Tegan Marie goes for teen music gold as Gen Z makes its stand
Pop music predictions are always risky business. But it’s safe to say that at this very moment, somewhere in the world, the superstar of the future is a little-known kid quietly amassing Facebook likes or building views in some corner of YouTube.
Or maybe she’s already further along the path: Take Tegan Marie, a 13-year-old Michigan country singer whose precocious presence and fast-maturing vocals have earned her more than 50 million listens online in the past six months — including a viral cover of Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” that has racked up more than 17 million.
Long-term showbiz success is never guaranteed, of course, and much work lies ahead. But the Flint native, who recently partnered with Radio Disney Country and is on the cusp of a major-label deal, is part of an emerging tsunami of young talent and fluid trends as the music industry gears up for its next blockbuster era.
Having caught attention via social platforms and video-sharing sites, the new teen contenders are already flooding in, from Australian singer Grace to new RCA Records artist Daniel Skye, from YouTube stars Taylor Girlz to the Beyoncé-signed Chloe X Halle. On Jan. 28, Royal Oak Music Theatre will host the first U.S. tour date of Jacob Sartorius, the 14-year-old viral star who was Google’s ninth most-searched music act last year.
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Chalk it up to the growing power of Generation Z, the label attached to the demographic born since the late ‘90s — the children of Gen X and the group that follows the millennials. At 80 million strong, they make up a quarter of the U.S. population, and as they pour into their tween and teen years, they constitute the most massive, wealthy and technologically savvy generation in American history, expected to wield $260 billion in buying power by 2020.
Like her Gen Z peers, Tegan Marie is part of the cohort dubbed “digital natives” — kids who have known nothing but an Internet world. Social media is second nature, streaming music is a given, and the ability to interact online with their favorite artists is a demand. They've never had a musical life where choice is limited by what the radio fed you, what a friend loaned you, what a record-store clerk advised you to buy. They've grown up knowing that one typed search term can open the door to seemingly limitless musical universes.
Raised in a Flint household filled with country and Motown music, Tegan was singing as a toddler. By age 7 her dad was posting her homemade covers of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber songs to the entertainment and lifestyle site Sweety High, launched in 2011 with an eye to the coming Gen Z wave and described by its founder as a place where “girls can upload their content in a protective space.”
Tegan's videos became a regular attraction for the site's other young members.
“As soon as I joined Sweety High, I started getting fans,” Tegan says. “They were like, ‘Don’t give up. You’re so good, you're gonna make it.’ So I never gave up.”
By age 12, her success on the site, along with mushrooming numbers on YouTube and Facebook, led to a management deal with Sweety High, run by music-industry veteran Veronica Zelle.
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That’s when it all began to truly pop. In 2016, Tegan landed a series of opening dates with country star Hunter Hayes, did a duet with Kelsea Ballerini, performed the national anthem at the Olympic send-off game for the U.S. women’s soccer team, and hit “Good Morning America” to sing “Lucky Me,” her single released to raise funds for Flint water-crisis relief. (Her team says about $20,000 was generated for Hurley Children's Clinic.)
In November, Tegan Marie was by far the youngest performer at a Washington, D.C., concert celebrating Smokey Robinson’s Gershwin Prize before an audience of political dignitaries. The full show, with artists such as CeeLo Green and Corinne Bailey Rae alongside Tegan’s performance of “My Guy,” will air Feb. 10 on PBS.
Today her Facebook following stands at more than half a million, and there's an upbeat mood in her camp: Tegan has been writing with Taylor Swift producer Nathan Chapman, and the partnership with Radio Disney puts her on the family-friendly global platform that introduced young fans to the likes of Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.
“Tegan is just a thousand-watt light bulb in a dark room,” says Phil Guerini, vice president of music strategy for Disney Channels Worldwide. “When you look for ‘it,’ the definition is Tegan, and that’s what we’re always looking for. Her vocal talent, her charisma, her presence, is well beyond her years.”
For now, her music will be largely steered to Radio Disney Country, launched last year after company research showed a growing demand for that genre among 13- to 24-year-olds. Tegan’s embrace by the channel is just a first step, but it puts her in a promising pipeline.
