With nearly 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, and tour dates in more than 5 countries in the coming months, Tiffany Alvord is a textbook embodiment of the “YouTube Star” phenomenon. However, the teenage sensation insists that all the attention hasn’t gotten to her head.

 

Speaking to UrbanWire in an e-mail interview, she says, “It seems crazy when I look at my Facebook demographics or YouTube analytics and I see I have fans all over the world.”

 

The Californian sweetheart returns to Singapore just a year after her first performance at the YouTube Stars Concert for a solo performance at the Singapore Conference Hall on Mar 16.

 

“I was just a young girl recording songs in her bedroom and posting videos on YouTube and now I am recording professionally and touring,” she marvels. Despite her evident humility, there’s no denying the success that the 19-year-old has enjoyed. Over just 5 years, she has released 4 albums, 2 of which comprise of entirely original songs.

 

Tiffany attributes much of her inspiration to write original songs to one of her favourite artistes: Taylor Swift. “I appreciate her integrity, that she stays true to herself,” she shares. Tiffany also insists that she play a part in the production of her music, saying, “ My fans connect best with songs that I have written and come from my heart. I’ve loved writing songs since I was 10 years old and that’s what I want to continue to do and to share.”

 

While producing originals has contributed significantly to her success, Tiffany still stays true to her roots, which trace back to making covers of her favourite songs on YouTube. Till today, her covers remain a huge hit with the YouTube community, with some videos garnering up to 800,000 views.

 

Being one of the most popular YouTube artists out there, Tiffany advises aspiring artists to begin by covering songs that are already popular. “When I first started posting songs on YouTube… Nobody knew who I was and so they wouldn’t search for my name or my songs,” she says.

 

However, she believes that to make a good cover, an artiste still needs to have a connection to a particular song. adding, “I don’t cover all popular songs just because they are popular. I cover songs I feel I can connect with and that I like.”

Tiffany also keeps things fresh by collaborating with other popular YouTube artists who share her bubbly take on music. She enjoys every opportunity she gets to work with fellow YouTubers, citing Megan Nicole, Jason Chen,  and The Piano Guys,  as some of her favourite collaborators. “All the YouTube artists I have met and collaborated with are so talented and we have all become friends in real life. I think we want to help each other rather than compete with each other”.

 

While the future seems bright for Tiffany, she’s determined to keep working hard to pursue success.

 

On her plans for the future, she excitedly tells UrbanWire, “to do more touring…  I really love performing live and meeting my fans”. Tiffany also intends to write some radio-worthy songs and get a new album released by the end of 2013.

Tiffany Alvord performs Mar 16 at the Singapore Conference Hall. Tickets are on sale from S$38 to S$78 at Sistic.