Billie Eilish Thinks ‘the Soundcloud Era’ Benefited Her Music Career
With “Ocean Eyes” credited as a viral SoundCloud hit, Billie Eilish noticed the connections between being a “SoundCloud fan” and her music career. Here’s what the “Bury a Friend” singer and her manager said about the start of her musical journey.
‘Ocean Eyes’ by Billie Eilish was initially released on SoundCloud
Some know her for songs like “Bury a Friend,” “Bad Guy,” and “Happier Than Ever.” One of her first hits was “Ocean Eyes,” released on SoundCloud when Eilish was only 13 years old (later released on YouTube when the singer was a 14-year-old.)
Since then, Eilish has earned several Grammy Awards, collaborated with Justin Bieber, and become one of the best-known artists in pop music. This artist and her manager credit some of her early success to the SoundCloud community and the unique release of “Ocean Eyes.”
How being a ‘SoundCloud fan’ impacted Billie Eilish’s career
Before becoming a Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter, Eilish released her original music on SoundCloud — a niche music-sharing platform. During an interview with Billboard, manager Danny Rukasin commented on SoundCloud’s impact on Eilish’s career.
“Part of it was your understanding of music was the SoundCloud era — putting something up, and it goes,” Rukasin said. “And then also, you were — and still are — so genuinely young, and you feel something and want to put it out. There’s a certain amount of, ‘I want to express this right in this moment,’ and then us being the dudes, the old guys, who are like, ‘No, no, no, wait; let’s do it the right way.’”
“The mixture of me being a SoundCloud fan and teaching them what my experience was while they were teaching me what my career was did benefit [all of us],” Eilish said during the same interview.
“Ocean Eyes” was first posted to SoundCloud in late 2015, with Eilish starring in a YouTube music video — published in March 2016. That YouTube clip now has over 395 million views.
Rukasin added that they wanted to set Eilish up for success early in her music journey. With the singer firmly cemented in her pop-culture status in 2022, Eilish has free reign to be creative and “do whatever the f*** she wants.”
‘Ocean Eyes’ by Billie Eilish is now available on Spotify and Apple Music
Most of Eilish’s music is now available on major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. In fact, “Ocean Eyes” was eventually added to Spotify, where it also found success. (As of June 2022, the track has over 915 million Spotify plays, making it one of the most popular songs from Don’t Smile at Me.)
In 2021, this artist debuted her album Happier Than Ever on major music platforms, later partnering with Disney+ for Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles.
