Forget the Hollywood hustle, the entertainment industry's newest power players are building careers on social media and launching them on streaming services.
By Dean Sterling Jones and Francesca Walton
While forging her music career from her bedroom in London, PinkPantheress struck upon a winning formula: short songs augmented by killer hooks and even smarter lyrics. Known as “bedroom pop,” the approach propelled her onto the U.S. Billboard charts with her 2023 single “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” featuring Ice Spice. But it might not have happened without TikTok.
Since TikTok's algorithm prioritizes engagement, artists like PinkPantheress, 22, are able to find their audience directly, giving them huge exposure without industry backing. If a song is catchy enough, reflects the zeitgeist, or simply makes for an attractive sound bite, fans will share and remix it on the platform. This can quickly turn a song into a viral trend and–in the case of “Boys a Liar Pt. 2”–catapult it all the way to the charts.
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This year’s 2024 30 Under 30 Europe Entertainment list celebrates the young artists, actors and founders who are thriving in this dynamic new environment. To be considered for this year’s list, all candidates had to be under the age of 30 as of April 9, 2024, and never before named to a 30 Under 30 North America, Asia or Europe list.
The 2024 class of Entertainment listers was evaluated by a panel of industry experts featuring Simona Tabasco, Under 30 Europe 2023 alumni and SAG award-winning star of The White Lotus; Rina Sawayama, singer, actress and model; Neeraja Raj, Under 30 Europe 2023 alumni and filmmaker; and Conny Zhang, Under 30 2023 alumni and head of music at Spotify for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Among this year’s honorees are familiar names like Bella Ramsey, 20, the Game of Thrones alum who most recently made buzz for her starring role in HBO’s post-apocalypse drama The Last of Us, and Asa Butterfield, 27, a veteran of the big screen whose credits span almost 20 years, including the lead role in Netflix series Sex Education. Then there’s Mia McKenna-Bruce, who after years of relatively minor TV and film roles won the 2024 BAFTA “Rising Star'' Award for her star-making turn in the film How to Have Sex.
Most of the actors on this year’s list got their break on Netflix, which, like TikTok, has become a breeding ground for a new generation of celebrities. Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor, 28, and Sex Education lead Emma Mackey, 28, are among those who found a global audience through the streaming service’s expansive reach. Meanwhile, relative newcomers Leo Woodall, 27, and Ambika Mod, 28, hit it big with starring roles in the Netflix romantic drama One Day, which was the most-watched series globally in the first week of its release in February.
Proving that audiences still crave more intimate songwriting, this year’s music selection includes award-winning indie pop star Holly Humberstone, 24, whose brooding, searching songs resonate with 2.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Joining her is raspy voiced singer Tom Grennan, 28, who scored his second consecutive U.K. chart-topper with his 2023 album, What Ifs and Maybes, amassing 1.3 billion total streams on the platform. But it was girl group Flo that clinched the 2023 “Rising Star” BRIT award, signaling a revival of '90s pop and R&B. The group is part of this year's lineup for Coachella and the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City.
This year’s list also spotlights history-makers like Yasmin Finney, 20, the first openly transgender woman to play a major role on long-running BBC TV show Doctor Who. Belfast-based filmmaking duo Ross White, 28, and Tom Berkeley, 28, also made waves as the youngest filmmakers in British history to win an Oscar for their 2023 short film An Irish Goodbye. Meanwhile, Alisha Weir, the 14-year-old star of Matilda: The Musical, stands out as the second-youngest to ever appear on Forbes’ Under 30 Europe Entertainment list (following Millie Bobby Brown, who was 13 when she appeared on our list in 2018).
Another woman breaking barriers is Irish dance-pop star Jazzy, 27, who became the first woman in 14 years to top Ireland’s singles charts with her 2023 track “Giving Me.”
“Being a person of color I’m proud to bring that diversity and champion that aspect of who I am,” she tells Forbes. “I have so many younger fans too that look up to me and that makes me so happy.”
This year’s list was edited by Dean Sterling Jones and Francesca Walton. For a link to our complete 2024 Under 30 Europe Entertainment list, click here, and for full 30 Under 30 Europe coverage, click here.
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