Musicians, Take Note: YouTube Music, Premium now have 100M Subscribers

YouTube has often been more about promotion than revenue for most musicians., but that is changing as YouTube Music and YouTube Premium pass 100 million subscribers, up 20 million in the last year.

YouTube’s last public statements of annual revenue to creators was $6 billion between July 2021 and June 2022, a number that the 100 million milestone suggests is now significantly higher.

Music promotion on YouTube, accessed via its “For Artists” portal, is unique among streamers because of the interplay between YouTube’s free and paid tiers, YouTube Shorts, and YouTube Music’s paid premium service.

That YouTube and YouTube Music are also part of the greater Google ecosystem points to further innovation in the future.

“In 2015, many doubted a subscription model could thrive on YouTube.” said YouTube’s Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen. “They said the market was crowded, and our platform was too different. Today – 100 million subscribers later – our distinctiveness is precisely what drives our success and why I still see so much room for growth.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.