5 Ways To Increase Your Chances Of Becoming A Famous Musician On YouTube
YouTube is an amazing platform on which to build a presence as a musician.
It gives you the opportunity to showcase your musical sensibilities and style in video format, and get your content in front of a large audience.
But getting to that point takes time. Although there are a few “growth hacks” you can use to shortcut your way to fame, if you don’t have great content, you won’t stand a chance.
In essence, it all goes back to quality video. Without that, becoming famous on YouTube will prove to be an uphill battle.
With that in mind, here are five ways to increase your chances of becoming a famous musician on YouTube.
But first, if it's your aim to do music professionally, you'll want to check out our free ebook while it's still available:
Free eBook: Discover how real independent musicians like you are making $4,077 - $22,573+ monthly via Youtube, let me know where to send the details:
Publish New Content Regularly & Consistently
Consistency a small thing that, cumulatively, adds up to a big thing over time.
Here’s what I mean. If you publish a video every once in a while, whenever you feel like it, you won’t be able to train your audience to check out channel for new videos every Monday at 9 AM (as an example).
This consistency builds an audience over time. No, it won’t happen overnight, and it may not even happen in a year's time. But if you keep adding to your content library week after week, and you keep testing new ideas, something will stick.
You will also increase your chances of building worthwhile industry relationships if you maintain a solid content schedule.
Cover Popular Songs Of Famous Musicians On YouTube
Covering a popular song from a famous musician isn't a new tactic, but it still works. The key is to find a way to stand out from the droves of other musicians that are covering popular songs in a race for more attention.
Pomplamoose created the “video song” medium and re-harmonized chord progressions to make their videos engaging and covers sound distinctly their own. Walk off the Earth covered Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” with the entire band playing different parts on a single guitar. Steven’n’Seagulls reinvented AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” by playing it hillbilly style.
What is something unique you could bring to the table? How could you take someone else’s cover and make it distinctively your own?
By the way, covering someone else’s song is a bit of a legal “grey area”, so long as you aren’t making money off of it. Still, it’s best to evaluate on a case-by-case (or song-by-song) basis to find out what you can and can’t do, to avoid having your video pulled from YouTube (or worse).
Create New Connections With Other Famous Youtube Musicians
Fair warning: publishing content on YouTube alone may not take you very far. But if you reach out to others and make an effort to create new connections, you can increase your chances of getting noticed.
For example:
- You could send your videos to music bloggers and reviewers and gain some coverage.
- You could book podcast and radio interviews to talk about the content you’re creating.
- You could write and distribute press releases whenever you come out with a new video to gain the attention of media people.
- You could pay to have your videos shown on the TV screens in a local bar on a rotation basis.
The sky is the limit, but beware: if you aren’t thinking about what others have to gain from working with you and you don’t connect with them like real human beings, you are unlikely to get the kind of attention you want for your videos.
Get on their good side, and they’ll be more amenable to helping you out.
Collaborate With Other YouTube Content Creators
There are other YouTube content creators out there, just like you. If you’re only seeing them as competition, then you are definitely missing out on valuable opportunities to connect and create together.
YouTube collaborations help to expose your audience to a new artist, and vice versa. Over time, you can gain a lot of attention for your music and video content by making appearances everywhere you possibly can.
Don’t just think in terms of other artists. Some content creators have YouTube shows that feature live music. Some conduct interviews with artists and industry people. Others review and talk about the music they enjoy.
If music is a prominent subject on the show, then there may be an opportunity for you to be a part of it. Don’t be pushy when you’re trying to work out a mutually beneficial agreement. Again, treat people like human beings and try to create an honest and genuine connection.
Advertise Strategically
Social media advertising is one of the most effective ways to get more eyeballs on your content.
This doesn’t automatically lead to new subscribers and long-term viewers, which means you have to be strategic about what content you choose to amplify.
For example, if you have a video that is getting a lot of views and good feedback, that would be a good video to get in front of more people. Try promoting it with ads.
Facebook and YouTube ads are the most suited to this type of campaign. But you also know as well as I do how annoying some YouTube ads can be, and how self-interested some Facebook ads come across.
So set goals for your ads, and experiment with different formats. It may take some time to figure out your exact strategy (do some research), but once you do, you’ll begin to see significant traction with your ads.
Also, remember to advertise responsibly. Don’t overspend, and stick to your budget. If you don’t have a budget, then hold off on ads until you do.
Final Thoughts
If you want fame, then focus on getting your name out there instead of trying to make a lot of money. This is exactly what Donald Trump did.
“Huh? What do you mean, the man is loaded!”
True – but if he didn’t insist on having his name on everything, he could be a lot wealthier. The same can be said for celebrities. Fame and fortune aren’t mutually inclusive.
So if you want to be known, then you must be more name-oriented than money-oriented. Some fortune may follow, but it will be smaller in proportion to your fame.
P.S. Remember though, none of what you've learned will matter if you don't know how to get your music out there and earn from it. Want to learn how to do that? Then get our free ‘5 Steps To Profitable Youtube Music Career' ebook emailed directly to you!