Justin Bieber is a freaking powerhouse right now. Everywhere you turn, there’s Justin Bieber doing something Biebery. If he’s not launching a new album, chances are he’s performing a large concert for his legion of screaming fans. In fact, days before his scheduled appearance in Oslo, Norway, officials reached out to the singer in hopes that he could help contain the endless supply of fanatics who were turning up in the city at an alarming rate.

Here’s the question: How in the world did he get so popular?

In a recent interview, Bieber readily admits that he owes a lot of his success to the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in particular. “Social media helped launch my career,” the singer explained to Forbes. “Without the internet and without YouTube, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to put my music out there and have people hear it.”

According to legend, talent manager Scooter Braun discovered the Canadian singer’s videos on YouTube, prompting the guy to arrange a meeting between Bieber and Usher Raymond. After seeing the kid in action, the duo signed him to Raymond Braun Media Group. Shortly thereafter, the teen was offered a recording contract with Island Records by executive L.A. Reid. The rest, as they say, is history. Girls have been screaming ever since.

Presently, Bieber has 44.7 followers on Facebook and 23.8 million fans on Twitter. If you think that’s impressive, the 18 year-old’s VEVO page on YouTube sports roughly 2.6 billion views. Yes, you read that correctly — billion. Of course, you can expect those numbers to increase on a daily basis. As his work grows in popularity, so will his army of Beliebers.

Justin’s third album, “Believe”, was released on June 19th. In roughly a week’s time, the singer’s recent collection of tunes has sold over 400,000 copies, making it the top selling album thus far this year. Given the amount of singers vying for attention these days, that’s no small feat.

“I feel great. I’m really happy,” Bieber explained to Access Hollywood. “The album turned out great and the fans love it and the critics love it and everyone’s been raving about it. So, it’s been an amazing week so far.”

His week is about to get even better: According to the BBC, “Believe” has topped the UK album charts, knocking singer Cheryl Cole from the top spot.

Budding musicians, take note: If you want to get discovered, work hard, develop a healthy following on social media, and upload as many quality videos as you can to YouTube. After all, you never know who might have their eyes on you these days.