Are YouTube Shorts worth it for artists? YouTube and record labels reveal how creating Shorts helps build music careers
Image Credit: YouTube
Read on to find out how making Shorts can grow your career as a music artist, according to YouTube and major labels.
YouTube, keen to show that Shorts can be used by artists to help your music career, has given insight into how making Shorts can grow your fanbase on the platform.
YouTube Shorts have been a thing for a year now. Launched to compete with TikTok, Shorts are, as the name suggests, short-form videos on YouTube. As new features have been developed the popularity of Shorts has grown exponentially, and the videos now reach 30 billion views a day.
YouTube says uploading a mixture of classic long YouTube videos and Shorts is a better recipe for long term success for Official Artist Channels. Shorts also fit well in a strategy other tools for music on YouTube, such as putting your songs on YouTube Music for streaming.
In a blog post YouTube said:
“In April of this year, Shorts containing content sampled from long-form videos generated over 100 billion views.
“Music on YouTube reaches users through official music videos, our music streaming app, user-generated content, livestreams, live performances, lyric videos, community posts and more. But now, we have all of those PLUS Shorts.”
YouTube also asked major music companies to give their opinion on whether Shorts are a good strategy for emerging and established artists.
Republic Records’ EVP of Global Commerce and Digital Strategy, Kevin Lipson, said: “Shorts has quickly become a staple in our roster’s marketing strategies, social presence and album campaigns. It allows both developing artists and global superstars to tap into their fan bases and future channel subscribers… Taking fans through a journey of storytelling, from the first studio session to the video shoot and then world tour.”
But when it comes down to it, cold hard numbers are the best indication of whether Shorts help grow an artist channel.
https://youtu.be/ZO4B2r5liR8
YouTube claims that Shorts has driven the success of artists like JVKE, who since January 2022 has gained 1.4 million subscribers, and EMELINE, who has gained 150,000 subscribers and also increased her longer video views by 90%.
You can learn everything you need to know about YouTube Shorts for artists here: