How pointless is Youtube?

[colortwelve]

Your call, bronies. Tell me exactly how pointless it is to have a Youtube channel when nobody is actually aware of you. I'm pretty much set on closing mine for the time being, because of the above reason and that it takes a lot less time to upload pure audio to Soundcloud.

I guess the point is for you to laugh at how presumptuous it is to have a Youtube channel for music when you only even have one or two fit for the damn site.

[Mundius]

Well, it's nearly useless for me due to my Internet connection, but I'm the only one.

[the4thImpulse]

I only use soundcloud but when I talk to people who arent musicians and want to hear my work they always ask "whats you youtube?" so I figure it can be worth it to have one, for now i direct them to my soundcloud.

[HoovesTunes]

I'd say youtube serves it purpose, which would be to deliver somewhat decent quality videos, and to be a place where anyone can upload videos. Of course, for your purpose, to upload music, I suppose it's of less purpose, since it's aimed at Audio-visual works, whereas your prime medium is only audio.

The people who mostly use soundcloud are other artists, or let's just say people that are somewhat involved in music. So if you're only interested in a place to upload your tracks and show them to other artists or friends. The consumer-base is much less (It is there, just not in the same shape) than on for instance youtube, a place where the common John McBrony will click on one video to another. You can do this on soundcloud too, but you only get the title to choose from, not the neat little picture.

Basically, youtube is the common man land of joy,uploading here makes it easier for the listeners, but more of a hassle when you don't want to use both audio and visual. If you care for a following, a fanbase or something of the similar, I'd say keeping up a youtube is more likely to give you hits than soundcloud. If it's only the musical and improvement and something easy and quick you're seeking, without any serious desire for a fanbase or following, soundcloud would be your best choice. Soundcloud basically makes it easier for you, but not easier for the listener (to find you, that is).

[Habanc]

Your call, bronies. Tell me exactly how pointless it is to have a Youtube channel when nobody is actually aware of you. I'm pretty much set on closing mine for the time being, because of the above reason and that it takes a lot less time to upload pure audio to Soundcloud.

I know that feel.

Honestly, I enjoy youtube, because it gives me a reason to fire up GIMP and After Effects to make something better than the actual song in a fraction of the time.

Seriously though, when it comes to youtube, you just have to keep pounding away at it, add alot of tags and hope some people notice. I don't if that's how it exactly works in the music area, but for other stuff that's generally how I've seen it happen.

Persistence.

[colortwelve]

Points made, and taken. I'm hiding my channel for now, but when I'm done being a perfectionist with what I do have, I'll upload a few at once and reopen it. At least then I'll have the peace of mind in knowing that I didn't upload total crap... Just very, very refined crap.

[Freewave]

The majority of soundcloud is all about networking with other artists, the majority of the efforts on youtube is about networking with an audience (some artists but also so many more listeners). You do have to work in a more visual environment but most people just take a single image and avoid using pmv's even though the show can be openly sampled for tie ins. Again if you are trying to get noticed by non-musician bronies its kind of obvious that you need to have an active youtube as that's where the majority of people will be checking out your work, if they want to download it they'll go to your soundcloud or get it from mediafire if you post that there instead. But no youtube is not pointless, a persons gotta use both youtube and soundcloud if you wanna get noticed and have your music available for both parties. You need to work at your youtube if its not generating any fanbase. That's indicative that you haven't found out how to use it effectively or be able to translate to a broader audience. There are loads of accounts that sit out there and never take off, that's the majority of YT accounts.

I've been debating whether I want to abandon doing the pmv's I've been doing for my channel so far as its seems nearly everyone uses single static images for videos these days. The 3 hours i spend on a video feel as creative as the the track itself and adds to the concept but the basic software i use and the difficulty of syncing dialogue with show often make wonder if it's worth the extra time as that rarely translates into comments (they may look more amateur then i'd like to admit). If you combine both you gotta be good in both and tbh video and audio are both their own artform and require efficiency in both if you wanna combine them.

[sci]

what they said.
well, everyone that said "youtube is good for spreading your music to your audience (vs soundcloud = for other artists)"

as for "making a video is hard", just do this:
http://sci.bronyradio.com/stuff/hau-2-video.png

[Versilaryan]

I like Youtube a lot, even if you're relatively unknown. As stated before me, it's a way of connecting with your audience. And even if it's more of a visual medium, A LOT of people still go to Youtube purely to listen to music. You get more of a connection with your listeners, because more people have Youtube accounts than Soundcloud accounts. And overall, I think people are more accepting of a Youtube video song (even if it's just a picture) than a Soundcloud page. It will help you get your name out in the long run.

