Virtually famous: Ruth B

Plenty of acts end up in this column thanks to YouTube success, but Ruth Berhe from Edmonton, Canada, must be the first to start a pop career on Vine.

For those of you less up on your social media outlets, Vine is like YouTube for people with short attention spans, allowing you to post looped videos that are just six seconds long.

In December 2014 Berhe, now 20, posted two lines and four piano chords – “I am a lost boy, from Neverland/Usually hanging out with Peter Pan” – the first snippet of her first ever self-composed song. Encouragement from her followers led her to post more segments and finally complete it.

Lost Boy, a simple, memorable piano ballad sprinkled in fairy dust, has now spent almost four months on the Billboard chart, creeping ever upwards, and will be launched here in July.

Berhe has a major label record deal and an EP, The Intro, featuring Lost Boy and three more solo keyboard compositions, is out now. Not bad for six seconds’ work.