Social networking for musicians

Madeleine Amosin
Artists Advice

Social media is the best free marketing tool you have as an artist. Start with these ideas for social media music promotion.

Like it or not, we all spend a huge slice of our lives online, and a big portion of that time on social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. How musicians use social media massively affects how many fans they manage to reach.

Social media sites, for musicians, are where you make connections and find new work opportunities online. Even the most technologically terrified artist needs to spend time social networking. The unfortunate truth is that in these uncertain times of the pandemic, having a strong online presence has never been so important.

What are the best social media platforms for artists?

All of them! On that note, make sure your profile picture is the same across all your accounts. A presence across the social media spectrum is good so that fans can always find you whatever their app of choice.

But as tempting as it is to schedule the same posts across all your social media accounts, their algorithms won’t thank you – an Instagram Reel with a TikTok watermark won’t do as well as making a Reel from scratch, for example.

Social media platforms like it when you use whatever new feature has just been rolled out. The reward? Better exposure. So put up a mixture of different posts, always looking at your analytics to see what reached the most people at what time.

What should musicians post about online?

Social media users can smell a promotional post a mile off, so try and keep your content natural. Behind-the-scenes content always does well – fans want to see the real you off the stage.

Posts don’t have to take a lot of time to plan. Whack up a TikTok about the sandwich you had for lunch. Try a live stream of a jam session, or Q&A’s and polls on Instagram Stories.

Get in the social networking mindset

What do listeners do when they hear your release on Spotify? Look you up on Instagram. Or TikTok. Even if they Google you, the first thing that comes up should be linked to your social pages. Promoters, booking agents, your future record label – they’re going to want to see your online presence.

Think of social networking as networking, just like you would be doing at a live event. Connect online with other bands and follow industry professionals, so you’re always in the loop. That can be as simple as sharing, liking or commenting on other artists’ posts – they might well return the favour, and when you meet them in the real world they’ll feel like they know you.

Think about your brand

As an artist in 2021, you need to have an online brand. That sounds pretty corporate for an independent artist, but it doesn’t have to be a restricting thing. Spend a little time thinking about what kind of artist you want to be. Little things like cultivating an aesthetic on Instagram by posting using the same filter make you seem more professional online.

Branding is a chance to pull everything back to the music. You’ve got to promote your product at every turn. Don’t forget hashtags, make sure handles are correct, and in the run up to a release strike a balance between putting up a lot of promo content and everyday posts.

Be yourself and play to your strengths

So you’re set up across all your socials. If you find that you naturally gravitate towards a particular app, that’s okay. More theatrical artists might prefer TikTok, the current affairs-engaged might like Twitter, an artist with a big local following might favour Facebook. If your analytics show you’re doing particularly well on one app, then it’s fine to spend most of your time online there.

TikTok is big for musicians right now

TikTok is having a crazy effect on music charts and music discovery – it’s fast becoming the top place for people to find new music.

Join in the fun and get yourself a TikTok account. Then use RouteNote to get your songs on the TikTok sound library for free, and people can use your song in their videos. You’ll even collect royalties each time someone makes a new post using your sound.

But don’t rely on being discovered and your song going viral. Why not start your own trend by using your song in your own TikToks. Just have some fun with it – try not to focus on the amount of likes and shares. TikTok is all about organic, random content.

10 ways to be successful as a musician on TikTok in 2021

Be yourself and know your boundaries

When you use social media you give a little bit of yourself to complete strangers, and that can feel draining and overwhelming. Recognise when it’s time to stop sharing.

There’s a delicate balance between being yourself on social media and being your brand. We all adopt an online persona on social apps – constantly thinking about what the reaction will be, even with the most off-hand posts.

Lastly – don’t over-rely on social media. Remember the Great Facebook Down Day of October 4th 2021? How could we forget.

Have a backup plan in case of outages. Set up an email account to send out newsletters so you have a ready made fanlist to still be able to contact people. This will also help if you ever find yourself being hacked. While we’re on that subject – get two-factor authentication on your accounts.

Make your music available on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok with RouteNote for free and promote your music easily online. Every time your music is used in posts on the social apps, you’ll earn royalties. Find out more about RouteNote’s free distribution and sign up here to get your music online.