“If you look at the pop charts today, it’s filled with Justin Bieber, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato,” says Guerini. “They’re in their early 20s now, but they all started (at Radio Disney) during that infantile stage when no one else was supporting them. We introduce them when they're still the Tegan Maries, when they're unknowns, when other (outlets) aren’t ready to take that leap.”
While it’s still early days, Guerini says, “we’re optimistic she’ll join the ranks of previously mentioned artists. That success journey can start here.”
From A to Z
If Gen Z's burgeoning cultural strength feels familiar, it's because we've seen this pattern before. In the late ‘90s, the rise of the millennials spurred the teen-pop explosion and its parade of stars: Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child, Christina Aguilera, Hanson, Jessica Simpson. As the biggest U.S. generation to that point, flush with household cash in bright economic times, the millennial audience had big-time weight to throw around, and it transformed the course of popular music.
Researchers and forecasters are still trying to crack the Gen Z code, but they’ve settled on some basics. In contrast to the millennials — often stereotyped as inward-facing and hyper-sensitive — Gen Z is seen as confident and conscientious, eager for authenticity, frugal with money and less concerned with material status markers.
“These are Gen X's kids. The baby boomers’ kids are millennials, and they were overcoddled and overnurtured in a way,” says Sweety High’s Zelle. “Gen X is the parent of the child who’s going to save the world. Our Gen Z girls are all about an authentic conversation, an authentic life and expression.”
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Empowered by technology, they're self-driven and ever restless for new stuff to hear and watch. While traditional radio and TV still play a role, Generation Z takes for granted that discoveries are made on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, fueled by the power to share what they like.
“Because the technology has rushed down on these girls at a young age, they’ve had to teach themselves,” says Zelle. “They’re just more powerful. They’ve taken control of their cultural life on the Internet and what they want to watch, listen to, consume. And most of these girls are making the right decisions for themselves.”
Few analysts are willing to make precise predictions about looming Gen Z musical trends, and for good reason: These are young fans with wide-ranging ears, and they're tricky to pigeonhole. A study last spring by Pandora, the online radio service, found that the typical 16-year-old user is listening to seven different genres weekly, compared to five for a 26-year-old and four for those 50 and up.
"What we find on the younger side is they're consuming all kinds of music, from urban to rock to pop to country," says Kristen Williams, senior vice president of Warner Music Nashville's new Radio and Streaming department. "That’s because they've had access to all of this music at their fingertips. The older demographic collected albums. This generation is collecting playlists. You'll have a Jay Z next to a Luke Bryan next to a Justin Bieber."
For young artists in country music, Tegan Marie's format, that means a willingness to stray beyond the genre's traditional bounds. In the wake of Taylor Swift, who increasingly colored between the lines of country and pop before her full-blown mainstream success, that versatility is taken for granted.
"You go to a (country) show now — Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Luke Bryan — and they're performing pop songs as covers. Florida Georgia Line released a song with the Backstreet Boys," says Radio Disney's Guerini. "There's no shame there now. That wouldn't have happened 15 years ago. But it's honest, and it's relatable."
Gen Z may be immersed in digital media and living with earbuds plugged in — up to seven hours daily, according to the Pandora study — but it’s an audience also eager for new, real-life experiences. And that's got the concert industry feeling hopeful.
“It’s become obvious that this next generation has a propensity to think that experiences are more important than material goods,” says Live Nation's Dave Clark. “With older generations, it’s been: ‘How do I know I’ve made it?' 'Well, how big is the house you bought, how fancy is your car, which designer shoes do you wear?' I’m not seeing that attitude with the generation coming up. We see more young people looking to be out with their friends creating lasting memories, not sitting at home counting up what they’ve got.”
Within the recorded music business, the ecosystem is changing fast, and for aspiring young artists, a dynamic world awaits. The day is quickly coming when streaming services and other online platforms will take on roles long served by record labels — finding, funding and promoting new artists — says Sebastian Blum, an entertainment industry analyst with Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Strategy&.
