Reports Music

YouTube Music Curators Media Assets or Next-Gen Labels?

Zach Fuller
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The 20,000 Foot View:  The rise of the YouTube channel curator was one of the defining stories in music throughout the 2010s, and yet in the era of global success stories such as Kondzilla and T-Series, their place in the music ecosystem is still being defined. YouTube points both towards the potential future of the label and essentially a new kind of visual media property. This report explores the economics of music on YouTube and what makes rising streaming markets such as Brazil especially favourable for these types of channels. In the context of artist marketing and rights management, a key question emerges: in a pure streaming economy without the legacy of physical and traditional copyright frameworks, are YouTube channel curators positioned to be the most successful music business models? 

Key Insights

  • YouTube curator            in fast-growing streaming markets benefitted            latent demand and limited competition 
  • Latin America                       of Spotify’s user base but            YouTube’s music base
  • An average                       of            year olds watch music            on YouTube compared to an                       of consumers aged            and above
  • Between November            and 2018, YouTube paid out            in advertising revenue to the            music industry
  • The present            rights organisation (PRO) and collective            organisation (CMO) framework takes more            from labels than YouTube channels
  • YouTube is            amenable to music channels that            its business model such as            creators and curators, which has            its growth more than traditional            video channels

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Prime Music, Amuse, Apple Music, Beggars, Boiler Room, BuzzFeed, Deezer, Google, Google Play Music,            Kondzilla, Napster, Patreon, SBTV, Spotify, Trap Nation, T-Series, Universal Music Publishing Group, YouTube, YouTube Music