Apple’s Logic Pro update brings new features for creating music in spatial audio and Producer Packs

Tom Newmanin
Digital Music News
·
Software

Image Credit: Apple

Logic Pro 10.7 introduces tools for spatial audio, royalty-free beats from top producers, and performance updates for the new MacBook Pros.

Yesterday Apple announced their powerful new MacBook Pros at their Unleashed event. Apple have also updated Logic Pro, their pro music creation software. Logic Pro 10.7 brings professional music creators powerful new features and workstation-class performance to the new MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max.

The world’s most creative people use Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and the Mac to make the memorable movies, TV shows, online videos, songs, and soundtracks that we all enjoy. With the combination of powerful new features in Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, and the unprecedented performance from the MacBook Pro powered by the all-new M1 Pro and M1 Max, pros will be able to push the limits of their creativity like never before.

Bob Borchers, vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Apple

After rolling out spatial audio support across their consumer hardware and software such as AirPods and Apple Music, Apple are now focusing on creative professionals. The updated Logic Pro features a complete set of mixing and rendering tools for creating music in spatial audio. Spatial audio brings a revolutionary audio experience and true multi-dimensional sound and clarity to music and videos. Musicians, producers and mix engineers can expand their stereo projects to the surround channels supported by Dolby Atmos using the new mixer and panner controls. 13 plug-ins have also been updated to take advantage of the spatial audio update, including Space Designer, Limiter, Loudness Meter and Tremolo. Once you’ve completed your project, export the mix as a Dolby Atmos ADM file, compatible with spatial audio supported devices on Apple Music.

The Producer Packs introduced in GarageBand this summer have landed on Logic Pro. Use beats, loops, samples and instruments created by today’s biggest hitmakers and producers such as Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Mark Ronson, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch, and TRAKGIRL. Logic users now have access to 2,800 new loops, 50 new kits and 120 new patches to use in your own songs. All sounds are royalty-free, allowing you to distribute for free and earn revenue from your mixes on all major stores and streaming services with RouteNote. Also included in the new Logic Pro is the original multitrack project of the hit song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” by Lil Nas X with a Dolby Atmos spatial audio mix of the track. Dive in and dissect the various instruments and effect of the track to improve your own music.

Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Mark Ronson, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch, and TRAKGIRL
Image Credit: Apple

All features in Logic Pro have been optimized to take advantage of the power and performance of the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in the MacBook Pro. This will allow creators to produce massive spatial audio mixes, quickly load large sample libraries, and use up to 3x as many plug-ins for recording on the new MacBook Pro with M1 Max.

Existing users can update to Logic Pro 10.7 today. New users can download a 90 day free trial here. Logic Pro is $199.99 on the Mac App Store. You’ll need to be running macOS 11.0 or later. See the full update feature set from Apple below.

Spatial Audio Authoring with Dolby Atmos

  • Transform your music into a Spatial Audio mix and create Dolby Atmos files compatible with Apple Music
  • Work with an enhanced mixer that supports metering and panning for speaker configurations up to 7.1.4
  • Position sounds within an immersive sound field using the new 3D Object Panner
  • Use the integrated Dolby Atmos renderer plug-in to visualize the 3D objects in your mix, and monitor in multi-channel mode for discrete speakers or binaural mode for headphones
  • Access 13 plug-ins that have been expanded to support 7.1.4 channels including Space Designer, Limiter, Tremolo, Flanger, and Phaser

More Content

  • 8 Producer Packs with royalty-free sounds from today’s biggest hitmakers including Boys Noize, Mark Lettieri, Mark Ronson, Oak Felder, Soulection, Take A Daytrip, Tom Misch, and TRAKGIRL
  • Sound Packs feature slap house; modern ambient; and a collection of 808 drum kits, bass samples and loops
  • Adds a total of 2800 loops, 50 kits, and 120 Patches
  • Original multi-track project of the hit song “MONTERO” by Lil Nas X including a Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio mix

Additional Features

  • Refined new design
  • Expanded tools for Step Sequencer that enable live step recording, melodic drum pattern editing, and more

See details on the new AirPods, HomePod mini colours and Apple Music Voice Plan.

