The Musicians Who Get Love On Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2017

Last year, we examined the songs that YouTube viewers are most likely to share on Valentine’s Day. This year, we analyzed musicians who see their biggest viewership increases on Valentine’s Day.

Among all musicians on YouTube, Martina McBride’s music has had the largest increase in views on Valentine’s Day. When compared to an average day on YouTube, her content receives 2.8x more views on Feb 14th.

For example, here are views for McBride’s music over the past two years.

It’s no surprise that fans revisit her music on Valentine’s Day: McBride’s most popular song on YouTube is “Valentine,” with nearly 21M views since the beginning of 2016.

Other top 10 artists on Valentine’s Day include Kina Grannis (2.1x higher), Barry White (1.53x higher), Outkast (1.3x higher), and Lionel Richie (1.21x higher).

In the U.S., Whitney Houston has the #1 spot for musicians who see the largest increase in views of their music (2.7x). Other artists unique to the U.S. include Chaka Khan (1.7x) and Savage Garden (1.5x).

In the U.K., R&B royalty Keith Sweat (1.6x), K-Ci & JoJo (1.5x), and Brian McKnight (1.5x) break into the top 10.

We also looked at musical trends for Valentine’s Day in 2017. While this year will be tough to predict, we’ve noticed a couple surprising insights:

David Bowie’s “Valentine’s Day” should continue to rise in popularity. Last year on Valentine’s Day, David Bowie’s untimely passing led his song “Valentine’s Day” to break into the top 10 songs with “valentine” in the title. It surged 400 percent on February 14, 2016, vs. the year prior.

When it comes to love songs (songs with “love” in the title), Justin Bieber had the top spot on Valentine’s Day in 2016 with “Love Yourself,” and he’s primed to repeat this feat in 2017. Among all of this year’s songs with “love” in title, DJ Snake’s “Let Me Love You” ft. Justin Bieber is the most popular, amassing nearly 200M views since its release.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show’s Biggest Acts & Their Fans On YouTube

February 03, 2017

From iconic solo performers such as James Brown and Michael Jackson, to supergroups like The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Super Bowl Halftime show has become one of the game’s most anticipated events. Considering the number of legendary musicians who have performed, we began to wonder: how does an artist’s Super Bowl performance help grow their fanbase on YouTube?

The Impact a Super Bowl Halftime Performance has on Artists' Subscribers

Last year, we examined the views bumps that artists’ videos receive following their Super Bowl performances. This year, we decided to focus on YouTube subscribers

Looking back at the artists who have performed in the past 4 years, it was Destiny’s Child who had the greatest increase in official channel subscribers following the 2013 Super Bowl, with an increase of 427%. For this same performance, Beyoncé herself saw an increase of 196%. The huge increase in subscribers on the official Destiny’s Child YouTube channel was most likely due to the long-awaited reunion of the group, who had not performed together since 2007.

When Beyoncé returned to perform at the Super Bowl in 2016, she saw a subscriber bump of 145%, but the moment belonged to headliners Coldplay, who saw a subscriber bump of 234% for their Super Bowl debut.

Love For the Halftime Show’s Songs

It’s clear that even established artists with vast worldwide fanbases can grow their audience online as a result of playing the Super Bowl Halftime stage. The songs they play on game day reach millions of listeners around the world. They grow even more popular as old fans reconnect with past favorites and new listeners discover tracks for the first time. Among all Super Bowl Halftime artists over the last four years, who has had the largest increase in views for the songs that they performed?

Among the past four years’ headliners — Coldplay, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé — it was Beyoncé who had the greatest increase in YouTube video views for songs performed at the Super Bowl (a 54.8% increase). This was more than double the increase in views for Coldplay (27%), Katy Perry (23.9%), and Bruno Mars (21%).

This year, Lady Gaga is set to entertain the millions watching Super Bowl LI. Check back here for more Super Bowl analyses!

Your In-Depth Interactive Guide to YouTube Rewind 2016

December 07, 2016

Every year, we like to look back on the biggest trends on YouTube through our Rewind video, and we’re excited to debut the 2016’s version today.

We’ve tried to jam a year’s worth of culture into only a few minutes, and it can be tough to catch every reference. That’s why this year, we’ve created an in-depth, interactive guide to the creators, songs, and trends we’ve featured that plays as you watch:

To check it out, click the image above or have a look here!

Introducing The YouTube Music Viral Charts

November 29, 2016

Today we’re launching another charts feature on youtube.com/artists, called Viral Videos, where we’ll be spotlighting 50 music videos that are catching fire on YouTube each week. This is in addition to charts we’ve launched that show you the most popular tracks, artists, and music videos on YouTube.

To give a sense of the breadth of genres and artists that comprise the Viral Videos chart, we’ve put together a recap of the top 10, below:

1. Britney Spears ft. Tinashe -"Slumber Party"

The Princess of Pop ascends to the top of this week’s Viral Chart with the second single from her 2016 album Glory.

2. Kehlani - "Distraction"

Following up her immensely successful mix tapes, Kehlani’s “Distraction,” the second single from her upcoming debut album, SWEETSEXYSAVAGE, is in the second spot.

3. Shakira ft. Maluma - "Chantaje"

With the help of YouTube’s sizable Latin viewership, Shakira’s “Chantaje” lands at #3.

4. Lil’ Yachty ft. Quavo, Skippa da Flippa - "Minnesota"

The newly released video for “Minnesota,” the second of the two tracks that garnered Lil’ Yachty tremendous attention in 2015 (the first is “1 night”), is the fourth-most viral music video this week.

5. Noah Cyrus ft. Labrinth - "Make Me (Cry)"

Noah Cyrus continues to set herself apart from elder sister Miley with this Lana Del Rey-esque ballad, at #5.

6. Pentatonix - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

Pentatonix’s characteristically polished five-part harmony of a traditional English carol, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” is gaining traction in time for Christmas.

7. Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj - "Side to Side" (Live From The 2016 American Music Awards)

Ariana Grande’s American Music Awards performance of the immensely popular “Side To Side” — the track received over 500 million views in under 3 months — was one of our most viral videos last week.

8. Piko Taro - "PPAP vs AXEL F"

Piko Taro's viral “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” meets Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F,” the classic 80s track featured in Beverly Hills Cop.

9. OK Go - "The One Moment"

OK Go maintain their tradition of releasing some of the most imaginative videos on YouTube with “The One Moment.” It’s also the newest video in our Viral Chart top 10, released on Nov. 24.

10. Grace VanderWaal - "I Don't Know My Name"

Grace Vanderwaal is the youngest artist on our Viral Chart this week. The twelve-year-old ukulele player and singer-songwriter debuts the video for “I Don’t Know My Name,” made up of her fans’ artwork, at #10.

To check out the rest of the Top 50, head over to the YouTube Charts page and click the Viral Videos tab.