The Complete Guide to
YOUTUBE
for the Music Industry
YOUR STORY STARTS HERE
Get Your Music on YouTube 1
YouTube Guide
UPGRADE YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
GROW YOUR AUDIENCE
MONETIZE YOUR MUSIC
With all of the buzz around other platforms, such as Spotify and SoundCloud,
YouTube is often overlooked as just a video streaming service. However,
YouTube is the biggest music streaming service in the world.
The large share of music streams coming from YouTube makes it essential for
every artist/musician to create their presence on the platform and to do so
correctly.
The following guide will help you to navigate YouTube’s essential card system,
their in depth analytics tools, perfecting your upload, and most importantly,
collecting your royalties.
Table Of Contents
YouTube Content Features 2-6
Making Money with YouTube 7
YouTube Music 8
YouTube Analytics 9
Perfecting Your Upload 10-12
Glossary & Terminology 13
Get Your Music on YouTube 1
YouTube Guide
YouTube Content Features
With everything that YouTube has to offer for artists, it is important to
continually educate yourself about all of the avenues available to you when it
comes to promoting your content and keeping viewers engaged.
Utilizing cards, end screens, and other features will load your content with extra
features and improve your viewer retention and channel growth.
Cards & End Screens
Why are YouTube Cards Important
You can use info cards to make your videos more interactive. Info cards can feature
a video, playlist, channel, or link. Cards aren’t available on videos set as made for
kids.
Cards are shown on the right-hand side of the video on a computer. Cards are
shown below the video on mobile. If there are multiple cards on a video, viewers
can scroll through them while the video is playing.
Channels can use cards to:
• Build brand awareness by linking to your website
• Promote music sales on iTunes/Apple Music, Spotify, Beatport, etc. and include
your song link
• Boost ticket sales for your upcoming show by including your ticket site link
• Nurture your other YouTube content by linking to individual videos or playlists
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YouTube Guide
Cards & End Screens (continued)
How to Create YouTube Cards
1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. From the left menu, select Content.
3. Click the video you’d like to edit.
4. From the left menu, select Editor.
5. Select Info cards and select the card you want to add. Note: You can add up
to 5 cards to one video.
• Video: This info card allows you to link to a public YouTube video for your viewers to
interact with.
• Playlist: This info card allows you to link to a public YouTube playlist for your viewers
to watch.
• Channel: This info card allows you to link to a YouTube channel for your viewers to
engage with. For example, you can use an info card to thank a channel that helped
with your video or to recommend another channel to viewers.
• Link: If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, this info card allows you to link to
an external website to share with your audience. You can also add end screens to
your videos.*
6. Change the start time for the card below the video.
7. Add an optional message and teaser text about the video. Note: Message and
teaser text are required for channel cards.
8. Click Save.
If you need to edit your cards in the future, just go to the Cards tab and select Edit
next to the card you want to change.
* Make sure your linked external website complies with YouTube’s policies, including
their Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. Violations can result in card or link
removal, strikes, or termination of your Google Account.
Get Your Music on YouTube 3
YouTube Guide
Cards & End Screens (continued)
End Screens
End screens can be added to the last 5–20 seconds of a video. You can use them
to promote other videos, encourage viewers to subscribe, and more. You can
add up to four elements to your end screen for videos with standard 16:9 aspect
ratio. Other aspect ratios may have a lower limit.
Add an End Screen
1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. From the left menu, select Content.
3. Click the title or thumbnail of the video you’d like to edit.
4. From the left menu, select Editor.
5. Select End screens and select the element you want to add:
• Apply template: Templates contain groupings of elements that you can customize to
create an end screen.
• Video: Feature your most recent upload, best for the viewer, or a specific video.
• Playlist: Display a public YouTube playlist.
• Subscribe: Encourage subscriptions to your channel.
• Channel: Promote another channel with a custom message.
• Link: If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you can link to an external website.*
• Merchandise: Feature one item from your merchandise.
6. Click Save.
* Make sure your linked external website complies with YouTube’s policies, including
their Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. Violations can result in card or link
removal, strikes, or termination of your Google Account.
Get Your Music on YouTube 4
YouTube Guide
Merch on YouTube
The merch shelf and related merch features let eligible channels showcase their
official branded merchandise on YouTube. If a channel is eligible, the shelf may
surface on their videos’ watch pages, but may not show for all videos.
Creators can read more below to learn about:
• Eligibility requirements • Availability • Policies
• Supported merch retailers • Data sharing
• How to turn on the merch features (if you’re eligible).
If you’re a viewer, learn more about buying official creator Merch.