"This is destined to break up the monopoly of labels and the discovery of talent," he says. "Everyone can publish now, and once it goes viral, you've already got everyone's attention."
The labels are adapting to the new reality. When Warner Music Nashville overhauled its decades-old radio promotional department in September, it gave the 23-person staff a new mission for promoting the company's artists: Streaming and social media are as vital as radio play. It was an acknowledgement, says Warner's Williams, that "this is a generation that wants more, when they want it. They're not as willing to wait around for new music to be released. They’re seeking it out themselves."
Rather than simply releasing a periodic new single and pushing it to radio — the old-fashioned route — Warner staff now works with streaming services to build playlists, digging deep into an album and presenting multiple tracks quickly. From there, democracy does its work: Which songs are clicking with listeners? Which streams are getting shared?
"We live in a society of immediacy," says Williams. "You don’t need to wait any longer to experience that next new thing, and that’s what these streaming platforms allow for this generation. And then they’re on to the next thing within weeks. (The way we release records) will be significantly changing to keep up with this demographic."
Sweety on her
Zelle recalls the day in 2011 when Tegan Marie first came onto her radar at Sweety High.
"She had uploaded a video, and somebody in my office came to me and said, 'You have to see this little girl!' " Zelle says. "She was incredible. The first thing I said in front of my staff was, 'This is a little star, and we have to take care of her. We have to protect her from the craziness of the digital world and also the entertainment industry.' "
As Sweety High grew, so did Tegan's impact at the site. Today, the company claims a monthly audience of four million Gen Z girls. During the final three months of 2016, they left five million likes, shares and comments on site content, which along with the music and videos includes headlines like "Everything You Need to Know About Selecting Your First Signature Scent" and "What Do Your Notebook Doodles Say About You?"
Backstage at the Smokey tribute in November, Tegan showed poise to go with her bubbly nature, talking confidently about her future as she giggled enthusiastically about the path so far.
She recalled her first Taylor Swift concert — a 2011 show at the Palace of Auburn Hills — where she watched Swift's floating performance of "You Belong with Me" and got hooked: "I looked up at my dad and said, 'That's what I want to do!' "
A fan of Michigan State University and the Detroit Lions, Tegan used to play sports, but music has taken over as the full-time focus.
Tegan's team emphasizes this is a critical and vulnerable stage for the 13-year-old, and they're being protective. She's clearly been coached to use discretion, and she declines to divulge certain details about school life in Flint, saying only that she loves math and art while proudly maintaining straight A's. Amid this new life of travel, she stays connected with her classes via online schooling and uses Skype to spend lunch hour with her friends.
One of her parents is always on the road with her, she says, while the other stays back in Flint with her 7-year-old brother. She's still adjusting to the whirlwind schedule.
"It’s weird, because sometimes I don’t wake up in my bed. I’ll wake up in a hotel room and be in, like, Los Angeles. The next day I’ll be in Nashville," she says. "I’ll be like, wait, where am I? It’s a dream come true. I still can’t believe it."
She recently bought a journal to chronicle the journey so far, going back through Facebook photos and logging her memories. The big moments are coming thick and fast: Tegan still raves about the day spent with Kelsea Ballerini, and gushes about the opportunity to sing the national anthem for the U.S. women's soccer team ("suuuch an experience!"). She was thrilled when Florida Georgia Line shared her "H.O.L.Y." cover on social media with the comment: "Talk about gettin misty eyed."
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Tegan says with a giggle. “Like, am I supposed to make them cry?”
She may be a star to come, but she seems bright enough to realize there's plenty to learn. Onstage at Smokey rehearsals, Tegan struck a distinctly petite presence, listening intently to instructions from the show's music director and humbly soaking up the goings-on as seasoned performers like Aloe Blacc and JoJo operated at her side.
Tegan is expecting that 2017 will bring her debut album and her first full-scale tour. The more she soaks up on this ride, the more confident she is that she's finding her own voice.
"I was kind of Taylor Swift-y," she says of her 7-year-old self. "And then I became Tegan Marie."
Contact Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
