How Musicians Blow Up On YouTube In 2024

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YouTube is an essential platform for music promotion, yet most guides and advice available online are lacking in quality. As a musician, leveraging YouTube effectively can significantly boost your reach, considering it’s one of the largest music discovery platforms. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the nuances of promoting your music on YouTube, optimizing your videos for discovery, and utilizing various features to build a dedicated fanbase.

Building Out Your Channel Page

The foundation of a successful YouTube music promotion strategy starts with a well-constructed channel page. Many musicians overlook this crucial step, but having a professional and appealing channel can maximize any attention you receive.

  1. Channel Customization:

    • Profile Picture and Banner: Ensure you have high-resolution, engaging images.
    • About Section: Fill out your bio with compelling content that entices visitors to explore your music.
    • Contact Information: Make it easy for press, promoters, and fans to contact you.
  2. Channel Tags:

    • Optimization: Use relevant keywords like genre, location, popular song names, and your band’s name to improve search visibility. For instance, if your band has a video involving a “pizza rat,” include tags like “pizza rat video band.”
    • Accuracy: Avoid misleading tags; they can hurt your search rankings.
  3. Channel Trailer:

    • Content: Create a captivating trailer that showcases your personality or your latest music video.
    • Engagement: The trailer should auto-play and be engaging enough to keep viewers on your channel.
  4. Suggested Channels:

    • Collaboration: Include channels of artists you collaborate with or share a genre with. Avoid adding extremely popular artists like Drake, as it appears unprofessional.
  5. Subscriber Watermark:

    • Customization: After reaching 1000 subscribers, add an eye-catching watermark to your videos to encourage subscriptions.

Playlists and Organization

Having a well-organized channel with playlists can enhance the viewer experience and keep them engaged longer.

  1. Playlist Creation:

    • Types: Create playlists for music videos, lyric videos, full album streams, remixes, and behind-the-scenes content.
    • Greatest Hits: If you have over 20 songs, create a “Greatest Hits” playlist featuring your best tracks.
  2. Playlist Descriptions:

    • SEO: Use descriptions to make playlists more searchable. Include relevant keywords and context.
  3. Community Playlists:

    • Engagement: Make playlists of favorite bands, local acts, and similar genres. Share these playlists on social media and tag the artists to build community and algorithmic connections.

Titles and Thumbnails

Effective titles and thumbnails are critical for attracting clicks and views.

  1. Thumbnails:

    • Selection: Use the most provocative image from your video that invites curiosity.
    • Quality: Ensure thumbnails are high-quality and legible across different devices using tools like Thumbs Up.
  2. Titles:

    • Format: Keep titles simple with the artist name, song name, and type of video (e.g., official music video, lyric video).
    • Additional Context: Use dashes to add unique elements that might draw more clicks.

Descriptions and Tags

Optimizing your video descriptions and tags can improve your search rankings and visibility.

  1. Descriptions:

    • Structure: Start with a brief description of the video and include links for preorders, streams, and other promotions.
    • Credits: List producers, mixers, performers, and video directors to improve searchability.
    • Lyrics: Include song lyrics to help your video appear in searches for specific phrases.
    • Hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to categorize your video and enhance discoverability.
  2. Tags:

    • Relevance: Include tags related to the video’s content, genre, and any unique visuals or themes.
    • Breadth: Utilize a wide range of relevant tags, including common misspellings of your band’s name.

Promoting Your Video

Effective promotion can significantly increase your video’s initial views and long-term success.

  1. Timing:

    • Analytics: Use your YouTube analytics to determine when your audience is most active and release your video accordingly.
    • Premieres: Utilize YouTube’s premiere feature to build anticipation and engage with fans during the live debut.
  2. Sustained Push:

    • Engagement: Continuously promote your video for at least 30 days. Engage with fans through comments and social media.

YouTube Algorithm and Engagement

Understanding and leveraging YouTube’s algorithm can boost your video’s reach.

  1. Engagement:

    • Response Time: Respond quickly to comments to encourage further interaction.
    • Pinned Comments: Pin a comment that encourages viewers to engage with the video.
  2. Editing and End Screens:

    • Optimization: Use YouTube Studio to monitor drop-off points and edit videos to maintain viewer interest.
    • End Screens: Customize end screens to promote playlists or similar videos to keep viewers engaged.

Playlisting and Collaboration

Playlisting and collaborations can expand your reach and build new audiences.

  1. Community Playlisting:

    • Aggregation: Find YouTube channels that curate playlists for your genre and pitch your videos to them.
  2. Link Trees:

    • Promotion: Include your latest videos high on your Linktree, Koji, or Rivet community page.

Shorts and Cross-Promotion

Utilizing YouTube Shorts and cross-promoting on other platforms can enhance your video’s visibility.

  1. Shorts:

    • Integration: Link your Shorts to your full-length videos to drive traffic between them.
  2. Cross-Promotion:

    • Social Media: Share snippets and scenes from your videos on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.

Conclusion

Promoting your music on YouTube involves a multifaceted approach that includes optimizing your channel, engaging with your audience, and leveraging various YouTube features. By following these strategies, you can maximize your reach and build a dedicated fanbase. For further learning, check out the video on how to create music videos that transfer well to Shorts, TikToks, and Reels. Keep learning and implementing these techniques to stay ahead in the music promotion game.

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