Creative Tube: YouTube Stars

With digital technology constantly at our fingertips, anyone can be a creator. An Internet connection, a camera, video editing software and above all lots of creativity and passion are the key ingredients in the careers of audio-visual creators who started out online, often attracting millions of fans from all over the world.

For aspiring filmmakers, musicians, comedians, and more, the social video-sharing site YouTube with its billion+ users has proven to be a particularly fertile proving ground for many creative careers. Some people would even argue that it is now YouTube rather than television that pumps out the stars of tomorrow. Indeed a survey carried out by Variety in 2014 even found that YouTube stars were judged to be more engaging, extraordinary and relatable than their mainstream peers.

Meet five creators who leveraged the power of YouTube to make their breakthroughs happen:

5 Seconds of Summer, pop band (hemmo1996)

Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer started out on YouTube by posting videos covering songs of artists including Mike Posner and Chris Brown, which rapidly attracted tens of thousands of viewers. The virtual fame of Luke Hemmings (on whose channel the videos were posted), Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin, and Michael Clifford did not go unnoticed by major music labels and publishers, leading to their first “mainstream” release titled “Unplugged” making into the iTunes top 5 in Australia.

Going on world tour with pop boy-band One Direction helped them break through at international level, launching their debut major-label single and studio album in 2014, followed by a headlining tour covering Europe and North America. As of today 5 Seconds of Summer can boast some 2 million YouTube subscribers and are considered a prime example of musicians who launched their career on YouTube.

Lilly Singh, comedian and motivational speaker (IISuperwomanII)

Struggling with depression and looking for a way to express herself, Lilly Singh started creating YouTube videos as a way to deal with her feelings. On her “IISuperwomanII” channel, Singh publishes satirical sketches on everyday life, drawing on her Punjabi heritage. Singh, whose authenticity and infectious enthusiasm have attracted over 8 million subscribers to date, is also a motivational speaker, stand-up comedian and rapper.

In 2015, Singh went on world tour with the “A Trip to Unicorn Island” show, built on content from her YouTube channel. Most recently, she released her first full-length film, a documentary of her world tour that over 25 locations including Australia, India, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Lindsey Stirling, dancing violinist (lindseystomp)

Fascinated by both dance and music, Lindsey Stirling started out as a violinist at a young age. During an appearance on the America's Got Talent reality-TV show in 2010, she performed as a “hip hop violinist”, dancing on stage while playing the violin. Her performance caught the attention of American videographer and YouTuber Devin Graham, with whom she produced a video for her song “Spontaneous Me”.

From that time on, Stirling started to regularly publish music videos on her YouTube channel converting it into a powerful means of building and nourishing a fan base of some 8 million subscribers. Since her YouTube debut, Stirling has released several studio albums, gone on a world tour and just recently released her autobiography.

Germán Garmendia, comedian (HolaSoyGerman)

During a moment of sadness, Germán Garmendia grabbed his laptop and recorded and posted a humorous two-minute monologue on YouTube called “The obvious things of life” (“Las cosas obvias de la vida”). Encouraged by a few hundred views and requests for more videos, he started producing more clips, all with a humorous look at everyday situations to which viewers could relate.

As his clips continued to spread virally attracting millions of viewers, he started publishing a new video on Friday every week. As the most popular YouTube personality in Spanish, he manages to make a living from his videos and personal brand. At the beginning of 2016, he released his first book titled "Chupa el perro", and is currently touring Latin America.

Wong Fu Productions (WongFuProductions)

During their university studies, Philip Wang and his friends Wesley Chan and Ted Fu developed a taste for small-scale video productions, originally made for class assignments. It was not until later that they made a music video based on Justin Timberlake’s “Señorita”, which was widely shared among fellow students and marked the beginning of the Wong Fu Productions filmmaking group.

After graduating from university, the friends decided to establish their own venture, producing short films, sketches and vlogs for YouTube and other platforms. To date, they have won over more than 2.5 million subscribers and have diversified their business to include a merchandise clothing brand, a plush toy line and a concert series.