Consumers continue to flock to YouTube to view and listen to music content from their favorite artists. To better understand how advertisers can reach passionate consumers around this unique category, Pixability’s data analysts powered our platform to analyze the music space on YouTube — let’s dig into how the vast space continues to grow, and how consumers engage with different types of music content.

All Time Views of YouTube Categories

The music space is one of the largest on YouTube, second only to the gaming category. Our analysts found that music content attracts more than 1.2T total views across 1M channels, with more than 16M videos published.

Monthly Viewership of Music Content on YouTube

Over the past 5 years, monthly viewership of music content on YouTube continues to grow, with annual views increasing 31% from 2015 to 2016 as more and more consumers tune in and jam out.

Viewership Distribution of Most-Viewed Music Content on YouTube

Pixability found that the most-viewed music content was 3-5 minutes in length, earning a dramatic 55% of total views, in large part due to popular songs clocking in around this length.

Average Views and Engagements by Content Type

Audiences mostly tune into music content to watch official music videos, but other video types are also in high demand. Besides music videos, movie clips attract the largest viewership, while mashups drive the most engagements. Movie clip videos are largely songs featured in animated movies, while mashup content is made up of artists stringing samples of pop songs together, showcasing their musical chops as they create a new song. Views within the music space are growing by 31% year-over-year, while TV clips, covers, and comedy are helping drive that growth, increasing by 88%, 47%, and 34%, respectively.

Average Views and Engagements by Genre

K-Pop content earns the most views on average, while a capella videos drive the most engagements on average.
People feel a close connection with music, so it’s understandable that consumers hold this content in high regard. Music content receives an outstanding 94% positive reaction on YouTube, based on aggregate video likes vs. dislikes.
Now that we’ve unpacked the music space on YouTube, how can advertisers use this analysis to best reach their target audiences? These insights can help drive creative strategy, informing content published and creative length, as well as targeting strategies, helping advertisers understand what content resonates with their core audiences on YouTube.
If you’re looking to reach engaged audiences while they’re consuming the content they love, the music space on YouTube may be right for your advertising — and Pixability can help ensure your maximizing the impact of your video spend. Get in touch with our video experts today!