Unraveling the Rise of Billie Eilish
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Evolution of an Artist is a series that analyzes artists that have recently exploded to the top of the charts. By reverse engineering their rise in popularity, the goal is to identify patterns and key elements that help an artist build a successful music career.
→ Debut at No.1 Billboard 200 Albums Chart
→ 12/13 songs on her latest album charted on the Billboard Hot 100
→ 5 US Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 Singles, with one track hitting No.1
Billie Eilish’s album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? made astonishing waves for a debut album from a 17 year old (or for anyone for that matter).
How did all this happen? Let’s dive into it.
Soundcloud as a Springboard
Billie’s career started with her debut single, “Ocean Eyes,” released in November 2015 on Soundcloud…though she wasn’t necessarily intending for it to be the start of her career. While she uploaded the song for her dance teacher to have new music to choreograph too, the song received 1000 plays overnight. Then another 1000. Then another. Multiple small publications picked the track up, such as: Kick Kick Snare, Rain City Sounds, Free Bike Valet, Pile Rats, We Are Going Solo, Purple Sneakers, and We Found New Music. However, when popular music blog HillyDilly wrote about the song, “Ocean Eyes” seemingly took a life of its own, eventually helping Billie land a record deal with Interscope. Once signed to Interscope, she was able to land placement on Universal-owned Digester Spotify playlists, “Down Time,” and “Spring Break,” which boast a combined 117,104 followers. The label-backing would help lead to her first Spotify editorial playlisting…but before we get ahead of ourselves, Billie’s team used multiple tactics to first expand her fanbase.
Remixes: Expanding the Fanbase
After the release of “Ocean Eyes” on Soundcloud, several unofficial remixes of the song started to appear on the platform. Billie and her team capitalized on this exposure, commissioning four official remixes for the track from emerging producers (Astronomyy, Blackbear, GOLDHOUSE, Cautious Clay). She utilized this same tactic with her next track, “Six Feet Under,” which saw official remixes from Blue J, Gazzo, Jerry Folk, and Aire Atlantica. With the release of her third song, “Bellyache,” Billie was able to get established group, Marian Hill, to remix the track. These remixes all helped Billie get in front of new audiences. In fact, her first placement on any playlist on Spotify (Spotify curated or independently curated) was on the playlist “MrSuicideSheep + Sheepy Mixes” (named after a popular YouTube channel), for the Astronomyy remix of “Ocean Eyes.” Additionally, her first New Music Friday US placement was the Marian Hill remix of “Bellyache.” She also leveraged the Marian Hill remix of “Bellyache” to collaborate with popular YouTube Channel Tim Milgram (3.3M subscribers) for a dance video. Billie utilized remixes to expand her fanbase and reach; however, it was the next step in her career that really helped move things along.
Sync as a Catalyst
With a plethora of remixes, some great initial press, and a solid team around her, Billie’s career really took off with multiple high profile syncs (i.e., her song was featured in a TV show/movie).
Billie’s first sync occurred with her second song, “Six Feet Under,” which was featured in the popular show Pretty Little Liars on June 28 2016 (it also later appeared on other TV shows such as The Vampire Diaries). Below one can see a spike in Google search words for “Billie Eilish” on June 28th, the same day “Six Feet Under,” was played on Pretty Little Liars.
On the left hand side, one see “Related Topics” to “Billie Eilish” in the same time period as above. This helps demonstrate the correlation between the TV sync of the song and a spike in interest in Billie. The topics here are ordered by “Rising,” which according to Google means, “Related topics with the biggest increase in search frequency since the last time period. Results marked “Breakout” had a tremendous increase, probably because these topics are new and had few (if any) prior searches.” Both the top two topics, relating to Billie and her song, are deemed “Breakout” in this time period.
Under a year later, Billie secured another major placement, as her song “Bored” was featured in the popular Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, on March 31st 2017. 13 Reasons Why is, perhaps, a perfect sync for Billie as the demographic of the audience and nature of the show corresponds excellently with her audience and lyrical themes.
In terms of demographic of the audience, according to Nielsen, the show’s audience skews 65% female and 35% male. Furthermore, about 75% of the viewers of the show are 34 years old or younger. Additionally, the show revolves around a teen suicide — fitting for Billie’s lyrical themes (to be discussed). This fit is absolutely critical — Billie didn’t get just any sync placement but one that fits perfectly with her audience. As noted below, Billie’s Instagram following is mostly female and between 13 and 24 years old, beautifully matching the demographic of 13 Reasons Why’s audience.
