Everything you need to know to use YouTube Shorts as an artist – RouteNote

YouTube Shorts offers an amazing potential for artists and creatives of all shapes and sizes to reach new viewers and connect with fans in brand new ways. Taking after the TikTok, Shorts transform the wealth of video content on YouTube into short, easy-to-watch, and fun videos that are great for casual entertainment or a quick watch.

In the short time since Shorts have launched, theyve become a huge part of the veteran video site and gain billions of views every single day. Especially now whilst YouTube are prioritising Shorts videos to build the format and get YouTube users watching them, there is huge potential in reaching a much bigger audience with very little effort.

So, come and explore with us the potential in YouTube Shorts and how you can take advantage of them to grow your following.

Shorts are YouTubes answer to the short-form fun that is taking the world by storm on TikTok and Instagram Reels. With Shorts, viewers dont have to leave their favourite video website to take part in short and easy to watch videos, optimised for smartphones and watching whilst on the go.

They are videos of up to 60 seconds which are either vertical (9:16) or square (1:1) ratio, making them easy to watch on phones and tablets. Content on Shorts can be anything from little comedy skits and jokes to educational snippets and bite-sized facts, dances and music trends to insights and advice.

There are a number of ways you can upload YouTube Shorts and it depends on the content youre looking to upload and where from. Shorts was designed with simplicity in mind, allowing anyone to use YouTubes new in-app camera and editing tool available for on-the-fly recording. Recording with this tool means that users can immediately upload their Shorts straight after theyve filmed it.

From the editing tool creators can add music to their videos, effects and filters, adjust the speed of it, and more to create the effect they want with a simple phone recording.

You can also upload Shorts the same way that you would normal YouTube videos, with all of the editable functionality with descriptions and thumbnails on offer. If your video is under 60 seconds long and in the compatible aspect ratio then uploading it normally will allow YouTube to pick it up as a Short automatically. Some recommend adding the hashtag #shorts to your title to get recognised even more quickly.

You can also create Shorts from existing videos which are eligible for being sliced and made into clips. Videos which have been marked by the creator as approved for making clips from will show an option underneath the video to Clip it. This is only available on certain videos for the time being.

There are a number of places where you can find all of the Shorts on YouTube, whether youre looking for the ones that you have created and uploaded or the Shorts of others.

Channel pages: Shorts will show up on the feed of channels. You can find your own Shorts in your video list on your channel and any other creators. You can also scroll down a channels homepage to see a collection of their Shorts at the bottom, separated from their regular videos.

YouTubes homepage: On mobile devices, as you scroll down a sliding feed of Shorts will be available to explore based on trending videos and your tastes.

The Shorts tab: A Shorts feed is available on the bottom tab of the mobile app.

Subscriptions: When the channels youre subscribed to upload Shorts videos then theyll show up in your Subscriptions feed.

Searching: You can search topics and videos like usual and Shorts will be included in the search results.

Shorts offers a great opportunity for creators to get discovered and the potential for artists to use the format to reach new audiences is huge. For a start, creating Shorts yourself is a fantastic way to engage with audiences through a format that YouTube is prioritising currently and that engages with large audiences of viewers quickly.

Getting involved by creating your own Shorts opens up a huge opportunity to be watched by new viewers on the many places Shorts are displayed across YouTube. You can use them creatively to promote your music/artist personality in unique ways like behind the scenes videos, snippets of upcoming content, talking to fans, and whatever else you can come up with. Even just making a skit unrelated to your music can open you up to a big new audience that then have eyes on your content.

Then theres the Audio Library, a massive source of potential for tracks to go viral and for artists to be heard by listeners whove never heard them before. The Audio Library allows any creator to explore YouTubes music library and select a track to use as the soundtrack of their Shorts. This library is open to all creators and gives tracks the potential to reach millions of viewers when Shorts get viewed.

Each YouTube Short which uses a track from the Audio Library features that tracks icon in the bottom right. Viewers can tap this to go to the sound page for that track which shows more videos using that song. There is also then the option for fans to head straight to the music video for that track or create their own Short using the song.

