YouTube: All About Artists?

YouTube has announced the launch of a new site that aims to assist artists in getting the most out of the streaming platform, including how to maximise sharing music, engaging fans and generating revenue.

The literally named ‘YouTube for Artists’ site is essentially a guide to the resources available to artists using YouTube to promote their work. It will also point artists towards the also newly launched ‘Cards’, overlays designed to replace annotations with a more interactive system.

This will enable creators and publishers to promote other videos to viewers alongside offering them connections to merchandise, crowd funding campaigns and upcoming live shows.

Speaking to Billboard and sounding particularly zen, YouTube's Director of Music Partnerships Vivien Lewit said: "What we're doing in a sense is putting the wisdom of the experts in the hands of everyone".

The site also tells artist about free production resources that make available to them through YouTube and how they can leverage views in relation to various charts.

The timing is of course no coincidence, with YouTube facing a perfect storm of criticism over the not so small matter of fair remuneration to rights holders.

Astute readers may recall that Spotify pulled a similar trick with its similarly titled ‘Spotify for Artists’ site, with most streaming services now offering some kind of artist focused hub kitted out with various analytical and promotional tools.

Some detractors (not The Gen– we applaud what YouTube has done to elevate the artistry of the humble cat video) may say that this new site should really be called ‘Lip Service’, which in turn is in fact a good name for a new trendy Silicon Valley start up.

It’s a radical idea but perhaps the easiest way for YouTube to help creators would be to hand them a more substantial slice of the digital royalty pie.