Youtube Music

UK watch time for music-related content on YouTube has been surging, representing an opportunity for brands to reach a deeply engaged audience.

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On the other hand, fans have helped to solidify genres in pop culture - the monumental growth of pop-rap videos being an example, where UK watch time for already popular artists such as Drake, Roddie Ricch and Cardi B has increased by 700% since last year. Such numbers should pique marketers’ interest, as these are rapidly rising content categories offering huge reach for advertisers – and, indeed, their growth should be a source of inspiration for musical references likely to help brands engage today’s fans with their ads and content. YouTube has also become a lifeline for live music during the pandemic. For example, Compare The Market hosted a 45-minute Take That reunion concert on the Meerkat YouTube channel in May, followed by girl band Little Mix’s ‘Uncancelled!’ digital show in August. Sonfield says: “The emerging trend that we're seeing at the moment - and very much the reason why Meerkat Music, and Take That and Robbie Williams, was such a success for us - was that trend around virtual viewings, [because] people can't go out to venues at the moment like they could have done nine months ago.” Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Music for Hope’ performance in Milan on Easter Sunday was also streamed exclusively via YouTube and attracted a record audience for a live classical performance on the platform. And singer-songwriter Tones & I, who was just busking on the street nearly a year ago, now has over 1 billion views on her track ‘Dance Monkey’, and has used YouTube - like so many other music artists have - to connect directly with fans in a livestream performance. This shift towards streaming shows in the absence of live gigs - as well as YouTube’s overall growth in use during the pandemic - has led advertisers to reassess their media strategies and follow audience trends by upping their activity on YouTube. Sonfield says: “Our strategy at Compare The Market is audience-led. So when we noticed the increase in YouTube viewing time, versus pre-Covid, we did re-look at our approach.” This was part of the brand's rationale for launching Meerkat Music on the platform.

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YouTube doesn’t just offer escapism for consumers but also a platform for artists to make new fans and keep existing ones loyal and engaged. And brands are learning from this trend, tapping into the large, dedicated audiences for music on YouTube through both their advertising campaigns and video content. At O2, head of content Sarah Leccacorvi says music is part of the fabric of the brand, which sits above the doors of some of the UK’s premier music venues - including The O2 in London. And music forms a large part of its Priority loyalty scheme, which offers customers priority access to gig tickets. So O2 not only runs media campaigns on YouTube against music audiences as a route to reach gig-goers, the brand also uses music and performances as a core theme of its advertising and content to “build our brand association”, Leccacorvi says. Music has recently become a key part of Compare The Market’s brand proposition too. Head of marketing communications and planning Kristin Sonfield says advertising campaigns on YouTube have been an effective way “to communicate the benefits of our brand”, and because Compare The Market sees its highly recognisable meerkat ads as “a form of entertainment” in their own right, music was a natural direction for the brand to take on the platform.

The consumer as critic People don’t just love to listen to music and watch performances, they also love to analyse them and have deep discussions. On YouTube, anyone can be a part of the conversation, and audiences are loving this type of content more than ever before, with UK watch time for music review videos increasing by over 60% since last year. On her own YouTube channel, Sawayama has even taken to reviewing videos of people reviewing her songs, filming herself reacting in real-time to their comments. This type of content not only allows artists to reveal a bit more of their personalities to fans, but also demonstrates that these types of YouTube creators are respected voices that viewers trust and learn from, and that artists pay attention to. Brands are taking note, with Compare The Market’s Sonfield recognising that the creation of Meerkat Music has opened the brand’s eyes to how people use the platform: “What really stands out for YouTube versus other platforms isn't just how the content is about entertainment and connection, which is obviously the heartland of Compare The Market, but also about learning and educating people on a variety of subjects.” Fans constantly seek content like reviews to learn more about the music they love. But they’re also looking for more information about the artists behind it.

Going deep With the proliferation of video content on platforms like YouTube, fans can see much more deeply into the personal lives, style choices and philosophies of music artists, as well as unearth interviews and past performances from all over the world. And marketers can reach a very engaged and passionate group of fans who are watching this content. O2’s Leccacorvi says that building a content or advertising strategy around music on YouTube is about uncovering what interests consumers most deeply: “It's about looking at the audience, looking at their passion points. How can we think about what those passion points are? What can we tap into that's relevant to us and then find a common ground?” She gives an example of ‘backstage’ content, which she says a lot of brands try to do: “We've always tried to look at different angles or different ways in, to capture that, to make it a bit more interesting. We did one series about the 60 seconds before [an artist goes on] stage. You actually get to see them pumping themselves up.” In ‘This Is My YouTube’, Ware remarks that YouTube has become “a fountain of knowledge for a potential fan to be able to understand the artist better”. This view is echoed by Sawayama, whose YouTube channel has 220,000 subscribers and includes a ‘Get to know me’ playlist that brings together videos from various channels all into one place. Her channel is so much more than just music videos - she uses it as a way of telling her fanbase what goes on when making a music video and about her love of fashion, for example. Clearly music-related content is an increasing draw for consumers, and YouTube is a key destination where they go to find it. So, marketers should now have plenty of inspiration - based on the examples above of content created by artists, fans and brands alike - to creatively and effectively reach and communicate with passionate audiences on YouTube, just as Compare The Market and O2 have.■

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In May, Compare The Market launched Meerkat Music to offer exclusive digital performances free to the public on YouTube, complementing its rewards programmes, which focus on films and eating out. “Consumers expect us to be involved in music and we have credibility because of Meerkat Movies and Meerkat Meals. Our brand is all about entertainment and engagement,” says Sonfield. She adds: “YouTube and Meerkat Music have helped us reach new audiences and it is a platform where fans know they can find what they want.” Artists also recognise YouTube as a trove of musical content and inspiration, as Jessie Ware demonstrates in a new episode of ‘This Is My YouTube’, in conversation with fellow singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama. “When I started as an artist, very much YouTube became a source of reference points, whether it was watching a performance by Sade or looking at fashion,” Ware says. Clearly both brands and artists perceive YouTube as a home for music, reflected in their respective media and content strategies to reach passionate audiences and engage with fans and consumers more deeply. How YouTube breathes life into music Today, consumers are the tastemakers in music, and on YouTube they have an ability to accelerate the rise or maintain the popularity of particular genres. For example, K-pop’s recent surge in relevance globally has been supported by the dedicated fans on YouTube, with the fastest video to reach 100 million views ever on the platform coming from Korean boy band BTS.

Google internal data, UK, June 2020 vs June 2019