YouTube Shorts: Everything You Need To Know

After the emergence of apps like TikTok and the reels feature on Instagram, short form video has rapidly become one of the most popular forms of content. It has thrust several different creators into popularity and helped them build a fan base. 

If you are looking to do some music marketing in a new, fun and exciting way, you don’t have to look very far. YouTube Shorts is a new short vertical video format, where the user can upload small videos for their audience. 

 

What are YouTube Shorts?

 

YouTube Shorts are a new feature available on YouTube which allows creators to upload short-form videos on the platform. These videos can be created and uploaded in a super easy manner. Using YouTube Shorts can help you reach new audiences through the YouTube selective recommendation algorithm. 

 

While making a YouTube Short, you can join different clips together and use several different types of audio. The audio can be original and directly from the video, from a song on the platform or even a small snippet of dialogue from the plethora of videos that exist on YouTube. 

 

While Tiktok allows you to make videos for up to 3 minutes, YouTube shorts follow behind with 60 seconds. The 60-second mark helps in encouraging all the creators to think out of the box and make their content engaging and exciting in unique and fun ways. These shorts will remain on your profile forever and do not disappear unless you want them to.

 

What Is Unique About Youtube Shorts? Why Should You Focus On Them?

 

No matter how many video platforms come and go, or emerge out of nowhere, YouTube will forever be the one place where everyone will come for content. It is a content hub and the video giant of the industry. If someone has to find a new artist they are more likely to go search them up on YouTube than on other platforms. YouTube Shorts gives you another way to increase your reach and appeal to a new audience. These new people will then also start watching your long video content available.

 

Unlike other video-based apps like TikTok, where short-form content is the only content available, YouTube offers you to explore both sides of the spectrum. You can add more YouTube Shorts to your channel to expand your reach and continue to make long-form videos for your subscribers at the same time. The Shorts can hence, act as an extension of your channel, which will help you do efficient music marketing. 

 

Another advantage of YouTube Shorts is that you can sample any audio available on the platform and upload new ones. In the future, other people can also use your audio to create Shorts, bringing more reach to your channel. YouTube Shorts also help in boosting music on YouTube Music which has a massive reach among music lovers, right after platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. 

 

And at the end of the day, YouTube is a gigantic platform and the most popular music streaming service. It engages about 2 billion monthly users! Users who are looking to find their next favourite artist. To make sure you might be the one, try to take as much benefit of all the features as you can. 

 

Making Shorts with Your Songs

YouTube Shorts are made by using songs that are available in YouTube’s library. To put your music in YouTube Shorts, all you need to do is distribute it on YouTube Music.

To make a YouTube Short with your original music, follow these steps:

1. Log into YouTube on your mobile device. 
2. Click ‘Create’ and then ‘Create a Short.’ 
3. To make your movie last longer than 15 seconds, click on the 15 above the record button to record up to 60 seconds (60).
4.  (Optional) Click ‘Speed’ to change the speed of the recording. 
5.  (Optional) Click ‘Timer, which can help you record video hands-free. 
6. To find YouTube's Audio Library when you're ready to record, click "Add Sound." Choose a clip and then record for up to 15 seconds.
7. To start the recording, tap on the ‘Capture’ button on the screen. Do the same when you want to stop. 
8. You can use ‘Undo’ or ‘Redo’ to make any changes in the recorded videos.
9. Once you are satisfied, press ‘Finish’ to preview and edit your video. You can also tap on ‘Next’ to do more detailed edits.
10. If you want to add a song or audio after the recording, press ‘Sound,’ which will be on the bottom of the screen during the editing period. 
11. After you have edited, give your Short a catchy title.
12. Click ‘Upload’ to complete.

 

How to Promote YouTube Shorts

Some common principles apply to make all short-form video content. You can use these formulas to create videos and upload them across different platforms like Tiktok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight, and YouTube Shorts. These include:

• Keep it light and fun, don’t make it convoluted.
• Try to use the catchiest part of your song in the short.
• Create a trend, a meme, lip-sync, or even dance to your music. Think visually about how people would like to engage with your song. 
• Don’t forget to use your old songs. Focusing on new music is great, but you should also use your back catalogue to promote yourself.
• Post consistently and creatively.

 

Can You Earn Money from YouTube Shorts?

If someone else is using your audio, you will get a percentage of revenue from that person’s videos. But it is still a relatively new feature, and unlike the long-video format, it does not have as much advertisement. So the money will be relatively less. But, YouTube Shorts will help you in music marketing, which will attract more listeners to your channel and hear your music, hence, increasing your viewership. This increase will generate massive revenue. 

 

Recently, YouTube announced an entire $100 Million YouTube Shorts Fund, which artists can get a piece of each month. YouTube announced that it will pick thousands of creators every month to claim anywhere from $100 to $10,000 from this fund on a criteria based on engagement and viewership of their Shorts. This gives creators of YouTube Shorts a huge incentive to keep hustling on the platform.

 

YouTube Shorts is one of the most creative ways to promote your music in today’s world. Short-form content engages the viewers and also keeps them wanting to know more. Focusing on YouTube Shorts can help you increase and expand your audience and maybe even get viral! Do you know who gets viral easily? Kanye. Here’s how.