YouTube’s best cover artists

Samantha Sektnan

After being discovered on YouTube for their covers of popular songs, Karmin, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Tori Kelly, Austin Mahone, Cody Simpson, and 5 Seconds of Summer are just a few of the famous artists that have YouTube to thank for their rising success. Included below are eight singer-songwriters that make the list as YouTube’s best cover artists. Other noteworthy YouTube artists that didn’t make this list include Jasmine Thompson, Madilyn Bailey, Tiffany Alvord, Tyler Ward, Megan & Liz, and Boyce Avenue.

8. Megan Nicole is a 22 year old female singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.” You can find her on YouTube on her channel at megannicolesite, which has over 3.2 million subscribers and 650 million views.

Pros: Megan Nicole has released a number of original songs including “Alright.” She does great covers of many popular pop hits.

Cons: Because of her sweet voice and girly demeanor, her channel doesn’t exactly cater to anyone that isn’t a teenage girl.

7. Alex Goot is a 27 year old male singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Demi Lovato’s “Cool for the Summer.” You can find him on YouTube on his channel at gootmusic, which has over 2.3 million subscribers and 400 million views.

Pros: Goot’s original song “Unstoppable” is a rather entertaining track to listen to. For a male, he does fairly well with high soprano notes.

Cons: Due to his soprano voice, he does not excel at doing low alto tracks.

6. Kina Grannis is a 30 year old female singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as The Neighborhood’s “Sweater Weather.” You can find her on YouTube on her channel at Kina Grannis, which has over 1.1 million subscribers and 170 million views.

Pros: Kina Grannis has released her original album Elements, which has a number of great songs including “Dear River.” Listen to her songs if you want easygoing background music.

Cons: Because of her soft voice, she cannot sing very difficult songs with high notes.

5. Chester See is a 32 year old male singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” You can find him on YouTube on his channel at chestersee, which has over 1.6 million subscribers and 170 million views.

Pros: Not only does he sing numerous original songs including “That’s What I’ll Be,” but he also has numerous cover songs. Out of all the artists on this list, he has the most number of videos and they are the most diverse. Not only does he sing, but he also acts, is attractive, and has plenty of comedic videos.

Cons: Due to his skills in comedy and making people laugh, he doesn’t have a lot of serious moments in his videos.

4. Christina Grimmie is a 21 year old female singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Sia’s “Elastic Heart”. You can find her on her YouTube channel at zeldaxlove64, which has over 3 million subscribers and 340 million views. She also has numerous covers along with Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui.

Pros: In 2014, she earned third place in the 6th season of NBC’s hit singing competition The Voice, with Adam Levine as her coach. She has two of her own albums including Find Me in 2011 and With Love in 2013. Her original song “Shrug” is great to listen to if you like catchy pop tracks.

Cons: Since her appearance on The Voice, she was signed and then dropped from Island Records shortly after.

3. Max Schneider is a 23 year old male singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Major Lazer’s “Lean On.” You can find him on YouTube on his channel at MAX, which has over 1.2 million subscribers and 98 million views.

Pros: Max’s original song “Gibberish” is great and showcases his talent. Out of all the artists on this list, Max is the one with the most stage presence. Not only does he sing, but he also acts on television and has amazing dancing skills. He can sing a lot of high notes and has the voice of an angel. He is currently on MTV’s list of Artist to Watch.
Cons: As a result of Max continuing to get work professionally, his number of YouTube videos produced may be on the decline.

2. Chrissy Costanza is the 20 year old lead female singer-songwriter of the band Against the Current on YouTube that covers such songs as Tove Lo’s “Stay High.” If you want to listen to Costanza and the rest of the band, visit their channel at againstthecurrentNY, which has over 1.2 million subscribers and 120 million views.

Pros: Against the Current has numerous original songs including “Gravity.” Out of all the artists on this list, I would argue that this group has the catchiest original songs.

Cons: The band only has 42 videos on their YouTube channel, therefore there are not a multitude of cover songs to binge watch.

1. Sam Tsui is a 26 year old male singer-songwriter on YouTube that covers such songs as Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph.” You can find him on YouTube on his channel at TheSamTsui, which has over 2.1 million subscribers and 220 million views.

Pros: Sam Tsui makes the list as the number one cover artists because he is the overall best singer on the list. His original album Make It Up includes numerous original songs worth listening to including “Worth It.”

Cons: Sam Tsui’s earlier YouTube videos can only be seen on Kurt Hugo Schneider’s YouTube channel.