Most artist channels on YouTube are a pile of videos in upload order. A viewer watches your music video to the end, and YouTube offers them another artist's video next. Yet there are three simple tools for this: playlists, end screens and community posts. They keep viewers on your channel and keep the conversation going between releases.
Organise your channel with playlists
Playlists are the shelves of your channel; viewers explore your world through them. For an artist, a split like this usually works:
- Music videos. Official videos, newest first.
- Live. Concerts, acoustic sessions, live takes from the studio.
- Lyric videos and visualizers.
- Albums. One playlist per album, with tracks in album order.
- Behind the scenes. Shoots, studio sessions, talking videos.
Give playlists names people might search for: "Lalə Nova live sessions" beats an empty name like "Videos 2". Add a sentence or two to the description about who you are and what you play. Pay special attention to the first video, because that's what people see when they open the playlist.
Playlists don't have to contain only your own videos. If you build a playlist of songs you love in your genre, something like "Late-night Azerbaijani pop", and place your own videos among them, it can bring new people to your channel through search.
On your channel's home page, lay out your playlists as sections. YouTube lets you show one video to people who aren't subscribed and another to returning subscribers. Show newcomers a video that introduces you, and subscribers your latest release.
With an Official Artist Channel, your releases also come together on one channel. If you release through CULT, the portal has a request form for an Official Artist Channel: you enter the release UPC, your YouTube channel link and the Topic channel link. YouTube makes the decision, and approval is not automatic.
End screens: hand the viewer to your next video
End screens are elements that appear in the final seconds of a video: another video, a playlist, a subscribe button or another channel. YouTube only allows them at the very end, in a limited window, so check the current rules in YouTube Studio.
Think about those seconds when you shoot or edit. Put a calm shot, the cover or a simple background at the end, so the elements don't cover faces or text. A video that cuts off the moment the song ends leaves no room for an end screen.
Where to send people:
- To your newest video, so viewers of older videos discover what's new.
- To your music videos playlist. A playlist keeps playing, so the viewer stays with you for several videos.
- To the subscribe button. Someone who just watched the whole video may still not be subscribed.
Don't pile four elements on top of each other. Two clear choices usually work better than four cluttered ones. YouTube Studio lets you import an end screen from another video, so you can roll a ready template out to all your older uploads quickly.
In the middle of a video, use cards. If there's a moment that refers to another video of yours, let a card appear right there.
Community posts: talk between releases
Community posts, called simply "Posts" in newer versions of YouTube, let you talk to subscribers without uploading a video: text, images, polls. Check whether the feature is available on your channel through the Create button in YouTube Studio or the app.
A few ideas:
- A poll. "Which song should get an acoustic version next?" People enjoy voting, and you learn what they actually think.
- A behind-the-scenes photo. From a shoot, the studio or a rehearsal.
- A premiere reminder. Date and time of the new video.
- One line. A lyric from the new song, with no explanation.
- A thank-you. After a release, to listeners and to everyone who worked on the video.
One or two posts a week is plenty. What matters is that the channel doesn't go silent in the months between videos. Reply to comments under your posts too; it's the simplest reason for people to comment again.
Putting it together around a release
A made-up example: Lalə Nova is preparing a new video for "Yay gecəsi". A week before, she runs a poll in a community post asking which of two stills should be the cover. On premiere day she posts a reminder. The new video's end screen shows her music videos playlist and a subscribe button. Most importantly, she updates the end screens on all her older videos to point to the new one, so everyone who lands on an old video also sees what's new.
A quick channel check
- Does the channel have at least three clear playlists?
- Have you chosen separate home page videos for newcomers and subscribers?
- Does every video leave room at the end for an end screen?
- Do older videos point to your newest one?
- Have you published at least a few community posts in the last month?