Contributor Jennifer Dingle
With more than 5 billion people owning a smartphone or mobile device, the popular video platform is at the fingertips of many around the world. With an array of content, YouTube has played an integral part in spreading the word on new music from top artists, and made it readily available to a wide audience. The app is also a valuable tool for emerging artists, and offers many ways for you to use it to your advantage.
Network and communicate as much as possible
One of the best ways to heighten your music career as an artist is to network. Networking is essential for an emerging artist’s career, and has the potential to connect you to others in the music industry, your fans and other artists, and build valuable business relationships. YouTube makes networking easy, as you’re able to communicate with your audience through features like commenting and liking. The community tab is another valuable way you can communicate and connect with others. For example, you can post updates about when you’ll be releasing new music and when you’ll post your next video, and you can even ask for feedback on your work. It’s also important to network with other artists by liking, commenting, subscribing and reaching out to them – this can mean more views for you, and can also lead to collaborations with other artists.
Reaching a larger audience
One of the greatest ways that YouTube can be used is to reach a wide audience and spread awareness. For emerging artists, YouTube is the number one way to share your work through visual content – though there are ways you can get it to reach an even larger audience, such as by having a more accessible online presence. For instance, adding subtitles to your videos can allow you to reach those who may experience hearing issues. This can be easily enabled within YouTube’s site through editing features, which can automatically generate a good portion of subtitles. However, you can also take the time to transcribe the audio yourself, and have custom made subtitles.
If you have a website, embedding your YouTube content can also help by leading your site visitors to your channel and other content (as opposed to just one video). Embedding videos can make your content more accessible and your website more inclusive, and it can allow you to reach people that you might not be able to through concerts and tours. This can give everyone an equal opportunity to enjoy your visual content, which also helps those at home put a face to the work and leave a more lasting impression.
Be consistent
No matter what your music style or genre may be, being consistent is a must when using YouTube to put yourself out there. Consistent uploads can show your viewers that you’re active, and can allow them to get excited about your upcoming work. One way to stay consistent is to pick regular days/times to upload, as this can give your viewers an idea of when to expect new content from you. However, being consistent with your content also involves a sense of regularity in the quality and style of your videos, as viewers tend to click away or not watch at all when the content is sporadic or otherwise not up to par.
It can be extremely difficult for emerging artists to get noticed by record labels and those in the music industry. However, YouTube can be an extremely valuable and helpful tool, and can help artists gain exposure and further career opportunities along the way.