[bartekko]

I might be very wrong, but I heard an opinion that youtube audio compression is better than the soundcloud one

[Versilaryan]

^ That, too. Soundcloud's audio encoder is pretty terrible. Which is really funny, because they're an audio website. Meanwhile, Youtube has very little sound loss if you load the videos in 720p or higher.

[Doofcake]

EqD only features music that is on YouTube...
A heck of a reason to have a YouTube channel for your music.

[Mundius]

EqD only features music that is on YouTube...
A heck of a reason to have a YouTube channel for your music.

Do people really care about getting on EqD?

[bartekko]

Do people really care about getting on EqD?

UNFORTUNATELY EqD is practically the only way to get famous

[Mundius]

Do people really care about getting on EqD?

UNFORTUNATELY EqD is practically the only way to get famous

Okay, then. So, it's easy for me to NOT be famous.

[Navron]

"Getting famous," really isn't the best term to use. There are few bronies who simply make music for the sake of gaining popularity, and in all honesty, I see more non-bronies trying to take advantage of the fandom than I do bronies who simply want to become famous.

EqD is pretty much the only way to make yourself known to the community, but why should that be an issue if the majority of musicians aren't going after fame?

The answer is feedback and appreciation, which is a big difference from fame.

Now, there ARE musicians who create music solely for themselves, but there's a big difference as well in making music for yourself, and making music true to yourself.

Art, as a whole, is a way for the artist to carry a conversation over to the viewer/listener, without needing an actual conversation. In a way, it's an almost spiritual connection where the artist and viewer can connect.

Da Vinci didn't create his artwork and hold it for himself, much like how Mozart didn't write music simply for his own enjoyment. They shared their works with the world so the rest of us could enjoy that connection to the artist, even if we've never met.

For example, my songs are typically very dark. They're dark because I feel more emotion when working with minor chords and dissonant structures. When a person listens to my music and feels that same dark vibe, they feel a sense of connection to the thoughts and feelings I had while writing that song.

When that connection isn't there, it feels terrible. It feels as if nobody can understand your music, or fails to understand you as an artist.

So when people discuss frustration over not being featured on EqD, it isn't a frustration over a lack of subscribers, or having a name known to the community. It's a frustration because you've written a piece inspired by the show, you've shared it with the world, and nobody notices. Nobody seems to appreciate your love of the show, or they prioritize somebody else's love over your own.

[Mundius]

So when people discuss frustration over not being featured on EqD, it isn't a frustration over a lack of subscribers, or having a name known to the community. It's a frustration because you've written a piece inspired by the show, you've shared it with the world, and nobody notices. Nobody seems to appreciate your love of the show, or they prioritize somebody else's love over your own.

But is that not the reason why this site was made? In order to assist with music creation and a bit of getting your music out there?

[Freewave]

So when people discuss frustration over not being featured on EqD, it isn't a frustration over a lack of subscribers, or having a name known to the community. It's a frustration because you've written a piece inspired by the show, you've shared it with the world, and nobody notices. Nobody seems to appreciate your love of the show, or they prioritize somebody else's love over your own.

But is that not the reason why this site was made? In order to assist with music creation and a bit of getting your music out there?

I agree with NavyBrony in that I think everyone wants to get their music out there to be heard by people and to get positiive feedback (or constructive crticism if it's not quite up to par yet or could be 20% cooler) so that there's a reason for making music (other than ONLY being for yourself w/o any audience). EqD sadly is instrumental in getting an audience of non-musicians to even notice your work but I've said absolutely everything I want in the EqD thread and no one replied or has alternatives to get music out to a broader audience as an organized movement or an alternative yet. By all means get involved if you want to. MLR only works when people post on it.

MLR should be a place where we give feedback and develop our music, find ways that we can get it out there to be heard, and a place to feel inspired and meet, listen to, and connect with other brony musicians. Too often we talk only about the music making while people get frustrated that they don't have a clue how to get heard by anyone. It's worth discussing "marketing" or using the tools we have available at MLR (youtube definitely IS one of them) as people should be able to talk about such subjects w/o feelign they are "selling out" by wanting to be heard.

