by Francesca | May 2, 2024 | Music Marketing
YouTube offers tons of features to help creators like you optimize the money they’re making from the platform. Are you utilizing everything they have to offer? If not, here are some big ones you definitely don’t want to miss in 2024…
7 Ways To Make Money on YouTube as a Musician
YouTube Partner Program
The YouTube Partner Program lets qualifying Creators tap into many different ways to earn revenue. Over the last 3 years, they’ve paid out over $50B to creators through this program and they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. With this program, artists can utilize ads on long-form videos, between short-form videos, and from YouTube Premium subscribers watching your content to earn money. Not only does this program give you the ability to utilize ads on YouTube, it also gives you additional tools like Shopping, Super Chat, Super Stickers, guaranteed access to their customer support team, and so much more.
Keep in mind, not everyone is eligible for this program. To qualify, you need to be in good standing with YouTube, follow all the YouTube monetization policies, and live in a country/region where the YouTube Partner Program is available. In addition, you must have 500 subscribers with 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3K valid public watch hours in the last 12 months OR 3M public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- If you want to unlock even more benefits, including revenue sharing from ads and YouTube Premium, you’ll need at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4K valid public watch hours in the last 12 months OR 10M valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Ad Revenue & YouTube Premium
Once you’re in the Partner Program, you can choose from various kinds of ad options for your videos, including display ads, overlay ads, skippable video ads, non-skippable video ads, and sponsored cards. These ads may appear before, during, or after your videos, depending on YouTube’s ad placement algorithms. Previously, creators had individual ad choices for pre-roll, post-roll, skippable, and non-skippable ads. Now, when you turn on ads for new long-form videos, YouTube will show your viewers pre-roll, post-roll, skippable, or non-skippable ads whenever appropriate through their algorithm.
It’s important to note that when ads are displayed on your videos, YouTube shares a portion of that ad revenue with you. The exact amount of revenue earned depends on factors such as the ad format, viewer engagement, and advertiser demand. That said, with YouTube’s analytics tool, you can easily track your earnings as you grow on the platform.
Super Chat & Super Stickers
Super Chat and Super Stickers are ways to connect with your fans during live streams and Premieres. Your viewers can buy Super Chats to highlight their message within the live chat or Super Stickers to get an animated image that surfaces in live chat. Similar to emotes on Twitch, fans typically match these animated images to your personality, engaging the chat and showing their support through a highlighted moment just for them. Once a fan purchases a Super Sticker for at least $5, a countdown ticker will show how much longer their Super Sticker will be pinned at the top of the chat.
If you’re eligible for this feature, click here to learn how to enable Super Chat or Super Stickers.
Channel Memberships
YouTube Channel Memberships are a subscription-based feature that allows viewers to become paying members of your channel in exchange for exclusive perks and benefits. Members pay a monthly fee that’s set by you, and they can gain access to perks like custom badges and emojis, members-only community posts and live streams, early access to content, and special discounts on merch. This model provides artists like you with an additional revenue stream and helps to foster a closer relationship with your most dedicated fans at the same time.
In addition, you can offer multiple tiers of membership, each with its own set of perks and price points, catering to different audience segments. By offering exclusive content and benefits, you not only incentivize viewers to become paying members, but also create a sense of belonging within your community while generating additional income to put back into your craft.
Content ID
YouTube’s Content ID is a digital fingerprinting system that content creators (like record labels and artists) can use to easily identify and manage their copyrighted content on YouTube.
YouTube BrandConnect
YouTube BrandConnect is a self-service platform that helps creators connect with brands that are interested in branded content campaigns. This feature provides tools and resources for brands to discover, connect with, and collaborate with YouTube creators who align with their marketing objectives and target demographics. Right from the YouTube Studio, you can manage who your existing campaigns and choose who you want to work with on your terms.
To turn on YouTube BrandConnect for your channel (using a computer), follow these steps:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- In the left menu, click Earn.
- Click the BrandConnect tab. (This tab will only surface if your channel is eligible.)
- At the top of the screen, click Get Started or at the bottom of the screen click Let’s Go.
- Review and accept the YouTube BrandConnect Module.
Super Thanks
What was previously called “Viewer applause” is now cutely dubbed Super Thanks, a feature that lets creators earn extra revenue through fans who want to show a little extra support. Similarly to how fans can buy Super Stickers, viewers here can buy one of these fun animations on a long or short-form video.