Its been proven with TikTok that being featured in a viral video can lead an artist to blow up and convert into new listeners and higher streams.

There are numerous ways that Shorts can be used to promote your music and your artist brand. One method to explore is using your own music to create Shorts, where you can then record anything to engage viewers: dance around, cartwheel into a hedge, skate off a large ramp, fall over in a comical fashion whatever feels appropriate and entertaining. Treat it like a mini music-video that you can use to promote your track by showing every viewer a snippet of it.

Similarly, once your songs have gone live then encourage your fans to create Shorts with your music. Getting people sharing your music and setting it to videos theyve created is a fantastic way of creating unique and varied content around your music. You can encourage people to get involved by creating a trend: come up with a unique dance for your song or do something silly that people can recreate in their own video.

Using a hashtag is a powerful way of starting a trend and keeping all the content connected. Make sure to come up with something unique that wont be competing with other content and then encourage participants to create their own Shorts and use your hashtag to build a feed of fun and interesting videos that all link back to your track.

Find out how to get your music in YouTubes Audio Library in the section below so that Shorts creators can use it in their videos.

Another great way to use Shorts to reach audiences is to take a step back from your own music and create engaging content beyond it. Any content that appeals to viewers is building your brand and gaining you increased recognition. Why not explore your creative process in a Short, appealing to likeminded music creators? Or you could provide some advice on the trials youve faced as a musician and how youve overcome them.

You can make the most of anything youre doing by recording it and sharing it. Going into a practice session? Why not record a snippet and share it with fans to show what youre working on. Getting merch ready for a tour date? Share what youve got on offer in a Short and show fans what they can get whilst promoting your upcoming gigs at the same time.

Anything youre doing will be interesting if you have dedicated fans who love your music. People love being able to relate to the people they look up to, and seeing behind the curtain at what happens beyond the music can be a great way to connect with audiences in a personal way that offers them some deeper value though if this doesnt work for your artist persona, then fair enough!

Heres some inspiration for using YouTube Shorts to promote your next release with an example schedule and strategy for combining a new release with Shorts content for maximum engagement. These tips come straight from YouTube themselves, so take notes!

Use Shorts as a creative platform for your music and brand, not just a place to broadcast messages

Announce your upcoming release

Connect to audiences with behind-the-scenes content

Encourage fans to make their own Shorts using your music

Use Shorts Analytics to measure the performance of your Shorts content and make informed decisions for the future strategies

Continue posting Shorts with your music and engaging with fans on your Shorts

At RouteNote we can add your music to the YouTube Shorts Audio library for free. First up youll need to create a free account and then upload your music. Select YouTube Music as a store to ensure that your music is sent to YouTubes library.

Once your music has been approved, fill out this form to find out if your track is eligible to be made available in the YouTube Shorts library: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNQWHN3RykE3liAZKH925PAI8qABR_haXA3Ytd2U1QRcFaIA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

If a video is in 9:16 or 1:11 ratio and is under a minute long then it will automatically be recognised as a Short and featured in the sections where YouTube features Shorts.

If your content has been uploaded for Shorts through RouteNote and isnt available in the Audio Library, it may be because it wasnt eligible. Some tracks wont be eligible for certain territories or because of the rights involved in them. If you believe your music should have been eligible for Shorts but isnt available in the library then get in touch with our support team via a support ticket on the website or at support@routenote.com.

Subscribers who have their bell notifications turned on for a channel will be sent personalised Shorts highlights notifications. Belled subscribers will receive up to three notifications a day for non-Shorts videos on a channel and a maximum of three personalised Shorts highlight notifications across all of the channels theyre subscribed to.

Only the primary owner of a channel can upload Shorts. YouTube have plans to update the Shorts potential across channel permissions.

You can see analytics for your Shorts videos the same as the rest of your content in your channels analytics dashboard. On your individual Shorts you can select the Analytics button to bring up a display of performance statistics for that video in particular.

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Everything you need to know to use YouTube Shorts as an artist - RouteNote