Why should musicians use YouTube?
YouTube is a top platform for music discovery— 70% of Americans aged 12 and up use it to find new music.
With over 2 billion people watching music videos on YouTube each month, it offers massive potential for independent artists to reach fans and grow a global audience.
As an artist, you can use the platform to share your music and connect with listeners through YouTube Shorts, distributed Art Tracks, music videos, behind-the-scenes clips, and more.
This guide will show you how get started on YouTube by setting up your profile and planning your video content.
How to set up your YouTube channel
First, create a YouTube channel in your artist name.
Profile image
Make your profile image instantly recognizable so fans know it when they see it. A photo of you performing live, your artist logo, or your latest album artwork are all good contenders.
Banner image
Your banner image should complement your profile with a high-resolution, wider-frame image.
Pro tip: You can switch out your banner in the lead-up to a release with a variation of your artwork or other promotional image and include information on your upcoming release (title, release date, call to action).
About your Channel
Provide some information about who you are and the content that visitors can expect from your channel.
You can copy your artist bio into your “about” section and simply add in a few details about how you plan to program your channel.
Home page
Once you have your channel set up, take some steps to personalize your home page. YouTube provides a few tools to help you organize, promote, and grow your channel.
- Organize your channel: Use video categories and playlists to make your channel homepage more navigable for visitors. Note that playlists can include relevant content from other channels, such as interviews, concert footage, collaborations, and more.
- Choose a channel trailer—a video that automatically plays when a user visits your page for the first time. You can use this feature to make a personable welcome video for new fans.
- Choose a spotlight—a video that automatically plays when a subscribed user visits your page. You can use this feature to highlight upcoming or recent music videos and releases.
- Add relevant links: Make it easy for new YouTube fans to find you across platforms. Link your social media, website, merch, and pre-save pages right to your profile.
Planning your content on YouTube
Once you have a profile set up, it’s time to begin planning your content. Determine what kind of content you’ll want to create, who your ideal audience is, and how frequently you’ll post to keep them engaged.
Content types
Here are some types of content to consider for your channel:
- Music videos: Tell the story behind your music with a captivating video to accompany your track
- Live footage: Let your fans relive your best live moments
- Cover songs: Build assimilations and share your favorite songs by releasing covers
- Short-form entertainment: YouTube shorts are a powerful way to reach fans faster with engaging, bite-sized videos. You can cut down your long-form content into teaser clips to post to Shorts, which can help drive traffic to your profile by reaching new audiences.
- Behind the scenes clips: Offer fans a glimpse into your creative process, recreation time, and fun tour diary content.
- Live streams and Q&As: Engage with fans in real time through live performances and AMAs online
- Upcoming release teasers and trailers: Build anticipation for an upcoming release through short teaser clips of the recorded track or a live performance
- Lifestyle and Vlogs: Any non-music content that offers insight to your daily life as a musician can be engaging for top fans
If you have an upcoming release, you can use YouTube to host any video assets you’re creating as a part of your release strategy such as a music video, concert footage, and lyric videos.
Building an audience on YouTube
If you’re new to YouTube but already active on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, start by identifying what content resonates with your audience there. Cross-posting proven content can quickly build engagement on YouTube.
Use Shorts to Build Momentum
YouTube Shorts are short-form videos. You can create quick, fun videos to reach new listeners and drive traffic to your profile. Start with casual content—no need for a polished music video right away. Here are a few easy ideas for YouTube Shorts
- Intro Shorts: Create a 15–30 second clip introducing yourself—name, location, genre, and a quick story or unique fact that sets you apart.
- Music teasers: Share a catchy snippet from your latest track or a live performance. Covers also work well to show your influences and connect with fans over familiar songs.
- Behind-the-scenes and lifestyle: Show your creative process, your gear, or moments from daily life as an artist. These clips build connection and authenticity.
- Engagement prompts: Ask questions like “Which version do you like better?” or “What should I cover next?” to spark comments. You can also run countdowns or duet challenges to boost interaction.
- Trends with a twist: Join trending sounds or formats, but add your personal style. Mashups, remixes, and reactions to fan content help you stay relevant while staying true to your artistry.
- Post frequency
There’s no one standard post frequency for building an audience. What matters most is consistency. Choose a cadence that matches your capacity and goals, then stick to it.
Post long form videos for fans who want more
Once you’ve started gaining visits to your channel through shorts, you can drive deeper engagement with long-form content such as music videos, playlists of Art Tracks, and compiled behind-the-scenes content.
Align With Your Goals:
- Grow your audience and drive streams: Sync your content calendar with release dates. In between, fill gaps with lightweight content like Shorts, behind-the-scenes clips, or fan engagement videos.
- Build a YouTube community: Develop an editorial calendar with 2–3 core content themes (“pillars”) and post regularly. This helps set audience expectations and build loyalty.
- Use YouTube as a content hub (e.g. for embedding on your site):
Frequency matters less here. Focus on quality uploads—music videos, concert footage, or visualizers—and drive traffic through cross-promotion on other platforms.
Key Takeaways:
- Post at least one long-form video per month, or two during a release cycle.
- Post Shorts as often as you like—even daily. The more you post, the more chances you have to be discovered.
- Stay consistent to stay visible. YouTube’s homepage is driven by recommended content, not just subscriptions. If you’re inactive, even your subscribers won’t see your videos. Routine posting keeps you top of mind.
Uploading Long-Form Content to YouTube
Once you’ve created a video, it’s time to upload it! Make it easy for fans to find and engage with your content by following these best practices.
- Title & Description: Use clear, keyword-rich titles. Write a 2–3 sentence description that naturally includes relevant keywords. Standardize your title formats for templates uploads like music videos.
- Be Accurate, Not Clickbait: Misleading titles lead to short watch times and high bounce rates, which can hurt your video’s reach.
- Thumbnails Matter: A/B test thumbnails to see what drives clicks. Use high-contrast, in-focus images—faces perform best. Avoid clutter and limit text.
- Boost SEO with tags and categories: Select a relevant category and add specific tags, including your artist name, track title, and genre keywords.
- Include a Call to Action: Tell viewers what to do next and always include a link when relevant. Examples include streaming a song, liking and subscribing to your channel, or buying concert tickets. You can place CTAs into end screen info cards and video descriptions for CTAs.