Apple introduce the HomePod mini in three new colors – yellow, orange and blue

Tom Newmanin
Music News

Image Credit: Apple

New yellow, orange and blue options will join white and space gray HomePod minis, for those looking for something a little more vibrant.

The new HomePod mini colours were announced at Apple’s Unleashed event alongside the new MacBook Pros, AirPods and Apple Music Voice Plan. The new colours will be applied to the tinted touch surface, mesh fabric, volume icons and woven power cable. The sound, features and price are all staying the same as the smart speaker introduced last year. More choice is always good, especially when looking for something to fit your aesthetic. White and space gray options are still available for those looking for something a little more neutral.

The top touch surface of the HomePod mini in orange with volume icons
Image Credit: Apple

HomePod mini sounds incredible, and with access to more than 90 million songs in the global Apple Music catalog and deep integration with your Apple devices, it’s the must-have smart speaker for iPhone users. With new vibrant colors, HomePod mini fits in even more places and delivers amazing sound, the power of Siri, and simple and secure smart home controls, all while protecting your privacy.

Bob Borchers, vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Apple

The new color options will be available in November for the same $99 on Apple.com or in stores in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and the US.

Image Credit: Apple

Apple’s new AirPods feature a new design, improved sound, longer battery life and more for $179

Tom Newmanin
Digital Music News

Image Credit: Apple

Apple announce the third generation AirPods (non-Pro) with spatial audio, Adaptive EQ, sweat and water resistance, and more for $179.

Apple launched the third generation of “the world’s most popular wireless headphones” at yesterday’s Unleashed event, as well as new HomePod colours and updates to the MacBook Pros. Boasting spatial audio, improved sound with Adaptive EQ, longer battery life, sweat and water resistance, and an all-new design, AirPods 3rd generation offer an almost complete package, minus active noise cancellation for $179. Replacing the second generation AirPods with Wireless Charging Case, the new AirPods will sit alongside the cheaper second generation AirPods with the Wired Charging Case, the more expensive AirPods Pro with active noise cancellation and the over-ear AirPods Max.

AirPods forever changed wireless headphones with their groundbreaking design, incredible sound, and magical experience. We are excited to introduce the next generation of AirPods, featuring unrivaled sound through Adaptive EQ and spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, along with seamless interaction between Apple devices — making the world’s best-selling headphones even better.

Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Apple
Image Credit: Apple

All-New Design

The most noticeable difference on appearance is the new contoured design. AirPods third generation take on an AirPods Pro-like design, without the in-ear tips. While the lack of in-ear tips won’t provide the same amount of isolation as AirPods Pro, the new AirPods’ design and lightweight feel should ensure a comfortable fit, with audio directed into the ear. The AirPods also borrow the same shorter stems with force sensors for easy and intuitive controls of media and phone calls. Like the AirPods Pro, the new AirPods are also sweat and water resistant with an IPX4 rating on the earbuds and charging case.

Breakthrough Audio Features

Thanks to the H1 chip and Apple-designed acoustic system, the new AirPods should produce powerful bass with crisp and clean high frequencies, from a custom driver and a high dynamic range amplifier. The microphones in each bud are covered by an acoustic mesh to reduce the sound of wind for clear and natural voice calls, while an AAC-ELD speech codec will ensure full HD voice quality over FaceTime.

Video Credit: Apple

Computational audio brings breakthrough sound with Adaptive EQ to the new earbuds. As on the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, Adaptive EQ tunes the sound in real time based on how the AirPods fit the unique listener’s ears. Using inward-facing microphones, sound is constantly monitored and tuned so no low and mid frequencies are lost due to a poor fit.

Apple are also bringing spatial audio with Dolby Atmos to the updated AirPods. As on AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking gives listeners an immersive three-dimensional theatre-like experience beyond traditional stereo sound on Apple Music, movies, TV shows and even Group FaceTime calls. Using advanced spatial audio algorithms and directional audio filters, AirPods are able to place sound all around the user, virtually anywhere in space by subtly adjusting the frequencies that each ear receives.

Sound coming from all around the AirPods wearer
Image Credit: Apple

Magical Experience

As has been the case with all AirPods, the new generation work seamlessly with Apple devices, with one-touch setup automatically pairing AirPods across all of your Apple devices, and Audio Sharing letting listeners share streams between two sets of AirPods or Beats on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV. New skin-detect sensors can tell whether the AirPods are in the ear, a pocket or on a table to pause playback when removed.