Once again, one can note the increasing trendline in searches for “Billie Eilish” on Google that the sync spiked.
The top two topics listed on the left as “Breakout” topics over the same time period as above, once again demonstrate the effect of a sync placement on a song and artists’ career.
While correlation is difficult to prove, below are graphs of Billie’s Instagram following and Spotify Followers. Billie’s following on both platforms appeared to have spiked right around the release of the series. Since Netflix releases all episodes at once, it’s becomes difficult to understand when exactly fans are watching — however, we can, perhaps, assume the dedicated fans would binge the series within the first week.
Lastly, Billie landed another sync in the second season of 13 Reasons Why with her song “lovely” featuring Khalid on May 18th 2018. Below are Billie’s Spotify Followers and Monthly Listeners in the 10 days after the song was featured in the TV series. While her Followers grew 7.2%, her Monthly Listeners increased an impressive 17.2%. Sync placements played an incredibly vital role in helping Billie gain notoriety.
Khalid is another artist that fits beautifully with the themes and audience of the show, as well as Billie’s own audience (he was featured in Logic’s hit song, “1–800–273–8255,” about suicide). He has a similar aged and gendered fanbase, is another teen artist, and sings about similar topics in his own unique manner. Below are the demographics of Khalid’s Instagram following…eerily similar to Billie’s shown above. This collaboration, both with Khalid and 13 Reasons Why, epitomizes the incredible results when one finds the right partnership.
It should be noted that Billie has had other sync placements, however the ones noted above are the most significant.
Authenticity: Representing a Generation
In a 2018 interview with Vanity, Billie stated,
This sentiment revolves around the majority of her music, especially her album, where she addresses climate change, teen suicide, and teen sobriety. Billie expresses life as a teen in 2019 with extreme vulnerability. She tackles heartbreak, insecurity, and other mental health issues. She is the manifestation of a teen in 2019 or as Vox eloquently stated, “as much as she comments on contemporary life, she is also a product of it.” Her lyrics create an authentic connection between her and her fans, and at the same time, uniquely utilizes pop culture to establish “touchpoints.” For example, one of her earlier songs, “Finger’s Crossed,” is about a zombie apocalypse, inspired by the popular TV show The Walking Dead. Her song “My Strange Addiction,” is composed of multiple sound clips from The Office. Another example is in her song, “You Should See Me In A Crown,” which got its title from the BBC show and Tumblr phenom Sherlock. Her lyrics and music sit at a distinct intersection of pop culture and fragile teenage emotion. Not only does she epitomize Gen Z with her lyrics but also through social media.
In an interview with Galore, she described her philosophy toward social media as,
In an Instagram world of filters and perfection, Billie is often pictured wearing baggy pants, spiked necklaces and unfiltered selfies. She has a distinct look that is instantly recognizable and rejects the need for perfection. There’s something uniquely intriguing about her style.
Playlisting
The rise of Billie Eilish is mainly a story of great collaborations (brands and artists), unique lyricism and music and authenticity on socials, rather than a streaming-first story. However, the goal of this section is to reveal what playlists helped caused the biggest spike in followers and monthly listeners, as well as, which playlists initially placed her music, in order to perhaps find similarities with other artists down the line.
Below is a list of the Billie’s first editorial playlist placements, ordered by Playlist Add Date.
First, it should be noted the importance of the remixes, mentioned above, in getting her initial placements. Second, Billie first landed on Pop Rising, Singled Out, Indie Pop Chillout, and Chilled Hits, all before securing her first New Music Friday. The placement of “Bellyache” on Pop Rising on February 25 2017 in particular, caused quite the spike in Spotify Followers (pictured below).
However, it was not until 2018 with the release of “lovely (feat. Kahlid)” that the avalanche of playlisting for Billie exploded. Below one can note the editorial playlists that the song was featured on, corresponding with a rise in Bille’s Spotify Followers on the right.
One row to highlight above is on April 23 2018, when the song landed on Spotify’s Singled Out playlist, which boasts 726, 982 followers. Track position in a playlist is also critical to playlisting and Billie landed 5th on Singled Out (whereas the song was 30th on New Music Friday). Looking at Billie’s Monthly Listeners on that date, there is a significant spike, following the playlist add.
