Short form videos are becoming increasingly popular and are a great way for artists and creators to connect with their fans through a visual medium. Many artists have found short form videos to play a significant role in their music’s success. More recently, YouTube have introduced ‘Shorts’ to their platform.
What are YouTube Shorts?
The term ‘short-form content’ refers to any video typically under 60 seconds, however this can vary from platform to platform. For instance,the length of a video for YouTube Shorts can be 60 seconds or less. If music from YouTube’s catalogue is used, shorts can only last for 15 seconds.
With over 50 billion views a day on YouTube Shorts, creating short form content is now considered an essential success tool for content creators, including musicians. YouTube have made producing Shorts quick and easy by incorporating features which allow you to turn long form content into short form. To do this, simply click on your Watch Page, tap remix and switch the video into short form. Form here, you can then continue to edit as normal.
How can artists benefit from using short-form content?
Artists can benefit from this feature by making Shorts of music videos, behind the scenes clips, lyric videos, promotional content, teaser videos and so much more. This new form of content creation is very accessible for artists of all levels as there is no need for fancy equipment or extensive video editing knowledge. YouTube make Shorts an all-inclusive feature, enabling artists to explore new ideas and connect with others through re-purposing existing content to produce what appears as new and unique material.
The Shorts tab is easily located on your channel homepage, which allows fans to easily engage with your content as well as attracting new viewers. Recent studies have shown artists found their audience of unique viewers increased by more than 80%, with 50% of their new subscribers generated via Shorts. It’s also important to note that Shorts allow viral clips to be credited to the original video, meaning users can easily locate the original material, which can drive even more traffic back to your long form content.
Can artists make money from Youtube Shorts?
As of February 2023, YouTube have enabled Shorts to be monetised through the YouTube Partner Program, permitting creators to earn revenue from video advertisements; compared to competing for the best Shorts for a small monthly bonus. To monetise content, creators must either have 1000 subscribers and 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days, or gain 1000 subscribers and have 4000 public watch hours on long form videos in the last 12 months. In addition to this, to have your content monetised, it must be 100% exclusive to the creator. Meaning no unedited clips from films and TV shows where the creator does not own the exclusive rights, no blatant re-uploads of other creators work without adding the relevant credits, and no automated or fake view bots.
It’s also possible for artists’ short form content to be monetised. When a song is used for Shorts, the royalties are split between the creator and the music publisher, who provide songs for the videos. Artists are then paid based on how often their intellectual property is used within the Short. The amount of revenue generated depends on various factors such as number of views. For example, how many music tracks are used and your geographical location. It’s also possible to generate income from your shorts via brand sponsorship, with an increasing number of brands starting to step into the world of shorts.
Get started with uploading shorts today…
Using Shorts can have a huge benefit for artists by growing their audience through creating and posting engaging visual content, giving a quick and personal insight into their activities. If you’re interested in seeing how YouTube Shorts can elevate your career, head over to your YouTube channel today to get started.
