A 13-year-old Canadian kid uploaded R&B covers to YouTube in 2008 from his bedroom. A talent manager named Scooter Braun stumbled on the videos and signed him.
For the next 15 years, Braun controlled everything. Tours, branding, business deals, public image. The kid became the biggest pop star on the planet, sold 150 million records, racked up 32 billion Spotify streams, and had three Diamond-certified singles before turning 25.
Then in 2022, he got hit with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Partial facial paralysis. Cancelled the world tour. Disappeared from public life entirely.
Here's where it gets interesting.
In January 2023, he sold his entire 290-song catalog to Hipgnosis for $200 million. Every song he'd ever released. "Baby." "Sorry." "Love Yourself." All of it. Gone. At 28 years old, he cashed out his past.
Then he dropped Scooter Braun. After 15 years. No manager. No agent. For the first time in his career, nobody was making decisions for him.
Fast forward to this weekend. Coachella calls. He picks up the phone himself. Rolling Stone confirmed he negotiated his own headlining deal directly with Goldenvoice. No agent commission. No manager cut. $10 million for two weekends, and he kept all of it.
Then he walked onto the biggest stage in music, sat down behind a MacBook, and pulled up YouTube.
He played "Baby" from 2010. He played his bedroom covers from 2008. He harmonized with his 13-year-old self in front of 100,000 people. Katy Perry joked about whether he had YouTube Premium.
Half the internet called it lazy. The other half called it genius.
They're both wrong. It was a receipt.
He sold his catalog for $200 million. He fired the man who discovered him. He negotiated his own deal. And then he went back to the exact platform where it all started and said: I built this from a laptop. I'm headlining Coachella from a laptop. And for the first time in my life, every dollar is mine.
The kid from YouTube just closed the loop.
Iโve teamed up with StubHub to give away a pair of tickets to Sabrina Carpenterโs Short nโ Sweet Tour this Saturday in Los Angeles! ๐
To enter:
- Retweet
- Follow @concertleaks & @StubHub
#JustinBieberโs 21 track masterpiece 'SWAG' has reached #1 on US Apple Music and is now the fastest album of 2025 to do so in less than 6 hours! 'SWAG' is #1 in almost 60 countries on Apple Music and #1 in 20+ countries on iTunes and has entered the Top 2 on US iTunes! ๐ช๐๐ฅ๐จ2โฃ0โฃ2โฃ5โฃ๐ฟ๐ฅ1โฃ๐บ๐ธ๐๐ผ& 1โฃโ๏ธ5โฃ7โฃ๐โ1โฃ๐ตโ๏ธ2โฃ0โฃ๐&๐ฅ ๐2โฃ๐บ๐ธ๐ฅ๐๐ค
10 songs from 'SWAG' are already charting on Apple Music US:
#7. ALL I CAN TAKE (NEW)
#25. DAISIES (NEW)
#40. WAY IT IS (NEW)
#51. GO BABY (NEW)
#56. YUKON (NEW)
#95. THINGS YOU DO (NEW)
#109. BUTTERFLIES (NEW)
#125 SWEET SPOT (NEW)
#158. WALKING AWAY (NEW)
#168. SOULFUL (NEW)
Justin rockets 194-4 on the Global Digital Artist Rank
"Inspired by his devotion as a husband and father, this new era of music has fueled a deeper perspective and more reflective sound, resulting in some of his most personal music yet." - Def Jam
STREAM 'Swag': https://t.co/iAAe4o6VAe
Album: SWAG on Apple Music (57x #1):
#1 Armenia
#1 Austria
#1 Azerbaijan
#1 Bahrain
#1 Belgium
#1 Belize
#1 Bhutan
#1 Bolivia
#1 Brazil
#1 Canada
#1 Cayman Islands
#1 China
#1 Costa Rica
#1 Cyprus
#1 Denmark
#1 El Salvador
#1 Estonia
#1 Fiji
#1 Finland
#1 Germany
#1 Guatemala
#1 Guyana
#1 Honduras
#1 Hungary
#1 Ireland
#1 Italy
#1 Kazakhstan
#1 Laos
#1 Latvia
#1 Lebanon
#1 Luxembourg
#1 Macau
#1 Madagascar
#1 Malta
#1 Moldova
#1 Mongolia
#1 Netherlands
#1 Papua New Guinea
#1 New Zealand
#1 Nicaragua
#1 Norway
#1 Oman
#1 Panama
#1 Papua New Guinea
#1 Peru
#1 Portugal
#1 Romania
#1 Sri Lanka
#1 Sweden
#1 Switzerland
#1 Trinidad and Tobago
#1 Turkey
#1 Ukraine
#1 United Arab Emirates
#1 United Kingdom
#1 United States
#1 Venezuela
iTunes (20x #1):
#1 Australia
#1 Belgium
#1 Brazil
#1 Canada
#1 Cayman Islands
#1 Chile
#1 Denmark
#1 France
#1 Guatemala
#1 Ireland
#1 Italy
#1 Netherlands
#1 Norway
#1 Oman
#1 Peru
#1 Poland
#1 Portugal
#1 Slovakia
#1 Switzerland
#1 United Arab Emirates
California Pride - Big Bang (USA)
HOUSE OF BANG GIVING EVERYTHING THAT ATE๐ฅ
THE BASKETS
THE PERFORMANCE
TENS ACROSS THE BOARD๐
IONTC6 | #CheerWorlds2025