The one-time animation only shows up to the buyer over the top of the video, but as an added bonus, they also get to post a colorful and customizable comment in the comments section. Depending on how much they want to spend, Super Thanks is available at different price points for viewers to choose from, too.
In Conclusion…
At the end of the day, it’s up to you to take advantage of all the tools YouTube has to offer for creators. Their innovative suite of both information and invaluable tools is one of the best in the biz, offering not only features like these, but the knowledge base to guide you through every step with the YouTube Creative Studio.
Good luck!
by Francesca | Mar 14, 2024 | Music Industry
Industry professionals and artists alike utilize music analytics tools to help them further understand their place in the market. Knowing where you stand and where you have room to grow is the key to excelling in this industry. To help you truly understand your stats, here are some of the best tools out there to guide you in the right direction…
Best Streaming Music Analytics Tools for Artists
SymphonicMS
If you’re a Symphonic Distribution client, you get access to some very helpful music analytics tools right in SymphonicMS that track key information from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, TikTok, YouTube and more. Under the Analytics menu, you can access pages that provide data like:
- Up-to-date streaming data from Spotify and Apple Music, with detailed breakdowns by artist, track, release, territory, and partners.
- Daily iTunes and Beatport download counts and overall download trends.
- Important Beatport statistics, such as subscriber counts and charting songs.
Navigate to this feature by clicking on Analytics ► Streams from the menu.
The landing page provides a catalog level view of performance across your entire catalog, broken down by several dimensions, such as Partner, Artist, and Territory. — You can also view breakdowns of an individual artist’s streams by clicking on them from the landing page. On the artist’s page, you’ll see breakdowns of their streams by several key dimensions, including partners, track, playlist placements, and many more!
All of these pages can be easily leveraged to help answer critical questions, such as how new releases are performing, where your audience is located, and which platforms your music is performing best on.
To access analytics for TikTok in the SMS, all you have to do is click on Analytics -> TikTok.
The landing page provides a catalog-level view of performance across the entire catalog on a given date range that you can change. Here, you can access details like engagement and Artist, Track, and Territory Analytics.
This tool makes it easier for creators to understand the TikTok metrics that really matter and helps maximize the impact of their future TikTok marketing campaigns. It delivers comprehensive and easy-to-read metrics on how many videos have been created using an artist’s music as well as how many views, likes, comments and shares the video generated. // To learn more about this, check out this article.
SoundCharts
SoundCharts offers social media data from six different platforms, playlist data from three different streaming platforms, and charts from seven different social and streaming platforms to give you actionable music streaming data, all in one place. Where’s this data coming from? Spotify, Apple, Shazam, YouTube, Deezer, Radio, SoundCloud, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Songkick, to say the least.
Spot On Track
Spot On Track is an analytics platform that lets you track stats from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Shazam, TikTok and more. You can also see the current chart positions of your music, current playlists you’ve landed on, previous playlists, all your releases in each platform and more in an easy to navigate dashboard. Plus, it also offers radio play stats, retrieving all data directly from APIs. Although it’s pricey ($299/year), you can try it for free for 14 days first to see if you like it.
WARM
Get solid proof of your radio airplay to easily collect your royalties, discover where your fans are, and new emerging markets with WARM. With this platform, you can cover when and where your music is being played in real-time at the market’s most competitive price. By monitoring radio stations worldwide, WARM tracks your songs’ airplay in real-time in order to provide you with valuable insights that will help you take your music career to the next level. They also provide artists like you with the tools you need to improve your marketing and promotion strategies, and even accelerate your royalty collection.
Spotify for Artists
The best part about Spotify for Artists is their absolute count of artist’s streams, listeners, and saves. This analytics platform provides an easy-to-understand breakdown of playlist categories (algorithmic, editorial, and listener generated) and absolute counts for listeners and streams of an artist’s tracks on those playlists.
Detailed insights into streaming metrics like these are key for artists and their teams in this increasingly data-driven industry where Spotify reigns supreme.
Chartmetric
Chartmetric is an OG which gives you a bit of everything from every platform. With it, you get analytics and data from Spotify, Apple, Shazam, YouTube, Amazon, Deezer, Radio, SoundCloud, TikTok, Wikipedia, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Beatport, and more all in one place. Depending on if you utilize their Free or all-access Premium tier, you can get whatever you need depending on what’s most important to you. With Chartmetric, you can also do additional things like:
- Track current and historical playlist adds on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, and YouTube.
