Love following musicians on YouTube? The video platform is now working to simplify music subscriptions through an updated version of Official Artist Channels. Announced on January 23, as the updated Official Artist Channels roll out, users following multiple channels from the same artist will see fewer notifications as their music tastes are merged into a single channel for each artist.
YouTube launched the Official Artist Channel last year, adding a music note icon to designate accounts that come from the artists themselves. Now, all subscribers to any of the artists’ channels will be directed into one Official Artist channel. For music fans, that means you can listen to the latest from an artist in one channel, rather than needing to access different channels for music videos, albums with lyrics, live performances or backstage shoots. “Uniting subscribers under one channel means you’ll be able to go deeper and explore all of the content from the artists you love,” YouTube says.
YouTubers already subscribed to an unofficial channel will automatically be added to the official channel while the unofficial one becomes inactive, YouTube says. “The Official Artist Channel is a single destination that gives you access to an artist’s full body of work, so you’ll now receive notifications solely from the Official Artist Channel whenever new videos are uploaded or when an artist wants to send a message to their fans,” YouTube wrote in the announcement post.
When searching for a new artist to follow, a text search will access the Official Artist Channel, which, as before, is designated with that music note icon.
For artists themselves, YouTube says the change offers more reach by displaying all videos to all subscribers, rather than having fans spread out across multiple channels. The same concept of further reach also applies to Community Posts, Mobile Live, and Ticketing, YouTube says.
While the move is designed to simplify the music experience on YouTube by putting all the videos in one place, users who really only wanted to see one type of video may not appreciate the less complex system. Time will tell, as YouTube says the change will be rolling out over the next few weeks.
