Under the radar: 10 artists below 100k listeners to watch out for in 2022
In the digital age of music distribution, overabundance is a blessing and a curse.
Listeners have no shortage of fresh, interesting music to listen to, but hidden gems are often buried, lost in the shuffle of weekly releases. What about under-the-radar artists, going unheard by the masses?
Small, independent artists make some of today’s most exciting and forward-thinking music, but a lack of promotion can keep their music from reaching the ears of potential fans.
In the spirit of friendly recommendation, here are 10 talented artists carving out their own unique stations in the music industry.
These artists come from disparate genres– you can find sounds you know you’ll like, and expand your palate along the way.
Angel Bat Dawid
Instagram: @angeltheoracle
Listeners: 31,000
Genre: Avant Garde Jazz
Spotify: Top Tracks
Angel Bat Dawid sings, speaks, and screams if she needs to, expressing herself over a bold, cascading soundscape of horns and drums.
She is unafraid to lean into abrasive sounds to convey the pressing need for black liberation, stirring and surprising her audience.
Mel Bryant and the Mercy Makers
Instagram: @melbryantmusic
Listeners: 39,000
Genre: Alternative Rock / Folk
Spotify: Top Tracks
Mel Bryant and the Mercy Makers are a three-piece group from Nashville, Tennessee, cooking up a fresh blend of folk, rock, and pop.
Their confessional lyrics release the frustrations of adult life over raging, insistent guitar lines. Their songs are cathartic and honest.
Honey Butter
Instagram: @honeybuttertheband
Listeners: 59,000
Genre: Indie Pop
Spotify: Top Tracks
An EP and a series of singles have established Honey Butter’s style: smooth, clean pop grooves, overlaid with bright vocals.
All in all, a glossy, promising beginning, smooth and clear as water. Catch them on the way up!
Blood Incantation
Listeners: 32,000
Genre: Death Metal / Dark Ambient
Spotify: Top Tracks
Shifting from their prior sound, which was death metal woven with strands of psychedelic rock, Blood Incantation’s recent record “Timewave Zero” unfurls a dark, subdued ambient soundscape.
This bold shift in sound might foreshadow a future untethered to the genre, which is all the more reason to keep an eye on them.
Sobs
Instagram: @sobshaha
Listeners: 39,000
Genre: Dream Pop
Spotify: Top Tracks
Singapore-based trio Sobs showcases shimmering layers of sound on their debut “Catflap”, a collection of silky dream-pop tunes fringed with intricate guitar plucking.
The hazy vocals and laidback melodies are easy to drift through, but there’s plenty of complexity for the attuned ear to enjoy.
Maassai
Instagram: @Maassai
Listeners: 1,700
Genre: Rap / Hip Hop
Spotify: Top Tracks
Maassai delivers a thoughtful, raw perspective on life with her 2021 album, “With the Shifts”.
The beats are fuzzy and faded, infused with jazz and grit; her rap is peppered with clear-eyed observations on generational trauma, spiritual growth, and activism.
Jane Inc.
Instagram: @janeincmusic
Listeners: 7,600
Genre: Disco / Electronic / Pop
Spotify: Top Tracks
Carlyn Bezic, known for her work with U.S. Girls and duo group Ice Cream, brings fans a new solo project with Jane Inc.
Her 2022 project, “Faster Than I Can Take”, offers meditations on post-industrial life through glitchy, glistening synths, with elements of disco and rock.
Blanck Mass
Instagram: @blanckmass
Listeners: 44,000
Genre: Dance / Industrial Electronic
Spotify: Top Tracks
Get ready for grimy, pulse-racing beats that border on gruesome. Blanck Mass’s electronic sound is explosive and packed with character, using chopped vocal samples and ambient basslines.
The listener can never safely know what to expect: the music has moments both overpowering and quietly unnerving.
Marquis Hill
Instagram: @mhillsounds
Listeners: 29,000
Genre: Jazz
Spotify: Top Tracks
Marquis Hill’s dizzying technical skill has brought him acclaim as one of the most talented jazz trumpeters alive today.
Most notably, his Modern Flows series catapults classic jazz structures and sounds into the contemporary landscape, bringing hip hop and R&B influences to post-bop beats.
Royal Coda
Instagram: @royal.coda
Listeners: 81,000
Genre: Post Hardcore
Spotify: Top Tracks
Kurt Travis, the vocalist of Dance Gavin Dance fame, has lent his talent to Royal Coda’s expanding catalog of work.
These post-rock songs are driving, exciting, and packed to bursting with memorable riffs. The group shows great coordination and each layer of sound fits together seamlessly.