YouTube Topic Channels – Full Guide
As listeners, we often encounter the term “Topic” when exploring our favorite artists on YouTube. Many artists have “Topic” channels associated with their music on the platform. Surprisingly, numerous bands and artists are either unaware of these channels or lack a thorough understanding of their purpose and management.
This guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of YouTube Topic channels, helping artists understand why these channels are created, how to manage them, and how they relate to official artist YouTube channels.
YouTube Topic channels are automatically generated by YouTube, independent of the official artist channels. These channels help artists reach a broader audience and are not managed or editable by anyone. This means that no one can modify the videos, titles, descriptions, tags, or delete content on these channels.
The creation of YouTube Artist Topic Channels is initiated by music distributors. When artists release new music through distributors like DistroKid or iMusician, they specify which platforms (or channels) their music will be uploaded to. For instance, an artist might choose to upload music to Spotify but not to Deezer. The choice of platforms is a mandatory step in the distribution process.
YouTube’s music streaming service, YouTube Music, functions similarly to Spotify, offering a subscription-based model for music streaming. If artists opt to make their music available on YouTube Music through their distributor, YouTube automatically generates a video for each song, creates an automated artist channel, and uploads the video to this channel.
Artists can avoid having their music on YouTube Topic channels by not selecting YouTube when creating a new release on the distributor’s website. However, this also means that their music will not be available on the YouTube Music platform. It’s important to note that YouTube Music is distinct from YouTube.
YouTube Music is a music streaming platform similar to Spotify, requiring a monthly subscription for users to stream any track available. In contrast, YouTube is a well-known free video platform. YouTube Music can be accessed at YouTube Music.
Yes, artists do receive royalties from YouTube Topic channels. All revenue generated from YouTube Music is reflected in the monthly income reports on the distributor’s website. This includes income from YouTube Topic channels, which comes from ads displayed on these videos. In contrast, revenue from YouTube Music is derived from paying subscribers.
As Topic channels are not editable, they cannot be deleted. However, many artists prefer to have all their content, including songs, on their own YouTube channels. To achieve this, artists can merge their auto-generated YouTube Topic channels with their official YouTube channels, resulting in an Official Artist Channel. This new channel consolidates content from both channels and is identified by a small musical note symbol next to the channel name.
To create an Official Artist Channel (OAC), artists need to request this through their distributor or label. More information is available on the YouTube Help Desk here.
For artists using DistroKid as their distributor, further details can be found here.
This guide aims to clarify the concept and management of YouTube Topic channels, providing artists with the knowledge to optimize their presence on YouTube and YouTube Music.