Today Forbes released its list of “Music’s Hottest New Stars.” Not surprising, many of them are tied into the Hip Hop culture and skew way too young for many of the Highbrid Nation too appreciate.

For many of the artists it was the internet not countless shows and demo shopping that gave them their big break. With the advent of social networking and tools like Myspace and YouTube these artists have used cyber-space to interact with their fanbase and get the word out.

In addition to the obvious Neilsen SoundScan, Forbes’s list was compiled by looking at top searches and downloads on peer-to-peer networks (as measured by BigChampagne), press mentions (as measured by Factiva) and lastly ringtone sales (as as measured by Nielsen’s new RingScan).

“Nowadays, a marketing plan always has a significant element that is based around the Web,” says Lee Trink, president of EMI Group’s Capitol Records. “Radio is shrinking; video channels don’t play as many videos. But the good news is, there are so many different ways to get to people [online] and to get to people in very niche ways.”

So who made the list? Topping the charts was Soulja Boy. Although I can’t stand the boy or his dance his understanding of Marketing and how to generate buzz is astounding. By posting his music on MySpace and YouTube, the Atlanta teenager saw his fledging rap career explode with “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” which generated millions of clicks and had everyone doing the dance. All in all he sold more than 3.4 million downloads and more than 2.6 million ringtones. Gotta respect that gangsta. Here’s the rest of the list.

2. Singer Sean Kingston
3. Singer-songwriter Caillat.
4. Singer J. Holiday
5. Former American Idol champ Jordin Sparks
6. Rapper Flo Rida
7. Rapper Plies
8. Rapper Huey
9. Rapper Hurricane Chris
10. Rock band OneRepublic