Take a look at Los Angeles based McKenzie Ellis who goes under the moniker of Mothica. She just released the gloomy-pop track Now.  Mothica notes, “NOW is a good introduction to my next era, because it started as a freestyle in the recording studio, so I didn’t think too hard about it. I didn’t write out lyrics beforehand, I just pulled from my subconscious and leftover phrases from the graveyard of past demos.” She has upcoming dates on Dec 11th in Los Angeles at The Hi Hat, Dec 13th in Brooklyn at Zone One Elsewhere, Dec. 16th in Toronto at The Drake Underground

New Jersey native Ant Saunders is the next buzzing indie Spotify artist. The track Yellow Hearts was released in June and quickly found a place on TikTok, streaming over 600,000 total videos. The track landed on Spotify’s Pop Rising . Finally, Apple Music came on board and backed the song, placing the track on Feeling Happy and Pure Pop 50 and Today’s Top Hits. Now we have two singers at the moment Arizona Zervas and Aunt Saunders that are pulling influences from Post Malone and blowing up the Spotify charts with no major backing, well except for Spotify which is a major influencer today. Is Spotify in a  position to start their own label?  Definitely yes!

Los Angeles based Zosia released the electro-pop track Matter. It’s a solid track that underwent four years of producing and re-working. The track is inspired from a quote by Elizabeth Lesse about resistance to change. She has garnered support from Earmilk, Lady Gunn, and Pop Muzik. Her debut single-debut Water, has over 31K plays on Soundcloud. Give it a stream.

Independent and unsigned Arizona Zervas rapper celebrates the success of his track ‘ROXANNE’ which grabbed the #1 spot on Spotify’s US Top 50. Apple followed suit and added the track to Today’s Hits playlist. This is a Spotify ‘breaking artist story’. Spotify is flexing its muscles by taking an unsigned rapper from zero to hero on its streaming platform. Nevertheless, Arizona Zervas is pretty darn good with commercial appeal. Spotify knew who to get behind.

He writes on instagram “number one. no label. produced by my bff @94skrt
big thank you to everyone who has been supporting me over the years. this is a moment for us. still having fun with it.”

He’s been offered every deal to mankind but according to insiders it’s coming to a close.

Look out for Atlanta-based Hero The Band. They are a unique 4 piece and have a tough-to-pin-down sound- maybe an uptempo Imagine Dragons? I don’t know, figure it out with the track Trouble In My Mind. Either way, it’s fun. Their backstory is interesting as well. The band consists of all brothers, grew up in a musical family and have built their formative years playing in venues like the Masquerade, and opening for acts like the Mother’s Finest. They’ve released three albums independently and logged 350+ shows before signing with LAVA /Republic Records.