YouTube for artists: Official Artist Channel and YouTube Studio

What to do, in order

1. 1

   Use one channel for one artist

   You must own and run a music-focused channel for one artist or band, and it must comply with YouTube's policies.

2. 2

   Have an official release on YouTube

   You need at least one official release on YouTube delivered by a distributor or label. YouTube also recommends a public video on the channel, because requests without one may be rejected or need more verification.

3. 3

   Check you meet the partner requirement

   You also need one of these: a YouTube Partner Manager, membership of the YouTube Partner Program, a label network with a Partner Manager, or distribution by a partner in the YouTube Services Directory.

4. 4

   Ask your label or distributor to request it

   There is no form to fill in yourself. If you have no label or distributor, a Music Service Partner from the YouTube Services Directory can make the request for you.

5. 5

   Read your analytics in YouTube Studio

   Open YouTube Studio and go to Analytics. Owning or managing an Official Artist Channel gives you song analytics. To give someone else access, add them through your channel permissions in Settings.

6. 6

   Check the Releases tab

   On desktop, go to YouTube Studio, Content, then Releases. This is where you can see release titles, artists and art, and ask YouTube to add or remove a release.

What song analytics show

Song analytics cover long-form videos and Shorts, including your own channels and other channels featuring your music. They count videos that contain all or most of a song, feature the recording, or name the artist, album or song in their details. Revenue figures are for creators in the YouTube Partner Program.

When a release on your channel is wrong

The Releases tab handles the common cases, and its requests show as Under review or Resolved. YouTube doesn't state how long they take.

• Someone else's release is on your channel: choose This is not my release. Remove from channel.
• It's your release but you don't want it on the channel: choose Although this is my release, remove from channel.
• Your release is on YouTube but missing from your channel: use the Let us know link at the bottom of the Releases tab.
• Your music is on someone else's channel, or the wrong artist is credited: ask your distributor. The correction tools for this are for label and distributor partners.

What YouTube Studio can't change

The Releases tab lets you view release titles and art, but it describes no way to edit them. YouTube also builds its artist pages automatically and says it can't update them by hand, so wrong details usually need to be fixed at the source. Becoming an Official Artist Channel can also mean losing access to some other channel features, such as Ask Studio.

How Traxure helps

Traxure checks your releases on YouTube Music once a day, alongside Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TIDAL, SoundCloud and Pandora. When a release stops showing, it emails you the before, the after and a note to your distributor ready to send. It works with any distributor, and monitoring starts with a seven-day free trial.

Questions artists ask