‘British Bieber’ takes YouTube by storm
A young pretender to the Bieber throne has emerged in the form of Conor Maynard, frontman for the ‘Mayniacs’ whose YouTube antics have seen him outsell the teen idol.
Bedroom based Maynard’s debut single has displaced Canadian crooner Bieber from the top of the charts, earning him a healthy fan following and the admiration of peers including Lily Allen and US singer Ne-Yo.
Maynard boasts UKs fifth most subscribed YouTube channel, garnering 76 million worldwide views and prompting Ne-Yo to get in touch to suggest a collaboration.
The resulting track, “Can’t Say No” shunted Bieber hit, “Boyfriend” into second slot.
Speaking to the Independent in the aftermath of his sales success Bieber remarked: “When I started, I sang through a PlayStation 2 SingStar game microphone. My dad was banging on the walls telling me to shut up. I've got a proper mic now."
Regarding Bieber maynard said: “We're both young and came up through YouTube. But I think I'm making a different kind of sound.”