YouTube Shorts is a great tool for musicians to promote their music and reach new audiences, offering significant advantages over other platforms, such as simplified music discovery. Let’s look into how artists can make the most of YouTube Shorts!
YouTube Shorts for musicians
Ever since TikTok established itself as a global leader in social media, other platforms have started copying its features to adapt to the rise of short-form, video-centric content. Instagram did so by launching Reels, an endless-scroll feature that heavily changed the platform. A month later, YouTube followed suit by introducing YouTube Shorts.
While YouTube Shorts might seem less popular than TikTok videos or Instagram Reels, they are actually used by more people than one might assume—more than 2 billion per month to be exact. Musicians can benefit tremendously from using Shorts to promote their music, as they offer a significant advantage over other DSPs and services.
Unlike TikTok, for instance, viewers who discover your track don’t have to leave the platform to further explore your music. If someone loves your Short and wants to hear the full song, they can easily do so within the YouTube ecosystem. For this reason, YouTube Shorts are becoming increasingly important. It’s essential to jump aboard this moving train and make the most of the opportunities it offers, even more so when you already have content ready for TikTok or Instagram Reels!
YouTube Shorts—a strategy for artists
YouTube Shorts work best as part of a larger release strategy. Randomly posting a short video here and there won’t have much impact. Instead, focus on consistency by creating a series of Shorts that follow a clear timeline and connect with different audiences. Here are a few ideas you can add to your release plan:
Talk about what inspired your song—who or what were you thinking of, what mood were you in, or what is the story behind it. Pair this with your track playing in the background through the Shorts library.
Write out key lyrics on a piece of paper, a notebook, or type them into the video using YouTube's simple text editor. Combine it with your song playing in the background.
Show a raw moment—how you wrote the song, your recording setup, or even a reaction to hearing your final mix.
Point your camera at cool visuals in your surroundings—a rainy day, a sunset, city lights, or a cup of coffee—and play your track over it. Use simple text to say, “This song’s for your late-night thoughts” or something mood-specific.
Team up with dancers, influencers, or friends who create videos. Ask them to use your music in their Shorts.
Pro tip: If your release features multiple tracks, upload them all to YouTube Shorts. Just like Spotify, viewers can find them and listen to them by visiting your YouTube profile. Out of ideas? Simply use your release cover art with the music. Don’t forget to optimize your metadata with relevant tags and hashtags that highlight your genre or niche!
Three additional tips for your YouTube Shorts strategy
- Join YouTube Shorts challenges. Take advantage of trending Shorts challenges and incorporate your own music into them. This way, you can make use of broader trends to promote your sound to a wider audience.
- Use YouTube’s auto-looping feature. Similar to TikTok Videos and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts automatically loop, meaning that they start over when they end. You can use this feature to create short clips with memorable moments that encourage viewers to replay it. For example, you could use a snippet of your song or music video that loops smoothly, or end the video with a phrase that brings it back to the introduction.
- Use YouTube’s music library for remixes. YouTube Shorts allows you to add tracks from its music library. With this feature, you can try creating mashups or remixing your own songs with popular music from the library. The results might turn out to be highly engaging, so why not give it a try?
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