- Understand who your audience is and where they are in the world with audience demographics.
- Global Digital Artist Ranking with Cross-Platform Performance (CPP), their proprietary global digital artist ranking that lets you measure artist performance across 16 streaming and social media platforms and metrics.
ForTunes
ForTunes is an easy-to-use mobile app for music data analytics on the go, drawing data from Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. It gives you basic streaming and social media tracking results, just like the other platforms we’ve mentioned in this post, but having it all at your fingertips with the mobile app is life changing for artists and teams on the go.
Apple Music for Artists
With Apple Music for Artists, artists can keep track of the volume of their streaming plays on Apple Music and album/song sales on iTunes, all within a data set that updates every day.
In addition, artists can:
- Gain insight into how specific songs/albums are performing.
- See how their fans are growing in international markets in over 100 countries.
- Find out which locations they’re the most popular.
- Plan future shows.
- Specifically tailor set-lists for fans in each location.
Viberate
Viberate offers streaming analytics, airplay and social media monitoring, professional charts and artist comparison, industry trends and audience demographics, smart talent discovery, and so much more. Even cooler, this platform has tutorials, webinars, guides, blog posts, and more to guide you through the platform and get the most out of your efforts.
YouTube for Artists
YouTube for Artists offers an easy to use dashboard in their YouTube Studio with real-time analytics to help you monitor your audience, global reach and performance across the entire YouTube ecosystem.
The Overview tab shows you a summary of how your channel and videos are performing. The key metrics card shows your views, watch time, subscribers, and estimated revenue (If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program).In this tab, you’ll also see reports for:
- Typical performance // A comparison to your latest video to your channel’s typical performance.
- Top videos // Your recent videos ranked by views.
- Realtime // Your performance over the last 48 hours or 60 minutes.
- Latest videos // Your performance from your 10 latest videos.
- Stories // Your performance over the last 7 days from your latest Stories.
Even deeper, YouTube for Artists gives you specific details on your content’s reach, engagement, audience, revenue, and more. — Learn more about these features and how to use them right here.
In Conclusion…
When it comes to developing your audience, it’s important to understand which aspects of your strategy are working for you and which parts are falling flat. Having access to data that shows you where your streams are coming from, which streaming platforms are performing the best, and even which social media apps are creating the most engagement are all things to pay close attention to.
With services like these, it’s no longer a guessing game. You have concrete data to back up your every move. Use it wisely!
by Francesca | Feb 29, 2024 | Music Marketing
Planning to release a new music video? Congrats! Now it’s time to decide where to drop it. Both YouTube and Vevo offer many great benefits, but they’ve each got their own downsides. Before you release anything, here are some major differences between YouTube and Vevo to consider…
Differences Between Vevo and YouTube Videos
Before we dive in…
Even though your video is technically competing with a larger number of videos on YouTube, that doesn’t mean its capability for exposure is any less. By ensuring your channel and videos are optimized correctly, you can increase the visibility of your videos.
YouTube
1. Access to Creator Studio
- View, analyze and report your channel’s analytics.
- Manage and optimize your individual videos with tags, cards, end screens, etc.
- Set channel and video upload defaults.
2. Total ability to quickly and easily manage all parts of your channel at any time.
3. Ability to upload and take down videos quickly.
4. Livestream capabilities
5. Interaction with your YouTube fans through likes, comments and messages
6. No consideration for feature placement on Vevo.
7. Less likely for videos to go viral unless optimized correctly
Vevo
Vevo is the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform with over 23 billion monthly views globally. They deliver a personalized and expertly curated experience for audiences to explore and discover music videos, exclusive original programming and live performances from the artists they love on mobile, web and connected TV.
1. You cannot update your Vevo channel yourself, but you can have the below details updated through your distributor per request:
- Artist image
- Channel Banner
- Channel Trailer Video
- Channel Bio (found under “About” tab)
- Google Adwords Account linking
- Playlist Creation
- Video Description update
- Video thumbnail update
2. Vevo makes you look more “legit” as an artist, since mainstream artists also have Vevo channels like Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, etc.
3. Vevo doesn’t guarantee more exposure, but has more potential to go viral, as Vevo videos tend to be surfaced more in searches due to their partnership with YouTube.