Interestingly, Billie didn’t make Spotify’s coveted Today’s Top Hits playlist (currently at over 24 million followers), until November 2018, when her song “come out and play” landed on the playlist (which was featured in an Apple ad). This is not a story of an artist who was born solely from playlist adds.
TV, Apple, YouTube, and More
Several other elements should be noted that sparked Billie’s astronomical rise.
TV appearances: Appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show with James Corden each helped spike her following. Corden was the first to put her on, on September 20 2017. Below one can note the spike in Spotify Followers and Wikipedia Views.
Perhaps the biggest spike in Instagram followers came from her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 28 2019, as her following jumped 963,149 followers in the five days following the TV appearance. However, it should be noted that Billie released her highly anticipated album on March 29 2019, which would presumably also significantly impacted the increase in following.
Press: On June 19 2018, Billie appeared on Teen Vogue, both in an article and on their YouTube channel (1.5 million subscribers). Below one can see the spike in Instagram followers that the press caused — her Instagram following jumped 160,945 followers in two days. Not all press should be weighted equally — Teen Vogue appeared to have had a significant impact on her following.
Ads: Her Instagram following grew another 334,344 followers from November 18–20 2018 when released her song “come out and play” as part of Apple’s “Share Your Gifts” holiday ad campaign. Another major sync opportunity for Billie.
YouTube Channels: On March 7 2019 Billie appeared on the popular YouTube show Hot Ones (by YouTube Channel First We Feast). Below one can note the spike in her Instagram followers after the First We Feast Instagram announced on March 4th that Billie was going to be on the show that week.
Not only did Hot Ones help Billie online, but Billie helped Hot Ones. The post about Billie’s show being available to watch on March 7th 2019 vastly outperformed all other posts (measured by engagement) by First We Feasts’ Instagram account in the past 6 months, obtaining an interaction rate of 13.76% (average daily from the account is 1.42%).
The show also appeared to have increased her Spotify following (though causation is hard to distinguish). One can see the jump from March 4th-5th (after it was announced on Instagram) and after March 7 (when her episode was released on YouTube).
Of course, I have to mention that there are many other factors in Billie’s rise to the top: YouTube collaborations with some of the top dance channels (Tim Milgram, Matt Steffanina, 1MILLION Dance Studio, Kyle Hanagami, and more), press from top publications (Highsnobiety, Vogue, Billboard, and more), a Spotify Event, Apple Events, headlining Coachella, and so much more. This article can be a 20 page essay…but let’s leave it here for now.
Takeaways
Soundcloud + Finding the RIGHT Listeners
While Spotify, Apple Music and others appear are the dominant streaming platforms, Soundcloud still has a rabid fanbase. Although there may not be as many listeners, the listeners you do get are, perhaps, more “musicheads” and, most likely, are other artists and producers. This helped Billie get in front of those wanting to remix her song…those who would help expand her fanbase.
Power of the Press
While many artists today solely look for the playlist editorial adds, one should not underestimate press. Press, especially, HillyDilly could perhaps be credited with exposing Billie to her initial fanbase and industry folk. While the average listeners may not read blogs as much anymore, the music industry still does — and Billie’s initial Soundcloud play count and press, ultimately helped catch the attention of Interscope.
Calculated Collabs, Remixes, & Features
Right off the bat, Billie was able to quickly expand her notoriety through commissioning remixes of her songs. These remixes helped her obtain her first Spotify playlist adds. The importance of collaborations can be even better seen with “lovely,” as Billie was introduced to Khalid’s established and very large fanbase — and with a similar demographic of Billie’s. It’s vital to collaborate with intention.
Purposeful Syncs
Netflix’s syncs helped Billie reach even more targeted fans in a unique manner. Of course, Netflix syncs may not be open to all artists but there is an abundance of content on YouTube that needs music — however, finding content that aligns with the demographic of your audience and music is critical. There probably couldn’t a choice that better corresponds with Billie’s fanbase than 13 Reasons Why.
Authenticity Above All
From the start, Billie has been extraordinarily authentic. She lives her true self on socials, in her music, and on stage. She expresses vulnerability and has a peculiar innocence about her. Billie’s story is about building an authentic story through beautiful lyricism, genuine socials, patience, and taking calculated endeavours. Ultimately, Billie’s story is one of authenticity and in a world of “fake news,” who wouldn’t want that to rise to the top?
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