Image Credit: Apple

Hand-free Siri is always ready for your requests. Beamforming microphones block out ambient noise and focus on your voice to clearly pick up “Hey Siri” when you need to control music or ask questions.

Longer Battery Life

The third generation AirPods add an extra hour of battery life over previous AirPods and even the AirPods Pro with ANC turned off. The new AirPods provide up to an impressive six hours of listening time, five hours with spatial audio enabled, and up to four hours of talk time. The charging case provides four additional charges for a total of up to 30 hours of listening time. Pop the earbuds in the case for just five minutes for about an hour of battery life. The charging case now features MagSafe for convenient wireless charging. AirPods Pro have also quietly been refreshed with a MagSafe Charging Case for the same $249 price.

Image Credit: Apple

AirPods with iOS and iPadOS

Rolled out last month, iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 give the new AirPods more exciting new features such as spatial audio and dynamic head tracking for Group FaceTime calls. This separates voices in virtual space so they sound like they’re coming from the direction they are places on the screen. Announced Notifications has Siri read out important time-sensitive notifications, so you can hear alerts from Messages, Reminders, Calendar and calls, as well as third-party apps that adopt the API. Find My brings AirTag-like features to the AirPods, with proximity view, Lost Mode, and separation alerts and sounds from the app.

Image Credit: Apple

Pricing and Availability

You can pre-order the new AirPods online today for $179. They will be in stores from Tuesday 26th October in the US and 26 other countries and regions. Apple offers optional free personal engravings if you want to add emoji, text and numbers to the case. All new AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max purchases come with six months of Apple Music for free, for new subscribers. For a cheaper Apple Music experience, see their new Voice Plan for just $4.99 per month.

Image Credit: Apple

Apple’s second generation AirPods with the wired Charging Case now starts at $129 on Apple.com or $119 on Amazon. Amazon also have discounts across the rest of the AirPods line, with the second generation AirPods with Wireless Charging Case at $129, AirPods Pro at $197 and AirPods Max from $449.

Image Credit: Apple

Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator

Madeleine Amosin
Artist / Label News
·
Digital Music News

Big music companies watch out – the CMA is considering competition in the music industry. How fair is music streaming?

Do the biggest UK record labels control music streaming? We might be about to find out. Off the back of this year’s UK streaming inquiry, the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog is planning a market study of fairness in music streaming in the UK.

The CMA’s ultimate goal is to increase competition in the digital music industry – a market that economically hasn’t moved with the times since the age of CDs, and seems to be dominated by the biggest record labels in the UK and around the world: Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music. The study won’t look directly at streaming services like Spotify, however.

What happens now?

Last we checked, the UK government had referred major music groups to the CMA, requesting a market study. The board has now agreed the findings warrant further scrutiny, and the next steps will be laid out for the study to get going.

The study will look at whether or not the Big Three labels and other major music groups have an unfair monopoly over the music industry in the UK at the expense of independent artists and consumers. The key will be to make sure they operate “in a way that promotes innovation and the consumer interest.”

The CMA is giving the project priority and it will be the next market study they launch. After all, as the music streaming industry continues to grow, any problems will only get worse.

Chief Executive of the CMA Andrea Coscelli informed the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee of the decision in a letter. The DCMS started the parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming late last year.

In a statement Coscelli said: “The UK has a love affair with music and is home to many of the world’s most popular artists. We want to do everything we can to ensure that this sector is competitive, thriving and works in the interests of music lovers.

“Over the past decade, the music industry has evolved almost beyond recognition, with streaming now accounting for more than 80% of all music listened to in this country. A market study will help us to understand these radical changes and build a view as to whether competition in this sector is working well or whether further action needs to be taken.”

Will the study change the UK music industry?

The market study will look for and flag up any issues with competition between music companies. Unless the study finds the industry to have a “clean bill of health,” the CMA said it could wind up recommending changes in policy to the government, or push for music businesses to regulate themselves.

Other outcomes might involve taking competition law enforcement action against music firms, or simply using the findings to build evidence for a new, deeper investigation.

Any changes could affect not just the UK music industry but the global music world.

