YouTube Announces Official Artist Channels

What are Official Artist Channels?

Up until recently, any official artist channels that you saw on YouTube generally belonged to VEVO. For those living under a rock, VEVO is a video hosting service that was founded in 2009 between three major labels for their artists. An easy way to think of VEVO is like a verification type of service. A lot of artists want to get a VEVO channel. In most cases, an artist with a VEVO channel is generally signed to a label or they are independently taking their music career seriously. VEVO stands for Video EVOlution and is only available in select countries. However, in early February, YouTube has launched their own official artist channels. All unofficial channels will be consolidated into one YouTube artist destination.

So, what exactly does all of this mean? No worries. You are still able to get a VEVO channel. Spotting official artist channels will be easy as they will sport a musical note icon to indicate the validity of the channel. Previous subscribers to other channels will automatically be subscribed to the new channels. There are a few reasons why YouTube has gone this route. Most noteworthy, pushing official artist videos to subscribers instead of user generated content. This takes control away from VEVO and will result in difficulty finding VEVO channels in the future.

Official Artist Channels Benefits

While all of this may sound concerning for VEVO users – for now, it shouldn’t be. If anything, it could be looked at as multiple streams of income on the same platform. Collecting royalties from both networks can be a win/win if done right. You also may be wondering why it took YouTube so long to do this. It is most likely because Sony and Universal had all of their artists on the VEVO video service. However, with new licensing deals and a new streaming service on its way – Google is flexing their muscles a bit. Artists reaping the benefits of having a VEVO and also having all of their content connected in one central profile is a great thing. No longer will the content only be available in select countries but can now be distributed world-wide. Find out how to get a VEVO channel for yourself.