Founder · Curator · A&R operator

Chad Hillard

Nineteen years finding artists before the market catches up—from Hillydilly’s music blog era to the live signals behind Before The Data.

Chad Hillard founded Hillydilly in 2007 as a place to share the new music he believed people needed to hear. The archive documents thousands of those decisions, including early posts on artists who later became global names.

Hillydilly’s history includes the first major blog coverage for Billie Eilish and early coverage of Lorde, Halsey, LANY, Dominic Fike, Daniel Caesar, and others. The work was always the same: listen widely, recognize conviction early, and publish before consensus forms.

Before The Data turns that practice into an A&R scouting platform. It combines Chad’s editorial judgment with Spotify movement, TikTok and Instagram UGC, follower velocity, artist context, and alerts—giving music professionals a way to see the shortlist before the signing war.

The original record

Selected early discoveries

2013 archiveLorde — The Love Club

The original Hillydilly post and discovery context.

2016 archiveBillie Eilish — Ocean Eyes

The early post that became part of Hillydilly’s history.

2018 archiveDominic Fike — Don’t Forget About Me

Published around the moment the market began moving.

Current thinking

A&R and music-industry writing

Artist evaluationHow to read an artist the data can’t see Early signalsHow to identify artists moving on TikTok Scouting toolsThe best A&R tools—and why we built our own

Before The Data

See the artists building now.

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