You’ll have seen many YouTube accounts that have VEVO on the end. Many people think these are something you can get through your distributor, but sadly this isn’t the case. Some people add it onto their name themselves, however this certainly isn’t official and is pretty obvious. What is Vevo? How do you get an account and how does it compare to YouTube?
YouTube offers everything to an extent. You can create and upload videos of pretty much anything you like. It doesn’t matter what your skill or trade is, you can make videos for people to watch. The types of channels on YouTube are really broad because of this. Anyone can make videos, from absolute beginners, to people who do it for a living. Vevo however is different. It’s solely music based. Anything from music videos to live content. Providing it meets their criteria, which is simply music based content.
YouTube
By creating a YouTube Artist Channel, you’ll get access to the Creator Studio where you’ll be able to view your statistics and analytics from your channel. This will show you a report of how your channel is performing and that way you’ll know if there are certain areas that are weaker than others. You can optimize your videos by adding various tags. Overall, the Creator Studio will enhance your channel and the way it is viewed by your subscribers.
With a YouTube account you’ll be able to upload and take down videos. This will be completely down to you and won’t have to be run past anyone first. It gives you complete control over what content is being viewed. Along with this you’ll be able to engage with your subscribers, responding to their comments, messages and viewing their likes.
You’ll be able to host livestreams which your subscribers can watch and interact with. These can be a great way of encouraging people to watch your previous content. However, there is a downside to having just a YouTube account. Your videos might have a harder time going viral as they’ll be pitched against the rest. All the promotion and metadata comes back to you as the YouTube creative. Therefore, if you don’t know what you’re doing, sometimes your videos might fall short of the attention they deserve.
Vevo
Vevo is a premium music video service. It has over 23 billion monthly views across the world. They’re the top performing music platform when it comes to music video creation. Their aim is to provide personalised experiences for their audiences. Discovering new artists, music videos and live music content. You can access this content on any digital device, including your TV.
When you sign up for a Vevo account, you cannot customise the channel completely yourself. This is where some reins are taken from you. You’ll need a distributor to share your content through Vevo, and they can make alterations for you. This could be frustrating if they are busy and cannot get round to your channel quickly. However, typically these things are altered fairly quick.
Your Vevo distributor can change the following:
- Artist image
- Channel Banner
- Trailer Video
- Channel Description
- Social Media Links
- Featured Channels
- Google Analytics Tracking ID
- Playlist Creation
Some artists believe having a Vevo account makes you look professional. In fact a lot of YouTube users will see Vevo at the end of the artist’s name and automatically think they must be huge. So, in terms of growth, it can be powerful. You aren’t necessarily going to gain more from it but not being completely in charge yourself and being part of a respected brand will help boost your videos
Which is best?
Unfortunately that’s a decision you need to make for yourself. Sorry, I know that isn’t what you wanted to hear. However, you’re the only one that can really decide what you want from your work. If you are only here to share your music videos, then Vevo might be a fantastic idea for you. It could help you grow as an artist and have more people listening to your work. You’re far more likely to be featured on playlists and Vevo even have many of their own.
If you’re someone who might want to post the odd video of something different from time to time or perhaps doesn’t want to share music videos often, then Vevo won’t be for you. You’re better off looking into the wonderful world of YouTube. This way you’ll have full control over your content. It might be more of a challenge to bring in the viewers, but all good things start with a little challenge, don’t they?
The key really is doing your research into both. That’s why we’ve put this together to help you on your way. Otherwise, it’s pretty much like stabbing in the dark. Where are you going to end up with it? It isn’t really something you can just guess at and get right first time. Figure out what you’re looking for and then take a look at both sites themselves.