4. More likely to get your video featured in a well-exposed playlist, i.e. Vevo playlists.
5. Can be linked to your Official Artist Channel (OAC) so Vevo releases automatically show up on your OAC.
6. YouTube Premieres can be done with Vevo videos and are arranged through your distributor.
7. Vevo can set your personal channel as a Channel Moderator to the Vevo channel to manage comments on your Vevo videos.
8. Vevo also distributes music videos to Apple TV, Pluto TV, Samsung TV and Roku – just to name a few.
Can you release on both platforms?
Yes!
In fact, we recommend it. — Odds are your only content on your YouTube channel isn’t solely official content like music videos, live performances, track videos, or lyric videos (all of which that can be uploaded to your Vevo channel upon approval instead!). You can also upload to your personal channel videos like interviews, behind the scenes, teasers, fan contests, vlogs, etc.
If you decide you want to use your personal YouTube channel for all of these videos and then get a Vevo channel created to release more official content, you can easily get them linked together via an Official Artist Channel through your distributor.
- If you decide to do this though, please make sure you don’t upload the same video twice (once via a distributor to your Vevo channel, and a second upload to your personal channel) since doing so will cause two versions of the video to go live on YouTube – which divides views, confuses fans, and affects overall monetization opportunities.
Because of this, we recommend that you release your official music videos with a distributor to your Vevo channel, and then utilize your personal YouTube channel for interviews, behind the scenes, teasers, fan contests, vlogs, and/or whatever else that has made sense for your brand as an artist.
In Conclusion…
We hope that this article has given you some things to consider and gives you the direction you need to optimize your next video release.
Good luck!
by Francesca | Feb 29, 2024 | Music Marketing
So you’ve finished creating your next big release, but maybe you’re not entirely sure how you want to spread the word… We’ve compiled a few suggestions to get those creative juices flowing in order to make your next release a great success.
How to Advertise Your Latest Release Online
Know Your Audience and Where They Are
You may think you know your fans more than anyone, but there are some great free tools available to you that may enlighten you a bit on some key locations and targeting options you might have overlooked. Facebook and Instagram insights are two of these valuable tools that can help you reign in on your most-active audience demographics, from age to location to time of engagement and more.
Another valuable tool is Spotify similar artists, located on your artist profile. These similar artists are suggested based on what fans of your music are also listening to on the platform. Utilize this data to help you grow your audience from similar artists. Lastly, focus the majority of your budget on your most-active audience, you’ll find that loyal fans will do a lot of advertising for you when provided the right information, the share button is only a click away.
Be Creative
Many advertising platforms require more than just your latest video or song in order to create an advertisement, it’s best to be creative when creating these assets. Think like your fans, how would they like to be told about your latest release or shown your latest video? Society has shifted to an instant gratification biome where you need to grab their attention in as little as 3 seconds before you’ve lost it. Always make sure you’re putting your strongest asset forward to get the best results from your investment.
Creativity doesn’t end with the assets, you can also be creative with the type of ads you use to present your message. An example is utilizing Facebook’s event response ads to create an ‘event’ for your new release date where you can drive traffic to this event page and provide them with information about your release, set up a watch/listening party, or even perform a Q&A.
Don’t Get Too Big for Your Britches
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Many artists tend to think they need to cover all the advertising platforms and make sure their message is absolutely everywhere, regardless of having only a few hundred bucks to make that possible. Find your top 3 (socials & dsps) and streamline your focus there. You want to make sure you’re advertising in the locations where the bulk of your fans are, not everywhere and anywhere your fans might be (unless you have the budget to do so). If you’re rolling in cash, however, unleash the beast!
Watch it Like a Hawk
Advertising isn’t like the Ronco Rotisserie, you can’t just set it and forget it. You want to make sure once your ads go live, you keep an eye on the spending, adjust your ad scheduling, add/remove targeting from your audience, etc. – all to help improve your results. The last thing you want to do is spend your full budget only to realize after the fact that it was a wasted effort because you didn’t effectively optimize your ads accordingly throughout the life of the campaign.
Build Upon Your Foundation
Once you’ve got a few campaigns under your belt, don’t let that data go to waste. Utilize the converting users in new audiences for future ads, create re-marketing lists from engagements and share new information in past event pages.
We know this all can be overwhelming, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing this sooner. Remember, we have a dedicated team here at Streaming Promotions to help you out if you ever hit a wall or feel you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.
