A Great Big World is a two-member musical group made up of singers and songwriters Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino. The group is known for their single This Is The New Year which was performed by the cast in an episode of Glee. The single reached the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Chart in May 2013.A Great Big World was formed by current members Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino while they were attending The Steinhardt Music Program at New York University， Both were music business students and Axel is said to have convinced Vaccarino to write a song together. Vaccarino agreed to work with Axel after hearing him sing. They both wrote and performed songs together prior to Axel embarking on a solo career, in which he released an independent album featuring songs that were all co-written by Vaccarino