Many of our artists want to ensure all their music on YouTube is visible in one place. They also often ask how to get a verified and upgrade their channel to a YouTube Official Artist Channel (OAC). We are here to break down what an OAC is, how to get one and why this may benefit you.
Firstly, it’s important to understand how delivery to YouTube works via Horus Music. Distributing your music with Horus Music includes delivery to both YouTube Music and youtube.com. When we deliver to YouTube, this automatically creates a video called an Art Track. An Art Track contains a still frame of your artwork accompanied by your music playing in the background. It’s important to note comments are automatically disabled on Art Tracks. You will be able to identify an art track by the “Music” section in the description.
“Music” Section in an Art Track Video Description
Art Tracks are not delivered to your own personal YouTube channel. Instead, a new channel will be created for you which is called a Topic Channel. You may first see your Art Track appear on a channel called Various Artists – Topic. This is expected behaviour and you will soon find that the video moves to a new channel specific to you. This should appear in the channel name format ‘Artist Name – Topic.’
Youtube Topic Channel Example
This is an automated process, so we letting the system process the mapping of the Art Track. If you have noticed your Art Track has not been moved after some time, you can reach out to our team. We can then request the process is expedited with our direct contacts at YouTube.
What is an Official Artist Channel on YouTube?
We understand you would like to have all of your music in one place. When you have a Topic Channel, we can merge this into your own channel which YouTube call your ‘Owned & Operated’. The merge of these two channels creates what we call an Official Artist Channel, also known as an OAC.
What are the benefits of an OAC?
When you have an OAC, the videos of your Topic and own channel are merged. This means that all your content will appear in one place. This makes it much easier to direct your fans to your music. We can also include a VEVO channel with this merge if you have one. This ensures your music videos and Art Tracks are all available on one page. Subscribers, likes and comments are also included. This could result in an increase in the appearance of engagement as all details are consolidated.
Another benefit of an OAC is that you will now have access to deeper analytics for YouTube. Their Analytics for Artists enables you to understand both video and song data in depth for videos posted to YouTube and YouTube Shorts.
Official Artist Channels are identified by a music note after an artist name. Most major artists will have an OAC, so it is a very desirable feature to verify your legitimacy as an artist.
OAC approved channel with a music note
How do I get an OAC?
There is certain criteria you must meet to be eligible for an OAC:
- You must distribute audio releases to YouTube in order to create the Topic Channel.
- You must have your own channel, which contains similar content to the music you are distributing. This could include live, acoustic or original versions of your music. This ensures YouTube can match this channel with your Topic Channel.
- You must comply with YouTube’s policies and guidelines.
- You must work with a distributor that is part of YouTube’s Partner Programme. Horus Music is already a part of this, and therefore we can make your OAC request right away!
If you’re ready to request your OAC and take your career to the next level, please contact our distribution team. Please ensure to provide the links to your Topic Channel, your Owned & Operated channel and your VEVO channel. This will enable us to carry out a seamless upgrade. Please note, we will need the channel IDs which begin with UC, and not a custom URL.
