Pentatonix launches an a cappella revolution

-Pentatonix, an a cappella group who had their start on YouTube, is breaking into the music scene with merely their voices—and they’re doing it successfully.

When Sony’s Epic Records dropped Pentatonix in 2011, they obviously had no faith in an a cappella group being successful in the music industry.

Pentatonix (PTX) is a five member group consisting of singers Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirsten Maldonado, Avi Kaplan, and Kevin Olusola.

PTX’s original members–Hoying, Grassi, and Maldonado–attended high school together and discovered their common love for singing. Together, they are the lead singers of the group. They found Kaplan and Olusola, the bass and percussion of the group, through mutual friends and the Internet.

When people see the words “a cappella”, they think of annoying and petty show tunes and lots of finger snapping. PTX, however, fuses pop music with electronic and R&B with only their voices. Their vocal harmonies are flawless, riffs are smooth, and bass line and percussion are spot on.

Merely five members while other a cappella groups are often over ten, PTX has the incredible ability to have a whole sound with no music or instruments to back them up. Smaller groups often have holes in their arrangements, but PTX utilizes their talent to amplify their sound and write songs to accentuate their strengths.

A cappella has never before been competitive in the popular music industry. However, PTX is currently competing for number 1 on iTunes against Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber.

The group’s most recent album, self-named Pentatonix, features their first ever self-written songs. Fans were pleasantly surprised when the album came out Oct. 26 this year.

While the album is not entirely self-written, fans enjoy the covers PTX performs just as much. The group makes covers semi regularly for their over 10 million subscribers on YouTube. Their more popular covers/medleys include “Evolution of Music,” “Royals,” and “Daft Punk.”

PTX also won Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, for “Daft Punk” at the 57th Grammy Awards. They have been recognized for their musical talent by the likes of Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Kelly Clarkson.

Not only has PTX toured with Kelly Clarkson, but they have also been on their own world tour. The group has had no break from touring since Aug. 2014.

PTX has accomplished so much, and this is just the beginning of their a cappella revolution. The group’s attention is well deserved, as shown by their overall talent and the effort they put into their album. PTX will continue to be competitive in the music industry and prove that Sony’s Epic Records made a mistake.