YouTube was founded as a technology start-up to provide an opportunity to easily share videos. Within a year and a half of the site launch, there were over 65,000 videos uploaded daily with over 100 million views, being named the dominant provider of online video for the United States. Now, there are currently over 10,000 official partners with 94 of the top 100 advertisers running campaigns on the site. When posting a music video on YouTube, you are not only going to be seen from everyday people world-wide, over 70 % of the viewers are outside the US; but also industry people involved and affiliated with the site. YouTube is also a great opportunity for the average Joe to get coverage, the number 6 most viewed video is ‘Charlie bit my finger-again’ about a young boy and his infant brother biting him and how it hurt and it has almost 404 million hits.
Technology has been constantly improving and enhancing ways to serve the public, as an artist or group, being heard is essential to success in the industry. Luckily, YouTube is in your favor for the likeliness of being heard and attaining an audience and following. An excellent example is Justin Bieber who was discovered by videos posted with him singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. Bieber went from being a gifted but normal kid from Canada to a teen sensation and holding the number spot for most views on a YouTube music video for ‘Baby’ with over 684,597,595 views. A great perk is that when posting a music video on YouTube, not only will you have views from the site itself, but people can also post the videos and links on popular networking sites: Facebook and Twitter, which opens more opportunities to be heard and create a following.
To be a trend or be ‘trending’ is important in today’s social and media culture, as an up and coming band or artist, is an ambition to have the spotlight and attention. Youtube is an ideal outlet to post your music videos, with the amount of viewers and options to expand your video and viewing from the site to various other media outlets. By definition, a trend is to emerge, by using YouTube; you can trend and gain followers simply by posting a music video. YouTube is not only used by up and coming talent and the average person, but also established artists and bands as a way to reach out to their fans and share experiences such as music videos, interviews, and performances. A prime example is artist Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull for the number two most viewed YouTube video of all time ’ On the floor’ with over 463,245,100 views. When those activities are posted it keeps the bands and artists popularity up and constant and maintains a strong relationship with their fan base.
YouTube is such a great resource for bands and musicians to create a following gain fans and show people worldwide your sound and image. Regardless of you are just starting out, been a band or musician for years and waiting for a big break, or well acclaimed, YouTube provides the opportunity to be seen, heard, trend, and rock –on.