Thanks to social media, many more artists nowadays are able to gain fame quicker than it would have been possible in the past century: viral videos can oftentimes be followed by labels reaching out and fanbases growing daily thanks to the spotlight that these apps can offer. This was the case for Highlands-born Katie Gregson-MacLeod, whose songs have gone viral multiple times and have brought her to popularity with younger generations.

The indie artist first rose to fame in 2022, after a video of Katie singing her song “Complex” on piano went viral on TikTok; currently, the video counts almost ten million views. “Complex” was then released as a demo on streaming platforms, soon followed by an EP titled “Songs Written For Piano” which contained both a studio version of “Complex” as well as a version of the song played live with strings. “Complex” is currently Katie’s most popular song on streaming platform, with almost 50 million streams on Spotify between the demo and the studio version. It is also, so far, the only song by the artist which has made it to the UK’s Official Charts top 100, peaking at 66. In September, the song was used in the British TV shop “Heartstopper“.

@katiegregsonmacleod here’s my saviour complex song #fyp#originalsong#singersongwriter complex (demo) – Katie Gregson-MacLeod

@katiegregsonmacleod This one’s dangerous don’t tell anyone #acoustic#glasgow#singersongwriter#originalsong♬ original sound – Katie Gregson-MacLeod