Learning how to start a music Youtube channel is a must for any independent, budding, or working musician. If you haven't created music videos or started your channel yet, it might feel overwhelming; you probably don't know where to start. But, you don't have to be a content creator to make and promote a music channel.

Video content is one of the primary ways that musicians can reach their audience. YouTube is a primary method for new and independent artists to be visible and gain more   Perhaps you've dabbled with shorter videos over social media. Developing a YouTube account can be so easy!

This handy guide will walk you through all of the types of YouTube channels you can start. Here are all of the steps to take to make your YouTube account and market it to your target audience.

Types of YouTube Music Channels You Can Start

If you haven't learned how to make a YouTube music channel yet, the first step you have to do is set up your YouTube account and get a YouTube channel ID. But even before you get that far, you must know what type of channel, or niche, you plan to work with. Knowing your channel type is one of the most important things to nail down.

You may not have this right off the bat and you may pivot your idea into something else down the road, but knowing what type of channel in terms of the topic you want to center yourself with is essential to your beginning. You can experiment and try a bunch of different methods in terms of how you want to shoot your video content. Consider some of the following questions:

  • What sort of videos do I want to display? You may want to do more of a "behind the scenes" look to give fans transparency and be more relatable, or maybe you just love the idea of creating your own music videos.
  • Who is my audience? Your target audience is vital when creating your channel, so you aren't providing content that you believe will resonate, but giving your audience exactly what they desire. Connecting with your brand is a primary focus when deciding upon things like your logo and background picture.
  • How much music will I perform? You could feature video content with live music, or put fun video reels of your music group on tour to one of your recorded songs. The possibilities are endless, so explore as many avenues as possible.

Here are some suggestions you can use when starting your YouTube channel content, so you have a place to start.

Promote Your Own Music and Engage Your Fans

One type of video you can do involves simply performing. Musicians can curate video content that helps to promote original work and introduce people to their music.

Draw in your audience by consistently ensuring originality with your compositions, rather than using pre-recorded music just because it's recognizable. Plus, on YouTube, copyrighted music ensures that more royalties go to the composers and publishers. So you're better off giving your viewers new, fresh, and original tracks to listen to and enjoy.

Create Playlists for Fellow Music Lovers

Maybe you have an eclectic taste in music, and that comes through as an artist. Videos that show people how to develop playlists or even just create your own to share can be a great way to engage your audience.

Help your fans to recognize new music by creating weekly playlists that open doors to fellow musicians, maybe even ones that you collaborate with on songs. One of the best ways to increase your viewership is by working with other music artists who can promote your music to their people, and help increase your fan base.

Offer Music Education and Tutorials

One last suggestion when determining the type of video content for your channel is teaching and educating others. If your target audience is the kind that enjoys learning, your videos can portray that by helping to teach your fans, such as providing them with more in-depth knowledge on a particular music genre.

There are multiple options for how you can go about providing education for your fans. Consider doing content that involves tutorials, such as teaching them how to play a specific guitar riff or even just a lyric video for your music that will show them all of the words - you'd be surprised at how well the type of content can drive your audience engagement and viewership.

How to Make a Music YouTube Channel Step-by-Step

Once you've decided on the type of video content you want to share with your subscribers, now you can develop your official artist channel. Here is a guide that walks you through the simple steps and making your first video:

1. Set Up Your YouTube Channel

The first steps when creating your channel are:

  1. Log in to YouTube.
  2. Click your profile icon in the top right corner.
  3. Next click on “Settings”.
  4. Next, click “Add or manage your channel(s)” in the middle of the page.
  5. Select "musician" as your channel type
  6. Then, click “Create a new channel” (you'll see a plus sign).
  7. Type in your brand channel/band name or artist name, etc.
  8. Fill out your basic info.
  9. Hit "Submit".

Congratulations! You now have your official artist channel. Next, you're going to want to set up your themes, colors, and background. Customizing your channel with these will help your audience easily recognize your music and brand. You can utilize free image-editing tools to help develop a banner, video icons, and more.

2. Create a YouTube Music Channel Trailer

Your page needs a channel trailer. It should be composed of something similar to a highlight reel of some of the best footage, and give your target audience an idea of what they can expect to see from your videos.

