What is in YouTube for musicians?

There are many platforms to distribute music online, which offer a number of benefits that are more or less attractive depending on each musician's goals and profile. Maintaining an active account anywhere on the internet requires time and effort, so it's important to choose carefully and go one step at a time.

A great place to build your platform and get work as a musician, especially as a gigging musician, is YouTube. Potential clients don't only want to hear your music, but also assess your stage presence and see you in action, in order to decide whether you're a good fit for their event. What's better for that than a YouTube video? And that's just the start. You can improve your discoverability with shorts, make your music and podcasts accessible through YouTube Music, interact with your audience through text posts, and once you get enough followers, offer subscription perks and even organise donation campaigns!

As independent musicians, becoming masters at YouTube is one of the best things we can do to further our careers. Aware of this, Millicent condensed her knowledge and experience with the platform to teach an introductory course for the Musicians Union, in which she explained how to get a channel up and running, and what to have in mind. The course was well received, and several attendants got good results from it. If you're interested, you can get access to it through our store. 

Some women from the Time For My Music programme have YouTube channels as well. In preparation for the live concert they'll offer in Birmingham next Tuesday 29th October 2024, we invite you to check them out: Angie Lee, Angela, JoannieJMusic and Tiny Sax