Whilst it’s still early days, this is the next step on a journey we’ll be keeping a close eye on, hoping the balance tips in favour of the independent artists and labels we work with at RouteNote.

New cheaper Apple Music Voice Plan only works with Siri

Madeleine Amosin
Artist / Label News

Image Credit: Apple

The Apple Music Voice Plan is a completely hands-free subscription, and it’s only $5.

Apple has announced a new Apple Music subscription that’s only $4.99 a month. The catch? You’ll have to ask Siri – for everything.

Voice Plan is completely hands-free, meaning you ask Siri to play tracks from the complete Apple Music catalogue. The app has all the normal playback controls for songs, as well as Apple Radio stations and playlists, except you can only use your voice.

Working with all Siri-enabled devices like AirPods, iPhone, CarPlay, Apple Watch, Apple TV or HomePod, the new plan also gives subscribers suggestions based on the Siri queue of recently played songs and on the user’s favourite tracks.

Image Credit: Apple

Once the plan officially launches, you won’t even need to use your hands to sign up – just say “Hey Siri, start my Apple Music Voice trial” to sign up to a free seven-day trial within the app. Thereafter the subscription cost is $4.99, which is substantially cheaper than the $9.99 Apple Music subscription.

The plan is completely built around Siri. Oliver Schusser, Vice President of Apple Music and Beats, said: “Apple Music and Siri are natural partners and already work seamlessly together. With Siri actively used on hundreds of millions of devices worldwide, we are thrilled to add this new plan that delivers an effortless music experience just by using your voice and makes Apple Music accessible to even more people around the world.”

However, as you would expect with a drop in price, Voice Plan doesn’t have all the features of an Apple Music plan. There’s no music videos, lyrics, Lossless playback or Spatial Audio. You can’t create your own playlists either.

Meanwhile, Apple is creating playlists that have been optimized for voice requests, available for all Apple Music subscribers. That’s things like dinner party playlists which you simply ask Siri to play.  

Voice Plan is dropping in 17 territories later this year. The countries include Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Thinking about releasing your own music? Put your songs onto Apple Music for free with RouteNote. Send your songs worldwide for free, without giving up the rights to your music or getting trapped in a record contract.

Sign up today here.

What do YouTube pay per view / stream?

Jacca-RouteNotein
Support / FAQs

What does YouTube pay its creators for their videos and how much do artists earn from their music?

YouTube is the biggest source of user-created content in the world and is packed with more video content and music than we could watch or listen to in 100 lifetimes. It has also become a career maker for many creators around the world who have found huge success with their videos, garnering enough popularity to make money from their videos.

We’ve all heard of the YouTubers who take on creating as a full time job, but many of us know that the life of a YouTube creator is not an easy one to get to. Creators with millions of consistent views a week can realistically earn enough to sustain themselves but there’s a reason it takes such a significant audience to become a real earner. That’s because a single view isn’t worth a whole lot and it takes many fractional earnings to add up to a healthy portion.

In recent years YouTube have changed the way that they sort and distribute payments for music, to bring their payouts for artists more in-line with other music streaming services. Beforehand, plays of videos and streams of music on the platform were worth the same (though this still depended on a lot of variable factors as to what it was really worth.)

So what do YouTube actually pay for streams of music and for plays of videos? The answer isn’t straightforward but let’s explore what we know.

How much do YouTube pay for video views?

There is no definitive flat rate that YouTube will ever pay out for views on any videos or for streams on the music available on their platforms. Streaming rates (both video and music) can radically fluctuated based on a number of variables, including: the territory the viewer/listener is in, whether they’re a free or paid user, and how many plays all other content has received.

We can however make an educated guess based on the data that is available to us as to what the average stream might be worth. Digital Music News presented their royalty rates a few years ago based on data they’d received from artists and have regularly updated it since to represent the most recently accurate estimation.

Their report showed that $0.00069 is how much non-music videos are worth on YouTube. Based on Google Play Music data, YouTube’s music content is worth roughly $0.00676 per stream.

As you can see music is worth a significantly higher amount per play (though certainly not much on its own). This is to bring the worth of music closer to other music streaming services. Remember, these are only estimations based on averages from limited data and do not represent a definitive answer or average.

