Lindsey Stirling Finds Her Audience Via YouTube After Total Industry Rejection

Pop classical violinist Lindsey Stirling recently released her debut album featuring original music after developing a strong presence on YouTube. Previously dissed on America's Got Talent and rejected by industry channels, Stirling released a series of music videos including original tracks in inventive scenes and cosplay covers of theme songs. Tens of millions of views later she is touring the U.S.

In Focus: Lindsey Stirling – YouTube Sensation

Though some have found fame through appearances on tv shows, Lindsey Stirling was kicked off "America's Got Talent" after some harsh comments in 2010. Though the show gave her a lot of exposure, her tracks on iTunes weren't selling. A few months later she created her first music video with Devin Graham:

"Then as soon as we put this video together, my music started to sell and people started to say how much they love it, or that they enjoyed my performing. I thought, there’s something to this whole YouTube thing. So I decided to start pursuing my own channel, and this is where it’s led me."

Stirling has pursued a route of releasing music videos on YouTube and selling the music via iTunes. Her videos are either cosplay covers of theme songs such as her "Zelda Medley" or original tracks like "Crystallize".

Crystallize is labeled "Dubstep Violin" and is her biggest success having received over 31 million views. Another Dubstep Violin track, Elements, also features Stirling's trademark cinematic pop violin soaring above rather watered down dubstep beats. Her melodies show no signs of a dubstep influence.

That said, many are responding to Stirling's work and her debut album, "Lindsey Stirling," is currently #150 on Amazon's Top Music chart and #2 on iTunes Top 10 Electronic Albums in the U.S.

In addition to appearing on America's Got Talent, Stirling tried numerous entertainment industry channels before finding success on YouTube. A large part of that success is her partnership with Devin Graham and her own involvement with their creation.

Having found an appropriate venue to present her work, Stirling finally found her audience who she considers part of her team. In fact, she says "my audience is my label" and includes them in her process for choosing covers. They also apparently contributed some of the merch designs in her well-stocked webstore.

Lindsey Stirling is currently on tour in the States and many of her Meet and Greet/VIP Tickets are sold out. With her debut album off to a strong start, it looks like Stirling successfully bypassed the gatekeepers via the power of YouTube.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.