While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def Recordings, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 YouTube videos by accident. Impressed, Braun tracked down the theatre Bieber was performing at, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted his mother Mallette, who was initially reluctant because of Braun's Judaism. She remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!", and, "God, you don't want this Jewish kid to be Justin's man, do you?" However, church elders convinced her to let Bieber go with Braun. At age 13, Bieber went to Atlanta with Braun to record demo tapes. Bieber began singing for Usher one week later.
Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.Justin Timberlake was reportedly also in the running to sign Bieber but lost the bidding war to Usher, partly due to the idea that two associated Justins would confuse the market.
Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact L.A. Reid of The Island Def Jam Music Group. Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive vice-president of Def Jam, where he could manage Bieber's career at the label. Bieber then moved to Atlanta with his mother to pursue further work with Braun and Usher.Braun became Bieber's manager in 2008.
Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album. The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. During fall 2009, it had success in international markets. The song was certified platinum in Canada and the US and gold in Australia and New Zealand. His first release, an extended play titled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promotional singles, "Love Me" and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes Store and charted within the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100. As a result, he became the first solo artist to have four singles chart in the top 40 of the Hot 100 before the release of a debut album.
"One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top 20 in Canada and the US, and was certified gold in the latter. Following the release of My World, Bieber became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100. My World was eventually certified platinum in the US and double platinum in both Canada and the United Kingdom. To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.
Bieber performed Ron Miller and Bryan Wells's "Someday at Christmas" for US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which aired on December 20, 2009, on US television broadcaster TNT. Bieber was also one of the performers for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, on December 31, 2009.
Growing up, he learned to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. In early 2007, aged 12, Bieber performed Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford, in which he placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew. In the same year, Bieber busked shows in front of the Avon Theatre steps with a rented guitar during tourism season.
Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of the charity single "We Are the World" for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.
On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag", recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti, was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.
In January 2010, "Baby" was released from his debut album My World 2.0. The song featured Ludacris, and became an international hit. It charted at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number three on the Canadian Hot 100 and reached the top ten in several international markets. Two promo singles, "Never Let You Go" and "U Smile", were top 30 hits on the US Hot 100, and top 20 hits in Canada.According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received generally favourable reviews. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the top 10 of fifteen other countries.