Looking for more information about how YouTube royalties work? We have a series of articles looking at whether YouTube pay royalties to artists, how creators and musicians can earn royalties from YouTube, how to earn Sync Royalties from YouTube, and how to use royalty free music on YouTube.

Find out how you can earn money on YouTube as an artist by using our free services at RouteNote.

Top 10 most-streamed songs in a single day on Spotify

Tom Newmanin
Fun

After Adele takes the crown for the most streamed song in one day, here’s how the top ten currently stack up on Spotify.

English singer-songwriter Adele released her lead single from her fourth studio album 30 last Friday. Easy On Me has already broken records across music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Amazon Music for the most number of streams in a single day. Here’s how the top ten looks on Spotify at the moment. Interestingly all of the top ten have been achieved in the last 12 months, showing the success of Spotify over the year. Warning, it’s mostly Christmas songs.

1. Adele – Easy On Me

19.74 million streams

Date released: 15 October 2021

Date achieved: 15 October 2021

2. Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You

17.22 million streams

Date released: 29 October 1994

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

3. Wham! – Last Christmas

15.81 million streams

Date released: 3 December 1984

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

4. Olivia Rodrigo – drivers license

13.71 million streams

Date released: 8 January 2021

Date achieved: 15 January 2021

5. Olivia Rodrigo – good 4 u

12.58 million streams

Date released: 14 May 2021

Date achieved: 25 May 2021

6. Drake – Girls Want Girls (with Lil Baby)

12.38 million streams

Date released: 28 September 2021

Date achieved: 3 September 2021

7. Ariana Grande – Santa Tell Me

12.22 million streams

Date released: 24 November 2014

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

8. Michael Bublé – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

11.97 million streams

Date released: 18 November 2012

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

9. Bobby Helms – Jingle Bell Rock

11.92 million streams

Date released: 28 November 1957

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

10. Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree

11.80 million streams

Date released: 19 October 1958

Date achieved: 24 December 2020

What YouTube have learned after a year of YouTube Shorts

Tom Newmanin
Digital Video News

Image Credit: SeanDoesMagic, Dental Digest, Jake Fellman

YouTube launched Shorts, their TikTok rival, one year ago. Here’s what the video streaming service has learned from short-form video so far.

YouTube Shorts is the platform’s latest feature, a feed of vertically scrolled, endless videos under one minute. The early beta launched one year ago in India and is now in over 100 countries, pulling in over 15 billion views per day. YouTube Shorts’s product lead Todd Sherman has shared key insights and spotlighted some communities that are growing on Shorts.

“Creators getting started – and ones to watch“

YouTube Shorts has brought in a new wave of mobile-first creators. Since September 2020 to September 2021, the average number of daily first time creators has more than doubled. Supporting these creators, YouTube has expanded the Shorts Fund into 30+ more countries globally, to start rewarding creators for delighting the community with Shorts.

YouTube have highlighted five creators making an impact across Shorts to keep an eye on:

Image Credit: YouTube

“DankScole isn’t afraid to find humor in life, with family, relationships and more. After she started uploading content to Shorts in February, her channel grew by more than one million subscribers and 300 million views in just one month. Her fun, comical Shorts have only continued to charm fans as she keeps growing her channel.”

Image Credit: YouTube

“Nineteen-year-old college student Katie Feeney continues to shine with Shorts that people of all ages can relate to. From dorm life and studying to lifestyle tips, Katie’s Shorts are giving people something to smile about. It’s no surprise she’s generated more than 1.2 billion views since March!”

Image Credit: YouTube

“A lawyer turned creator, The Korean Vegan impresses us daily with her Shorts that show off delicious Korean vegan eats. In 60 seconds or less, she tackles health and wellness topics, while cooking some must-try recipes.”

Image Credit: YouTube

“Dushyant Kukreja has gained popularity for his fun, comedic Shorts that provide his audience with some light reprieve, consistently landing him on YouTube’s trending tabs. Known for his conceptual life stories on Shorts, Dushyant today has more than 4M subscribers.”

Image Credit: YouTube

“Brazilian creator Léo Léo started posting Shorts in 2021, and since January has gained more than 1 billion views, plus has landed on the trending tab in Brazil, too. His goal is to bring smiles and fun to the world with his comedy videos about daily life.”