Consider creating a reel that shows clips from live performances, in-depth interviews, performer information, or shows off some of your original singles. The key with your new YouTube channel is to set yourself apart from other musicians, so think about what you are going to display that helps your YouTube content to stand out.

3. Connect Your MusicYouTube Channel to Your Website and/or Music Downloads

Linking to your existing website or music downloads, streaming music channels, or wherever fans can find you besides YouTube is a great way to help promote your music. The easiest way to help fans find you in other places and get them to look at your other social networks online is with links.

It's important to note that you need to include your website or special links within the first sentence of your video descriptions. It needs to be in the first sentence because YouTube truncates the text for viewers, so only the first sentence can be read unless expanded.

4. Develop a Content Plan

It's not enough for musicians to have content for their videos. You need to be consistent with when you post so that your fans know when to expect new material.

Do you want to post a weekly video, bi-weekly, or two times a week? Create a plan with a calendar along with your content to ensure you stay consistent to build your loyal following.

5. Record and Edit Your First YouTube Videos

It's time to get to it! Making your video content for your first Youtube video may depend on the tools you have at your disposal. You don't need to have high-quality videos or professional recordings when you're just getting started.

Simple tools can help you edit your audio and ensure you have decent sound. You may not have the budget for those types of more expensive software and things just yet; so start with what you do have and work on and don't worry about trying to make it perfect. Your business needs to get out there, not to have good quality videos.

The equipment, software, and other tools can come later, your first handful of videos or maybe more won't be studio-quality - so what? Video quality matters less if you're showing your fans a great time. Consider the possibility that this makes you more relatable as a musician and your fans are more likely to be drawn to your channel.

6. Ensure That You Have Proper Music Licensing In Place

One mistake many content creators make is using unauthorized, copyrighted audio in their videos. You need to ensure you have the proper licensing for any music you add to your videos.

If you don't have a music license for permission, you may face penalties. Track Club has an excellent array of music in its catalog to help you set up some great background music in your videos at an affordable price.

7. Upload Your First Videos

Now that you have videos to upload to your channel, you can follow these simple steps to do so:

  • Open the YouTube app.
  • Click "Create" and "Upload a Video."
  • You can select the file you want to upload (or drag and drop it into the window), then click "Next."

While it's uploading you have some options to go through to select such as whether the content is safe for children, and then develop your video description.

8. Optimize Your Titles, Cards, Tags, Annotations, and Playlists for YouTube SEO

Adding tags to your videos is another important step. Tags are keywords and one of the main ways that people locate your videos in search engines.

YouTube SEO comes into play here, so you need to know what your fans are going to type to look for your videos. It ensures that your video pops up in those search results. Consider tagging your music style, your band or musician name, song names, locations, and other relevant keywords.

Having these vital words in your title, card, and description is vital to help locate you in search engines as well.  The YouTube algorithm is going to match up your channel with what users are looking for when searching. Consider the hashtags you might use on a social media platform, and incorporate them into your YouTube channel.

9. Upload New Videos Regularly

Now you can just add new videos according to your content plan. Consider mixing things up and utilizing different methods of content and creating a variety. It gives you insight as to what types of videos are viewed more by your target audience so you can cater to them for future uploads.

Some of the most effective ways to help when you're having problems coming up with ideas is putting an official music playlist out there with songs in order as it would be on your album or developing some cool and engaging lyric videos.

For example, if your group is going on tour, you could create a video simply to show a schedule of show dates featuring one of your popular songs as background music. You don't need hours of content or hours of video to set up a simple reel and share the good news about your upcoming tour.

Ensure that you don't bog yourself down with the content and spend a lot of time editing and fixing. Video editing will take some practice to get better at as you go. It doesn't have to be perfect, especially when you know you're reaching your audience and providing them with original content that's genuine.

10. Engage with Your Audience and Grow Your Channel

One last thing to remember that many content creators and musicians sometimes overlook is engagement with your audience. It's a powerful tool to take the time to respond to comments on your video and helps your fans to see that you care.

They feel more appreciated and are likely to be more loyal and come back to view more videos, and it can go a long way to help grow your fanbase and eventually boast a successful YouTube channel.

The Takeaway

The process of making a music YouTube channel takes dedication, as well as upkeep to stay consistent. Don't get discouraged or give up if your videos don't get tons of views right off the bat. Owning a YouTube channel page is one of the more reliable ways to demonstrate your seriousness as an independent artist.