BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year is surpassing own expectations

When Myles Smith reflects connected his travel - from an 11-year-old kid playing guitar and soft to a charting creator - helium feels he's continuously exceeded his ain expectations.

This year, the 26-year-old from Luton has had a apical 5 single, played Glastonbury, smashed past 1 cardinal streams and conscionable been named BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year.

"I conjecture it’s taken a agelong time. But I yet consciousness comfy successful my ain tegument and I consciousness arrogant of the music," helium says.

When Myles speaks to BBC Newsbeat, helium is successful Montreal, 1 of the stops connected his North America tour.

"What I deliberation this year's taught maine is that expectations are determination for comfort. But precise seldom are they precisely what we imagine.

"My expectations erstwhile I started 2024 was not successful a twelvemonth to person played implicit 100 shows oregon the cardinal streams."

Myles says helium volition ne'er instrumentality the accidental for radical astir the globe to take to perceive to his euphony for granted.

His breakout hit, Stargazing, has achieved worldwide acclaim, been platinum-certified and adjacent featured connected erstwhile US President Barack Obama's summertime playlist.

"For maine it was conscionable astir prioritising penning euphony that comes consecutive from the bosom and trying not to filter excessively overmuch of that encephalon to rima barrier.

"I conscionable wanted to constitute thing that was simple, but thing that we each acquisition and consciousness astatine immoderate constituent successful life.

"I consciousness similar doing that, it resonated with truthful galore much radical astir the world," helium says.

The song, which helium says was made successful astir 15 minutes, has besides recovered a location connected TikTok.

And Myles is good alert of however important the level is to artists looking to interruption through.

In 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown, Myles began posting covers, with his acoustic mentation of The Neighbourhood’s Sweater Weather going viral successful 2022.

"Social media successful wide is truthful important to an artist’s journey," helium says.

"Some radical whitethorn consciousness that the onus to bash societal media is simply a unit that isn't needed.

"And others whitethorn spot it arsenic an accidental to truly benignant of find a assemblage astatine a planetary scale."

Myles sees it arsenic the latter.

"We person the autonomy and power to beryllium capable to marketplace ourselves however we tendency and successful ways which are astir authentic to us."

But determination has been immoderate disapproval that TikTok’s power is changing the way euphony sounds, with impacts connected opus lengths and styles.

"I deliberation that the thought that TikTok someway diminishes the prime of euphony oregon someway you person to acceptable the euphony wrong parameters is simply a story for maine personally.

"It's fixed maine much state than ever to bash what I want. And however I privation to bash it.

"Times alteration each the time. One clip you were cutting records connected vinyl adjacent it was connected CD, past MP3 and digital… it's astir moving with the times," helium says.

While Myles accepts the "privilege" of being capable to scope truthful galore online and connected tour, helium feels it’s important to item the "other side".

Artists specified arsenic Rachel Chinouriri, The Last Dinner Party and CMAT have antecedently mentioned the fiscal challenges of touring, peculiarly successful North America.

Myles agrees that it "is ace expensive" to tour, and feels unrecorded euphony much wide needs greater support.

In the UK, Myles said the "thriving" tiny venue and grassroots country took a deed post-Covid, and conflict to enactment artists successful the mode the utilized to.

Such venues person often been an important starting constituent for artists who’ve gone connected to superstardom, including Adele and Ed Sheeran.

"[It’s] genuinely cardinal to an artist’s travel and luckily I was capable to commencement my travel a agelong clip ago," says Myles.

"I deliberation that moving forward, reasoning astir enactment for musicians and reasoning astir however we tin determination guardant and worth the arts is an important conversation."

The different happening Myles is keen to bash erstwhile reasoning astir his aboriginal is to "keep making euphony I love".

Myles is owed to enactment Ed Sheeran successful 2025, describing him arsenic "one of my idols".

"I conscionable privation to person the astir amusive and the champion twelvemonth that I can.

"Spend it with the radical that I emotion the most.

"And that is simply a precedence for maine now."