As part of their “Get Yourself Out There” series, Point Blank Music School joined us to take a look at how YouTube measures up against SoundCloud for new artists.
One was a purpose-built audio platform designed to promote new musicians to the world. The other was a purpose-built video platform designed to promote cats, teenage make up tutorials and viral videos. Yet, over the last few years, YouTube has quietly become the powerhouse for new music discovery. Event brands like UKF and collectives like Eton Messy have made their name simply by curating playlists.
The Eton Messy boys (pictured above) have established a brand, record label and party series all off the back of their successful YouTube channel.
“We never had a strategy, as you can probably tell by the name…”, laughs Charlie Wedd, of Eton Messy. “People used YouTube to soundtrack their house parties. So, we made a channel, just for us and our mates, to do exactly that. Then, we started DJing.” Four years, a string of international tours and a series of festival stages later, what began as a novel side project has become an industry norm.
In fact, such is the impact of YouTube on music, it could be argued that one of the more recent post-EDM trends, Tropical House shot to prominence due to its perfect fit into this original ‘pre-drinks’ genre demand. R&B vocals, a worrying amount of electric keys and a generally soft beat typify the genre. As does a huge amount of imagery, mostly depicting bikini-clad girls lounging on the beach, or by the pool.
Make no mistake, lots of it is rampantly sexist, and some of it is so formulaic it makes big room EDM look diverse. However, it’s opening new doors. Channels like The Vibe Guide, The Sound You Need, Electro Pose and Majestic Casual have made it arguably easier than ever before for emerging producers to get noticed. Why? Because unlike a label, there’s no commitment either end: YouTube channels are the effective stand-ins for radio shows.
Where does that leave SoundCloud? At present, YouTube channels seem to be largely dominated by a collection of niche genre-based channels (i.e. TrapCity, MrSuicideSheep). SoundCloud has no such issue. Furthermore, SoundCloud is arguably set up better for people looking to find obscure genres and artists they wouldn’t normally expose themselves to, while YouTube’s setup remains curiously similar to conventional radio: it’s harder to move across genres without restarting your search. That being said, YouTube has practically zero downtime, less copyright-based takedowns (though they are becoming more prevalent) and Google is slowly but surely looking to optimize segments of YouTube specifically for music. While SoundCloud is arguably built for music fans, YouTube’s wider base will, by definition, hit more people.
Our vote for emerging producers? Send a few tracks out to any channels that suit your sound. There’s no telling what the future holds for either platform, but in the meantime: there’s no harm in totally free coverage for rising artists.
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