Yapi passed the requirements for Spotify, YouTube, and playlist exposure, but usable historical radio data was unavailable.

Missing data was treated as unavailable rather than interpreted as zero activity or declining performance.

Elif Buse Doğan and BNYX qualified across the same three channels, while radio performance either slowed or remained below the study’s activity threshold.

Doğan’s Spotify monthly listener trend shifted from a slight decline during the previous period to growth of nearly 2.4 million during the recent one. The Turkish pop artist generated about 9 million Spotify streams during the earlier period and almost 22 million during the second.

Her YouTube views increased from approximately 23 million to 32 million. Playlist reach and active-playlist growth also strengthened.

BNYX recorded a stronger Spotify audience, streaming, YouTube, and playlist results. Radio did not qualify because recent spins were lower than in the previous period and remained limited in volume.

Mizmo followed a different pattern

French electronic artist Mizmo qualified across Spotify, playlist exposure, and radio.

The artist’s Spotify monthly listener growth accelerated from roughly 120,000 during the earlier period to about 2.7 million during the recent one. Spotify streams increased from approximately 10 million to nearly 23 million.

Mizmo’s playlist reach declined during the earlier period before increasing by almost 9 million during the recent period. The number of active Spotify playlists also moved from a slight decline to a growth of nearly 500.

Radio spins increased from approximately 260 during the earlier period to more than 400 during the recent one.

YouTube did not qualify because activity remained well below the study’s minimum view and subscriber requirements.

Broad momentum remained relatively uncommon

The artists included in the detailed analysis had already been selected because they were showing notable Spotify movement.

Even within that high-growth group, only three of 24 scored artists qualified across all four channel categories. Seven more qualified across three.

The remaining artists generally followed narrower patterns. Some posted strong Spotify gains without comparable movement on YouTube or radio. Others recorded large playlist changes concentrated in one week. Several lacked sufficient historical data for one or more channels.

The results demonstrate why a single headline metric can provide an incomplete picture.

Spotify monthly listeners may rise while YouTube activity slows. Playlist exposure can expand without stronger radio airplay. Video views may increase while subscriber growth remains below a meaningful threshold.

The data cannot establish what caused the changes. It does not show whether playlists produced additional streams, whether YouTube activity affected radio programming, or whether releases, collaborations, touring, or outside events influenced several channels at once.

The analysis only identifies artists whose selected indicators strengthened during the same period.

Methodology

The research began with high-growth artist profiles across eight broad genre groups: country, pop, hip-hop, R&B, Latin, electronic, rock, and African music.

Artists were required to have between 250,000 and 5 million Spotify monthly listeners in the June 15, 2026, data pull. June 14 was used as the latest complete historical date.

The underlying Viberate data was accessed through Viberate’s MCP server connector and analyzed using the screening, comparison, and validation rules described below.

The initial pool contained 90 artist records. Profiles were removed when they were inactive, duplicated, ambiguously identified, associated with functional audio or children’s entertainment, primarily known as nonmusic creators, or lacked sufficient historical data for comparison.

Twenty-five artists advanced to detailed historical analysis. One was later excluded because its Spotify history began after the study had started, leaving 24 artists with complete breadth scores.

The study compared two consecutive 90-day periods:

• Dec. 17, 2025, through March 16, 2026
• March 17 through June 14, 2026

The analysis examined Spotify monthly listener movement, followers, and streams; YouTube views and subscribers; Spotify playlist reach and active playlists; and radio spins.

For cumulative metrics such as Spotify streams and YouTube views, activity during each period was calculated by subtracting the cumulative total immediately before the period began from the total at the end of the period.

Follower and subscriber additions were calculated using the same endpoint method. Changes in monthly listeners, playlist reach, and active playlists were measured by comparing values at the beginning and end of each period.

Weekly data was used only to identify unusually concentrated movement. It was not summed to produce the published 90-day totals.

Spotify playlist reach represents the combined follower count of playlists containing an artist’s music. It estimates potential maximum exposure rather than actual streams, unique listeners, or confirmed audience reached.

A channel qualified only when all its selected indicators improved during the recent period, exceeded the previous-period result, met minimum activity requirements, and passed continuity and concentration checks.

Minimum requirements included:

• At least 50,000 in positive Spotify monthly listener growth
• At least 2,500 Spotify followers added
• At least 250,000 YouTube views
• At least 1,000 YouTube subscribers added
• At least 25 active Spotify playlists added
• At least 250 radio spins

Spotify streams and playlist reach also had to be positive and greater than in the previous period.

An indicator was flagged when more than 60% of its positive recent-period movement occurred within one week. Flagged indicators were excluded from the breadth score unless the change could be independently validated.

The findings describe the screened candidate sample. They should not be interpreted as a complete global ranking of recording artists or as a prediction of future commercial success.

Source of music data: Viberate.com
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📌 Viberate Analytics gives you the data behind the music industry. Built for A&R teams, managers, labels, and artists, it helps you find new talent, analyze audience insights, track Spotify playlists and stats, evaluate tracks and songs, and monitor Spotify, YouTube, streaming, and radio airplay analytics — all connected in one system.