The top artists are the top artists not only because they were here first and were great musicans (both true), but they also built up their suppport network (youtube, subscriptions, EqD, and each other's channel hyping) over time and thus their tracks go viral as soon as they debut because everyone knows when they come out. There IS a true popularity there. New artists cannot expect the same thing to happen by accident or just focusing on making good music that isn't heard by anyone or marketed at all. It's also going to be harder being a third generation brony musician at this point and getting noticed from everyone else who has the same thing in mind. Sorry but true.

[randomblockfilms]

yeah i wouldn't hide your channel now. because then you close off opportunities of becoming known! what if lady gaga was like ZOMG! LOVE DIS SONG! and favorited it. but she couldn't because she did even see your song because you hid your channel. (that example is a stretch but i hope you get my point)

always set your self up for opportunities. the more opportunities you make, greater chances of success you will have.

[colortwelve]

I do get your point, but the issue is that I felt what I did have wasn't actually fulfilling my ability (or whatever it is) to its fullest - I felt like what I had uploaded was terrible. Sure, a couple of my friends from Facebook had seen them, and liked them, but I heard too much wrong with them to keep them up. Hiding my channel is really just a way to keep myself out until I have something halfway-decent. If and when I do have something good, then I'll unhide, upload, and hope for the best. But until then, it's Soundcloud to post my stupid one-offs or WIPs.

[MixolydianPony]

My guitar teacher and long time mentor (who is a successful, if not famous, professional musician) just told me today that it is a bad idea to "wait until you write something good". It's much better to just post something okay, and continue to post things. Forever. That way, everyone can see your improvement. I think people are more in it for the journey rather than the destination, if you know what I mean.

If it's good enough that someone, even if it's not you, would listen to it, then post it.

[colortwelve]

If it's good enough that someone, even if it's not you, would listen to it, then post it.

Hah, therein lies my issue. When I can't listen to it, I assume nobody can. I already hold myself to ludicrously high standards, and whenever I hear a problem with even one note, even one bit of a mix even a little out of place, I want to tear it down and make it beyond perfect.

That's why I don't feel like I can't do Youtube yet. Soundcloud, sure, that UL takes a lot less time and it basically exists for artists to show off anything and everything - which I interpret to mean stupid one-shot projects and WIPs that may not ever be finished...

My point is that something has to pass my standards first. I don't want to upload something I think is lame to Youtube. I guess what to do in this case would be to figure out other peoples' standards... But hey, that's what I'm using Soundcloud for.

Sigh... But I am finishing up my semi-okay tracks... I may unhide my YT channel soon enough.

[Navron]

There will always be parts of a song you don't like. It could be as small as a single hi-hat hit, or as large as a whole section. It's a completely normal response too, since you're always improving as a musician, there will always be things you want to do differently.

There's the saying that goes, "We're our own worst critics," and that's especially true with any form of art. Striving for perfection is a must, but perfection is rarely achieved, and in the eyes of the artist themselves, perfection is near impossible.

Shouldn't stop you from sharing your music with the world. After all, by the time you're done with a track, you usually end up sick of it, so you focus only on the negatives. Let somebody who hasn't heard the track 50+ times share their opinion about it.

[Freewave]

That's why I don't feel like I can't do Youtube yet. Soundcloud, sure, that UL takes a lot less time and it basically exists for artists to show off anything and everything - which I interpret to mean stupid one-shot projects and WIPs that may not ever be finished...

I'd work on forgetting this type of logic. The people who will be MOST forigiving will be non-artists. Those people won't freak out if there's one note out of place or the high-hat is off. As long as what you post there aren't WIPS then include youtube as part of your published tracks. All you need is a single image to complement your video (unless you want a whole pmv which is a whole other process) and you have a completed track, the same as you would have on soundcloud. It's not a lot of extra work. You can't have an audience if you don't post your music, warts and all. If a time comes when you remaster a track you can re-upload on YT as well. There will be nothing worse then to wait for yourself to reach severly lofty levels before you publish. If you don't post your music because of that then your result may not even get noticed at all (because you didn't build up an audience of subscribers) by the time it's ready in your eyes. Ultimately, it's up to you and your decision.

[colortwelve]

Well... I finished up with tweaking one song's mix and stuff... And I guess if it's done, I might as well reopen the channel and hope for the best. And hell, one song is still one song. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. And if all goes well, that track won't be lonely for very long.

Heh, thanks guys. Thanks for the logic, and encouragement, and all that.

(And I really hope this doesn't end up looking like some stupid cry for attention )