“A place for any and every community starting to take off“

In the same piece celebrating a year of Shorts, YouTube highlighted three communties making an impact on the platform.

Magic

First up, YouTube says magic is having a moment on Shorts. Whether its magicians showing off their latest tricks or demonstrating the slight of hand behind the illusion, magicians creating short-form videos can experiment with editing, narrative and grabbing people’s attention.

Dental lifestyle

Sometime the most mundane daily activies can lead to passionate communties on YouTube. This is what YouTube are currently seeing with dental content on the platform. Creators looking to make the topic fun and relatable for everyone with their unique humor and personalized touch, are finding audiences captivated by all sorts of videos such as toothbrush demonstrations, informational videos, the ins and outs of dentistry, and putting silly dental products to the test.

Minecraft animators

Gaming content has always been popular on YouTube, now many creators are experimenting with Shorts too, with videos of fun narratives, popular trends or detailed renderings of animated Minecraft gaining traction.

“Music grows and BTS inspired“

At the core of YouTube Shorts as a whole is of course music. Artists and fans are creating trends and connecting all over the world thanks to the millions of songs available on YouTube Shorts. Earlier in the year, YouTube partnered with global pop icons BTS for their Permission to Dance Challenge, encouraging people around the world to recreate dance moves from their music video with their own style.

“Early learnings as we build YouTube Shorts from the ground up”

As YouTube continue to build Shorts, they say they are focused on three key areas:

Building a creation experience that empowers anyone to create and find an audience; refining our viewer experience to make sure we’re helping people find Shorts that they’ll love and discover new creators; and determining more ways we can reward creators for the Shorts they make that delight the YouTube community.

The images below illustrate what YouTube have learned so far for creators, viewers and monetization.

Image Credit: YouTube

With RouteNote we can help you get your own music on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and all major stores and streaming services too for free.

Why is Spotify so popular?

Madeleine Amosin
Artists Advice
·
Technology

Image Credit: Spotify

Spotify is top music streaming app on the planet. What’s its secret?

At first glance, Spotify seems much like any other streaming service in the sea of choices for music fans and artists in 2021. Spotify has a gigantic library of songs, but Apple Music’s is bigger. Spotify has yet to launch a hi-fi streaming tier – Amazon Music offers one for no extra charge. So what makes it the best music streaming service?

Spotify gives you free music

Spotify is popular because it makes streaming music so incredibly easy. You don’t even have to pay. The free tier is a genius tactic for reeling users in – then, once you’re sick of the adverts that make it free in the first place and long for the freedom of unlimited skips, hitting subscribe is easy.

Securing Spotify Free subscribers has the additional outcome of users becoming comfortable with the app, and therefore in the future being more likely to choose Spotify over the likes of Apple Music, when they can afford the ten dollars a month subscription. The free trial of Spotify Premium works on a similar vein.

The Spotify recommendations algorithm is legendary

Whilst you can use Spotify to rediscover beloved artists whose CDs you scratched and lost long ago, one of the most beautiful aspects of Spotify is its music discovery features.

Playing that one favourite song will encourage Spotify to recommend not just songs by the same artist but similar music you’ve never heard of. It’s like a record store employee in your pocket, but without the judging sneer when you ask if Snow Patrol have released anything new recently. You discover new music almost by osmosis.

Big plans for the future

Spotify is constantly making innovative decisions without reinventing itself. New playlist tools, and social sharing and music discovery features, emerge often on the app.

The company’s decision to head boldly into podcasting went solidly against its musical roots and shows a platform continually looking forward, enticing new listeners of different types – partnerships with the likes of Joe Rogan show they’re not afraid of courting controversy.

How do you get songs on Spotify?

The power Spotify has over the music industry in 2021 means that, as an artist, releasing your music on the platform is central to your success.

Digital music distributors like RouteNote upload songs by unsigned artists to Spotify. RouteNote is special because we work with artists to get their music online for free.

With RouteNote you keep 85% of revenue; get unlimited uploads to all the biggest streaming services; keep all the rights to your music; have the freedom to come and go as you please, and it’s free forever. And like Spotify, we have a Premium tier, too.

Sign up to RouteNote and get your music on Spotify today.