Get a free music video with all CD Baby distribution through June 8th. Details below!
Art Tracks on YouTube seem to cause a lot of confusion for musicians. Who can view them? Who owns them? Where do they live? Can I see mine? Do I even need Art Tracks for my music? Let’s dive in.
According to YouTube, an Art Track is an automatically generated YouTube version of a sound recording.
Excuse us for getting a bit existential there. Art Tracks provide a “single official, label-sanctioned YouTube version of every sound recording.”
Once qualified recordings are identified based on their ISRCs, release identifiers (UPC, EAN, GRid), and labels, YouTube will create Art Tracks for each unique combination of these fields. This is YouTube’s attempt to provide as complete a music catalog and experience as they can. Art Tracks appear in the same places (like topic channels, album playlists, and search results) and operate in the same ways as produced music videos.
If you think about it, Art Tracks are just simple, auto-generated music videos. This makes sense if you consider that YouTube is trying to provide you with a music streaming experience on a video-only platform.
The really cool thing about Art Tracks is that anyone can watch them. Since YouTube does not require a subscription or even an account like Spotify, Apple Music or other streaming platforms, your songs are accessible on YouTube by anyone who searches for them on the site. Convenience means increased viewership, which means a larger possible fanbase.
While they’re not directly related to YouTube monetization through Content ID Administration, Art Tracks can be accessed by those who have access to the Content Management System (CMS). This could be a direct artist, channel, label, or rights administration company (like CD Baby).
Even though they may appear within the CMS like any other sound recording, Art Tracks are actually a part of a completely separate YouTube distribution service called YouTube Music and are not administered or managed via the CMS. Instead, all metadata changes, conflicts, or topic channel assignments are managed directly by YouTube.
YouTube Music services are currently available in the following territories.
The vast majority of music discovery in developed nations is done via YouTube. When a new album drops, or a friend suggests an artist or album someone might like, most folks turn to YouTube. As we explained above, YouTube’s popularity as a streaming service is mainly due to the convenience of the listener not needing an account or subscription to play the song as one does with streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Almost all modern produced music can be found on YouTube in one form or another. And if an artist has any sort of digital distribution strategy they will likely opt-in for YouTube Content ID. This means that YouTube is sitting on the largest collection of digital music in the world. And, at some point, someone in office on the Google campus had that lightbulb moment: Why not offer a way for the average YouTube user to stream the music that’s already been delivered to YouTube?
Users were already creating their own DIY Art Tracks and YouTube wanted to provide official representations of every sound recording they could, so they offered current music administrators the option of having Art Tracks created for their music. It didn’t take long for increasing numbers of artists to begin promoting their music on YouTube.
Art Tracks provide:
Furthermore, these topic channels and playlists would be created and managed by YouTube and not individual users. All of this, of course, was by design and in support of the imminent launch of YouTube’s subscription service: YouTube Premium.
As a YouTube Premium subscriber, you have the ability to listen to every Art Track on YouTube in an audio-only mode that includes all of the goodness of other streaming services, including high-quality audio and genome playlist creation.
Now, anyone on YouTube can search for and listen to any Art Track that exists on the platform. But a cool feature of YouTube Premium subscription is that in audio-only mode, it will always favor the high-quality audio of an Art Track over other versions of the song that inevitably exist on YouTube.
So, let’s say you’re listening to a Metallica playlist and “One” comes on. Instead of having to listen to the music video with clips from Johnny Got His Gun spliced in, you’ll be served up the album version in the highest audio quality available.
YouTube Premium services are available in the following territories.
At its core, an Art Track is simple: it’s a YouTube video that has the artist and song name in the title of the video and displays a static image of the cover art while the song plays.
This is not exactly a novel idea. In fact, artists have been creating their own version of Art Tracks for years. It’s easy:
OR you can use Rotor’s Smart Tracks feature to create professional Art Track videos that will stand out among the din and clamor of thousands of other artists’ cookie cutter Art Tracks. These can include custom text, visualizers and effects that are synced to your music to personalize the video. Peruse their samples and make your Art Tracks as unique as you are.
