LOS ANGELES — It is unusual for two siblings to find themselves breaking through in music at almost the same moment. It is even rarer for them to do it without sounding anything alike.
That is the story unfolding around Audrey Hobert and Malcolm Todd, two Los Angeles-based artists whose careers have accelerated in parallel during 2026.
Hobert, 27, has built her profile around sharp, pop-punk-influenced songwriting, while her younger brother, 22-year-old Malcolm Todd, has found an audience through a more intimate blend of indie pop and alternative R&B. Their sounds are different, but their rise has placed both siblings in the middle of a rapidly changing pop landscape.
Hobert’s breakthrough has been driven in part by her work as a songwriter. Before establishing herself as a recording artist, she co-wrote with Gracie Abrams, including material connected to Abrams’ The Secret of Us. She later signed with RCA Records and developed her own identity as a performer.
Malcolm’s path was less conventional.
He began making music during the pandemic and built an audience online before signing with Columbia Records. His song “Earrings” became a breakout moment, helping introduce his emotionally direct style to a much larger audience.
What makes their current moment particularly interesting is that neither artist appears to be relying solely on the other’s momentum.
Instead, they have developed careers that occasionally intersect while remaining distinctly their own.
That relationship was visible at Outside Lands in San Francisco earlier this month, where the siblings performed during the festival weekend. Hobert joined Malcolm during his set, giving audiences a glimpse of the connection between two artists who have grown together while building separate identities.
Their story also reflects a broader shift in how new artists break into the mainstream.
Neither career followed the traditional path of waiting for a major-label machine to manufacture a star. Malcolm’s early audience grew through online platforms, while Hobert’s songwriting work and growing digital profile helped establish her before her own music reached a wider audience.
That matters because today’s music industry increasingly rewards artists who can develop a relationship with listeners before they become household names.
The old model was relatively straightforward: record the music, secure the label, release the single and hope radio and television could carry it to the public.
The new model is less predictable.
An artist can build a following from a bedroom, turn a song into a viral moment, sell tickets, and then gradually move into larger rooms without necessarily following the industry’s traditional sequence.
Malcolm Todd’s rise is a clear example of that change. His online audience became an important part of his path to a major-label deal and eventually larger stages.
Hobert’s trajectory is different but equally reflective of the current industry. Her work behind the scenes as a songwriter helped establish her credibility before she stepped further into her own spotlight.
And now the two paths have converged.
That does not necessarily make Audrey Hobert and Malcolm Todd a packaged sibling act. In fact, their appeal may come from the opposite: they are close enough to share a story, but different enough to maintain separate artistic identities.
For RaptureStone, that is the bigger story.
The music industry is no longer built entirely around one route to stardom. Artists can arrive through songwriting, social media, independent releases, collaborations, live performance or a combination of all of them.
Hobert and Todd happen to be navigating that changing landscape from the same family.
But they are doing it in their own voices.
And for two young artists still in the early chapters of their careers, that may be the most interesting part of the story.