Channel Eligibility
To be considered for the merch shelf and related merch features, you have to
meet these minimum requirements:
• Your channel is approved for monetization.
• You’re based in a country where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
• If your channel is a music channel, it has to be an Official Artist Channel; if it’s not
a music channel, it has to have more than 10,000 subscribers.
• Your channel’s audience is not set as Made for Kids, and your channel does not
have a significant number of videos set as made for kids.
• Your channel does not have a significant number of videos that violate our
Channel Monetization Policies.
• Your channel has not received any Hate Speech Community Guideline Strikes.
Supported Merch Partners for YouTube:
(formerly Teespring)
Get Your Music on YouTube 5
YouTube Guide
Concert Tickets on YouTube
If you’re a music artist on YouTube, you may be eligible to feature your upcoming concert
listings on YouTube. In this article, you’ll learn about the eligibility requirements, availability,
supported ticketing retailers, policies, data sharing and, if you’re eligible, how you are opted
in and can opt out of the ticketing shelf.
This feature will be automatically enabled on eligible artist channels. Once enabled, viewers
who are watching official music content from your YouTube channel will see links to tickets
for available event dates on video pages. Ticketing features will show the event that is
geographically closest to the viewer, as well as show them more available event dates.
Currently, ticketing features are not shown to fans watching from mobile browsers or from
living room devices. Sold out events will not be displayed on the shelf.
Channel Eligibility
To be considered for a ticketing features, you need to meet these minimum requirements:
• Have a YouTube Official Artist Channel
• Your channel’s audience must not be set as made for kids
• Have a music attraction ID with any of the supported ticketers (listed below)
• Have upcoming concerts in any of the supported countries where viewers of your
videos can see the ticketing shelf (listed below)
Supported Ticketers
The supported ticketer (not Google) is responsible for all aspects of ticket sales including, but not
limited to, order fulfillment, refunds, customer service, inventory management, and payment.
YouTube is open to onboarding new ticketers to partner with in the future, but their pipeline is
currently at capacity.
Get Your Music on YouTube 6
YouTube Guide
Making Money With YouTube
With the rising popularity of YouTube as a video streaming service, music videos
are becoming increasingly more common on the platform.
Artists of all genres can take advantage of monetizing their music by becoming
partners with YouTube, as well as registering your music videos with YouTube’s
Content ID system.
What is YouTube’s 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.
If you are a client of Symphonic Distribution, upload your music through us
and we will upload it to YouTube’s Content ID system. When that happens, any
song that is uploaded is compared against audio and video files that have been
uploaded by many users all over the world.
If a match is found, we will, by default, monetize that video that has been matched
and claimed thus bringing you more royalties and ensuring that your works aren’t
being illegally shared and monetized by others.
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YouTube Guide
YouTube Music / YouTube Music Premium
In recent years, YouTube Music Premium (YouTube’s subscription streaming
product) has greatly increased its subscriber base. The revenue now gained by
subscriber views is coming close to that of the Content ID/Ad-based revenue
from YouTube. Symphonic can distribute your catalog to YouTube Music to take
advantage of this growing aspect of YouTube.
Becoming a YouTube Partner
The YouTube Partner Program allows users to monetize their videos uploaded
on the platform. After becoming a partner, YouTube will place advertisements
on videos you upload while paying the user based on how many views the video
receives.
This is a great way for you to make money from your music. Follow this link to
apply to join the YouTube Partner Program.
YouTube Channel Management / MCN
YouTube channels can join a Multi-Channel Network (MCN) and become a partner
of an Affiliate Content Owner. The MCN can monetize all eligible content on the
channel - not just content featuring Content ID claims.
Channels must qualify for monetization, copyright status, and other factors in
order to join an MCN.
More on MCNs
Symphonic Channel Management Application
Get Your Music on YouTube 8
YouTube Guide
YouTube Analytics for Artists
Artists of every genre can reach potential fans and engage with current fans easier by
using YouTube’s built in analytics. Here’s how YouTube Analytics can help you:
Traffic Sources
• Traffic sources and playback locations are two key reports that can help you
uncover how viewers find your videos on the internet and which of these sources rack
up the most watch time
• Check traffic sources and playback locations reports to find out where your audience
is watching your videos from besides on YouTube
Demographics
• Check when fans are watching: Consider uploading during times when your audience
is the most active
• Demographics report: You can look at segment data to see who watches your videos
– by age, gender, geography
• Opportunity to expand globally: If you see unexpected viewers in another country
you may want to turn on closed captions to turn them into subscribers
Opportunities
• Use the suggested videos report to see what videos (from other channels) are driving
viewers to your videos; this could become a collaboration opportunity
• The playlist reports in YouTube Analytics give you insight into which playlists are
popular and how much of your playlists are watched
• Check out which keywords show up in the YouTube search report; if important
keywords are missing, add them to your metadata.
