Tom Gregory may sing about ‘Small Steps’, but he made a giant leap during a year in the Music Moves Europe Artist chart…
Happy new chart year! Compared to last year’s January chart Blackpool based singer-songwriter Tom Gregory has made the biggest push over a year. Especially due to the airplay success in the German-speaking countries for his song Small Steps (Kontor), he amassed more than 400 million audience impressions during the last twelve months.
He was not the only British newcomer who has had an amazing 2019. Also indie rock singer Sam Fender, singer-songwriter Declan J. Donovan and pop chanteuse Freya Ridings enjoyed big gains in the chart, measured over a year. And let’s not forget Italian dance outfit Meduza, who weren’t even in the top 100 at the start of the year, but scored such a big pan-European summer smash with Piece Of Your Heart (Universal) that they conquered this chart with seven-league boots, and are now out of range with more than a billion audience impressions. Let’s check if they can make it up to the expectations on the live front, as they perform in a couple of weeks at the ESNS Festival in Groningen.
It seems only small progress is made during a month in the Music Moves Europe Artist chart. But if you compare the Top 50 from a year ago to now, no less than ten acts entered the Top 50, including Irish rock band Inhaler, Belgian R’n’B singer Lous & The Yakuza, British indie rock band Squid and Irish indie rock band The Murder Capital. And the great news is those four acts will all perform in Groningen!
In this month’s chart there are no less than six very diverse newcomers in the lower regions. First up is German/Swiss pop singer Freschta Akbarzada at #80. She entered the German version of the TV-show The Voice, coached by ’German Eminem’ Sido. Although the singer with Afghan roots didn’t win the contest, she has a big airplay hit in the G/S/A-countries with Meine 3 Minuten (Universal), a song that features Sido. Also in at #82 is French rapper James BKS, the son of Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango (Soul Makossa). His track New Breed that features American rapper Q-Tip and British rapper Little Simz, released on the 7Wallace label of British actor and musician Idris Elba, is liked in various countries, as far away as Finland and Austria.
Dutch producer with Brazilian roots Lyzza enters at #84. She asked Joe Goddard, member of British indie dance act Hot Chip to feature on her self-released song Neverland and it gets airplay in Poland, Spain and the UK. For those missing the sun these months, they should check out Mr. Sun (Different/PIAS), in at #90 by London based chanteuse Greentea Peng, who adds a bit of reggae to her tune, which is popular in central Europe.
Also new is Swedish pop singer Boy In Space at #97. He teamed up with successful Swedish dance-pop singer and songwriter SHY Martin (The Chainsmokers, Mike Perry) and their duet On A Prayer (AWAL) is a hit in the rest of Scandinavia. Finally, jazzy pop singer Joesef from Glasgow comes in at #99 via airplay in France and Poland for his song Limbo (AWAL). Let’s see where we can find those newcomers in a year’s time…
Menno Visser
Music journalist and radio professional from The Netherlands