We’ve screenshotted each for your discerning eye.
Example #1 – User Generated “Art Track”:
Example #2 – Official Art Track created by YouTube:
What’s different?
For one, the descriptions are a dead giveaway:
An astute eye will also see that the videos in the “Up Next” queue differ between these two examples in a very specific way:
This is an important distinction in the behavior of these two assets: Art Tracks beget Art Tracks and UGC videos beget other UGC videos.
Now that you can tell the difference between YouTube-created and user-generated videos, let’s get into how they make money.
Whether you create your own Art Tracks the DIY way or use Rotor, making your Art Tracks can be beneficial to your brand. As you can see in the examples in the previous section, a self-created Art Track can contain relevant links to your music on other platforms in the description. Since you’re creating these videos yourself, they’re far more customizable than the Art Tracks YouTube generates.
You can also optimize the video itself with cards, end screens and other spiffy add-ons that aren’t on the automatically generated YouTube Art Tracks.
Through Content ID, your music is being actively searched for throughout YouTube. Every video that’s uploaded by every user is scanned and claimed if it contains one of your songs. Once claimed, you begin to get a portion of the revenue that video earns through ad and subscription supported views. So, one song can be identified and claimed in hundreds of videos and earn a portion of the revenue from each and every one of those videos.
It’s a much simpler process with Art Tracks. They also earn their revenue via ad and subscription supported views, but that revenue is only ever going to come from views of that specific Art Track. Art Tracks operate like a song on Spotify, only instead of earning per “stream” you earn per “view” (for subscription supported views) and you earn a share of ad revenue generated by ad-supported views.
For a complete study of YouTube revenue, check out this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast:
While Art Tracks and UGC videos earn revenue in the same manner (Ad supported and/or Subscription-Supported views), Art Track assets and UGC assets are a part of two different YouTube services. Thus, the revenue is distributed and reported separately:
Here’s the part that confuses most artists: You can opt-out of having your music administered through CD Baby’s social video monetization (though I really don’t know why you ever would) and still have your music on YouTube as Art Tracks.
Why is this? Since the distribution of music as Art Tracks on YouTube is a separate revenue flow, it is therefore a separate distribution service. And any distribution company worth its salt, such as CD Baby, will allow you to customize your service options to fit your particular needs. So, if you are a CD Baby artist, this service will be listed as YouTube Music under the Digital Distribution Partners list in your member’s account and you can uncheck the box next to it if you feel Art Tracks aren’t for you.
An Official Artist Channel (OAC) is YouTube’s equivalent of a verified artist profile. It’s a claimed artist page that gives you an official presence on YouTube where you can consolidate all of your content on YouTube like official videos you upload, Art Tracks and some User-Generated Content. An OAC gives the owner robust abilities within their YouTube account, including:
As a CD Baby artist, you can claim your YouTube channel to make it an Official Artist Channel right in your CD Baby account.
You can also claim your channel directly through YouTube. Instructions on how to do this are on the OAC page on their Help Center.
From now through June 8, when you submit music through CD Baby, you’ll receive credit to create a music video using Rotor, a video creation site for musicians.
Here’s how it works:
The result is a professional-quality video to use on YouTube, streaming platforms, and social media—with no video production skills or resources required.
Earn credit for a free Rotor video with each song or album you release with CD Baby.
Here’s how it works:
Grow your audience—Wide distribution to over 150 platforms around the world.
More ways to monetize—Streaming, downloads, sync licensing, social platform monetization, publishing royalties, and more.
No annual fees, keep 100% of your music rights—Pay once to keep your music up forever.
The help you need—Loads of DIY resources and expert support from fellow musicians.
Community—Founded and run by musicians, for musicians.
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No problem. Just pay for distribution now and use your free video credit later.
The post Everything You Need to Know About YouTube Art Tracks appeared first on DIY Musician.