Get Your Music on YouTube 9
YouTube Guide
Perfecting Your Upload
By optimizing your video with the following tips and guidelines, you can ensure your video
gains maximum exposure through search engines and has a professional look and feel.
Search Engine Optimization
For your video to be ranked higher in search engines, you must make sure the title of the
video is clear, concise, and includes keywords. Keywords are words that directly relate to the
content of your video but are also highly searchable. If your title includes words that people
don’t often search for, it is unlikely the video will rank high in search results.
An easy way to test out if you include helpful keywords is by utilizing the YouTube search
auto-fill feature and noticing if that keyword automatically fills in when typing.
Search engines are also sensitive to the order in which your keywords are placed. Therefore,
place your most searchable and most important keywords in the beginning. Many times, this
means placing your artist name first followed by the song title at the end.
Tag Your Videos
Along with using keywords, YouTube also searches for videos based on tags that go along
with them. With tags, we recommend going the more unique route with tag words that
will directly relate to your video. These tags could be the different types of genres your
music could fall into, common misspellings of your brand/music or words relating to
what is in the music video.
Get Your Music on YouTube 10
YouTube Guide
Perfecting Your Upload (cont.)
Use an Eye Catching Thumbnail
Having a thumbnail for your video that catches the attention of potential viewers is just as
important — if not more important in some cases — as your video’s title. People are attracted
to visual appeal and navigate to YouTube much of the time for visuals.
Ideas & Tips for eye catching thumbnails:
• Use a close up of a another person’s face. Using an image of a person making eye contact
with you gives a subtle visual cue of connection and draws the viewer in.
• Choose an image that relates to the content. If it’s a music video, choose a thumbnail that
matches what the video is about. Misinformative thumbnails can upset viewers and lose
their trust which can prevent them from ever viewing your videos again.
• Consistency is key. When uploading content such as a weekly vlog use thumbnails that
share similarities with each other to keep your brand and content consistent.
• Select an image that conveys some sort of emotion. Music is a very emotional form of art
and choosing a thumbnail that conveys emotion can trigger feelings in a viewer and pull
them in.
A misleading thumbnail has a greater chance of making people click away from your content
shortly after beginning the video, or may even violate YouTube’s spam policies.
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YouTube Guide
Perfecting Your Upload (cont.)
Encourage Viewers to Share Your Video
Having a CTA (Call to Action) at the end of your video, within your description, and in social
sharing is a highly effective way to get new viewers and current followers to share your video
content.
By telling your viewers to simply like, subscribe, share, or provide feedback, you are directly
interacting with them and doing so drastically improves your chances of getting more views.
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YouTube Guide
Glossary & Terminology
Call To Action: Is the action performed by the viewer when clicking on any content you add to
your video.
Cards: Can point viewers to a specific URL and show customized images, titles and calls to
action on your videos.
Concert Tickets Integration: Display and sell concert tickets on video watch pages
Content ID: A digital fingerprinting system that identifies and manages copyrighted content
on YouTube.
End Screens: Native YouTube features that enable viewer retention through recommending
channel videos.
Merch Integration: Display and sell merch on your video watch pages
Monetization: Authorizes YouTube to place advertisements on your videos in exchange for
money depending on how many views your video receives.
Sharing: Is the method of distributing your video to other platforms and showing that video
to other people. This can easily be done by using the “Share” button beneath a video with the
option to post it to your connected social media accounts, copy the direct link or even embed
the video using an HTML code.
Tags: A set of relevant keywords applied to the bottom of your video description that allow
your video to be easily found via search engines. These keywords can consist of words
describing the video such as who’s in the video, genres, related artists, etc.
Thumbnails: Allow users to view a quick preview of your video before clicking on it.
Demographics: Statistical information regarding subscribers and viewers of your videos.
Video Analytics: Monitor the performance of your videos with real-time metrics and data
covering watch time, traffic sources, demographics and more.
YouTube Channel Management/MCN: A network of channels managed by an Affiliate Content
Owner
Get Your Music on YouTube 13
YouTube Guide
Conclusion
From creating a revenue stream from YouTube to understanding the analytics behind your
video, we hope that this guide gives you more insight into the world of YouTube.
If you’re interested in earning money from YouTube, you can learn more about Symphonic’s
YouTube Monetization service here.
Stay in the know with the latest news about YouTube by simply following our blog and
subscribing to our newsletter.
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