Good luck!
by Francesca | Feb 15, 2024 | Music Industry, Music Marketing
In the ever-growing world of entertainment publicity, reaching thousands of listeners on your upcoming releases require a unique plan. Until your brand is recognized worldwide (i.e. Beyonce), it simply doesn’t make sense to spend the majority of your budget on recording new assets just to release them to the public without a solid strategy. Even so, a plan made up of basic press pitching might not always do the trick to build the worthwhile and engaged fanbase you’re looking for. Thinking out of the box is becoming more important in every quarter as we progress into the age of digital streaming and internet consumption. As a listener, a few Fridays contain enough new music releases to last a lifetime, so how can yours make the cut?
We’ve put together a list of eye-catching tactics to build buzz and excitement around your new release.
1) Memorabilia
This begins with another incredibly important part of music marketing: developing a cohesive brand. Actively participating in the way your fans view your band as a whole is a required stepping stone before you tackle this marketing strategy. Memorabilia in this instance is something that’s brand-specific but still wide-reaching. Developing these assets starts with remembering memorabilia that influenced your childhood. Did you have a sweet set of Hot Wheels with crazy turns? Do you wish you still had that glitter lipgloss from your first school dance? Gather ideas from yourself and your band, create a list, and then brainstorm together how you can turn those ideas into marketing products using your brand instead of releasing yet another t-shirt with your logo on it. Besides being fun and interesting, most of these things become relics that fans will hold onto for a very long time.
A few great examples of bands harnessing this method are the band Sleep On It creating pillowcases that read “Sleep On It” with their logo, Dance Gavin Dance releasing a “Strawberry Milkshake” limited release beer, The Story So Far creating a viewfinder with photos taken by the band, and the list goes on.
2) Limited Edition Prints/Presses
It’s no secret that vinyl has made a triumphant comeback. For many artists, vinyl is the only type of physical copies they’ll release. Some even go as far as releasing cassettes for a real pre-2000’s feeling. Just by themselves, vinyl and cassettes are great ways to release an album since they clearly outlive any other music trend, so use that to your advantage and create limited editions and/or collectors editions! For those who already love to collect vinyl and cassettes, different sleeves or tape designs is enough reason to buy the same album twice. This strategy can be used in different instances, like in a pre-order bundle, a deluxe post-release album, a “B” side album, etc.
3) Harness Your Local Scene
Remember when we mentioned Dance Gavin Dance crafting up a limited beer? Imagine doing that for your band, with your favorite local brewery or your favorite sandwich shop. Sound cool? It’s actually not the hardest thing to do but requires a long process and a lot of dedication. Many local-run establishments love to support local bands that give back to their community in exciting ways like this! Have an elevator pitch ready and ask to speak to the general manager so you can explain why naming a turkey melt after your band Stale Bread would boost their sales and help promote your upcoming album. Brewing a specific beer involves alcohol laws and actual brewing knowledge (to an extent) but most local breweries will go for it if you can promise the product will move off shelves. Another way to harness your local scene is asking record stores to stock your upcoming release in a local section. If they don’t have one, pitch one!
4) Get Fans and Friends Involved
Your close friends and fans are obviously your biggest supporters, and they most likely would love to be involved in your band’s success. Ask your friends to help spread the word about your new album by hosting giveaways, build a scavenger hunt that involves clues leading to free release show tickets, create a drinking game that mocks your band, hire your friend to photograph your band, or commission an artist friend to create the album art or a new shirt. There’s nothing better than involving your other creative peers to promote each other’s work!
5) Give Your Release Show a Twist
Most album releases are complimented by a release show, where you perform your new music live for the first time. With the right amount of promotion and ticket sales, this is an exciting way to throw a party for all your hard work! Consider hosting the show at a non-traditional music venue. Years back, Carousel Kings played the first (and last, for good and hysterical reasons) at a Haunted Mill during the Halloween season for a truly unforgettable show. I can’t remember the songs they played but I will never forget that show. Giving your fans a reason to talk about your show, especially your album release show, can improve your future crowd numbers and build buzz.
Part of succeeding in the music industry is continuing to learn every single day. Being a “jack of all trades” is the norm in today’s connected globe, where all information about pretty much anything can be accessed via the internet. The best thing you can possibly do for your band is to learn about every aspect of the music industry and how you can use it for your advantage. With these branding ideas, you have no excuse to not promote your album as hard as you can!
