30 YouTube Content Ideas for Musicians

I just did a post about YouTube content for Musicians, so I thought it would be cool to create a list of YouTube content ideas if you don’t have any idea of what to do. I’ll make these too at some point and we can share. If you end up making one, drop your link in my comments and let me know how it worked out for you!

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YouTube Content Video Ideas for Musicians

The great thing about most of these is that they’re reusable. You don’t need to feel weird about doing them a few times, but I would suggest staggering them so you don’t do the same type of idea several times in a row.

1). Performance Piece

This is an obvious one, but you can’t go wrong with a video that showcases your talent!

2). A Day in My Life

You can either focus on your life as a musician, or just a regular day in your life. Or do both and have two videos! Some advice for this one: Daily vlogs can be tedious if they aren’t done well. Check out popular YouTubers and see how they vlog, then try to follow their style. You don’t need to film 10 hours of you doing nothing. Try to show the basic highlights of your day and keep it interesting and entertaining!

3). Preparing for a Performance/Music Video/Photo Shoot/Recording Session

Show people how you get ready! This is interesting information and people love behind-the-scenes videos.

4). DIY Music Video

I’ve done several of these and people seem to like them, but there are many other artists that do this also! You can use stop motion, drawing, do a time-lapse, whatever creative ideas you have can make a good video.

5). YouTube Tags

These are great because they let people get to know you. It’s basically answering questions for people. There is a whole site of YouTube tags where you can choose one that applies to you.

6). Album Review

Did your favorite artist just release a new album? Tell us about it! What are your favorite and least favorite tracks? Even better if you want to sing or play some of it for us!

Note: You can also review old albums, they don’t have to be new! Newer albums will rank higher on searches simply because it’s current, but if your favorite album came out 10 or 20 years ago, that’s totally fine!

7). Discuss Music News

There’s always interesting drama happening in the music industry. Tell us your opinion on it! Do you think Nicki Minaj stabbed her ex? Are you excited for Lauren Jauregui’s solo career? If you don’t know what’s new in music, check out Billboard, Buzzfeed, NME or whatever your favorite news source is. The more mainstream your story, the more likely you’ll get noticed. However, the more obscure and random your story, the more you’ll find specific fans who will really love finding a video about their favorite indie band!

8). Talk About Your Influences

A lot of artists like to say, “I don’t sound like anyone else.” I don’t think people should say this, because a). yes you do, and b). we need some frame of reference for what we’re about to hear. Obviously you don’t sound *exactly* like someone else, but I’m sure you have something similar! If you don’t want to talk about who you sound like, this is a good alternative. Talking about your influences will show people your musical roots. This is always an interesting topic!

9). Music in Your Town

Talk about the music scene where you live. You can compare it to where you came from (for example, if you moved to a big city from a small town), or you can tell us about the nightlife. As a bonus, it would be great if you showed us some of the nightlife! Record a few snippets of concerts, open mics or events in your area. Let us live through you.

10). Review Music Videos

This one is interesting because it incorporates a visual into it also. You can search YouTube’s trending category and there’s usually at least one music video on it. Watch it and react to it, or discuss what you like and don’t like about it. Again, you’ll get better results from trending topics, but you can use an old one if you prefer!

11). Interview People

Create some questions and ask your producer, co-writer, fans, or family to be on video. This will give us a unique aspect of your life and how others view you. Some questions could be “When did you first think I had a talent in music?” (for your family) or “What was your first impression of me?” (for your co-writer). You can ask professional contacts if you want to focus on music, or you can ask family if you want a more personal connection.

12). Play Games

You know how Jimmy Fallon has his wheel of musical impressions? Try something similar for yourself! You can take any gameshow and modify it to your own video. You can play solo or have your friends or band join you! There’s also finish that lyric, guess that song or any other gameshow you like.

13). Unboxing

Did you get a new piece of gear or a new instrument? Open it with us! Let us see your excitement. Videos like this are really popular and will help us see what you’re excited about.

14). Review a Concert

I’ve done a few of these, but mostly in blog form. If you’re able to record snippets of the concert, you can combine them into a video review of the show. Drew Gooden recently reviewed a Jake Paul concert and it was funny and entertaining. This is a good chance to show us what you like or don’t like about live shows.

15). Take Us Shopping

Show us what you look for with stage clothes, makeup, gear, or whatever you’re into. This will show us your personality as well as giving us a sneak peek into whatever you have coming up.

16). Record a Rehearsal

Your band rehearses, right? Set a camera off to the side and let us see how it goes! Even if you argue or fight, people love drama (see: literally every reality show). If you’re a solo act, I’m sure you still rehearse and/or warmup, right? Show us how you prepare for a show or recording session.

17). Talk About a Song

This is great especially if you have new material coming out. Tell us what inspired you to write it (or record it if you didn’t write it). Tell us what it means to you and what you hope we get out of it. What are some struggles you had while working on it? You can also talk about a whole album in general, a music video, new merch, anything you want us to know about!

18). Get Personal

What made you who you are? You don’t have to share any tragedies (unless you want to), but feel free to be a little vulnerable here. If you already did #5 and did a YouTube tag, you can expand on any of your answers there. You can always edit it later if you feel like you overshared something, but it’s great to let your fans in on your private life.

19). Talk About a Hobby

I’m sure you do other things besides music, so tell us about it! How did you get into it? How often do you do it? Does it relate to music at all, or are they completely separate and why?

20). Room Tour

These are also popular videos because they allow us an insight into your life. Take us on a tour of your studio, writing room, vocal booth, whatever you have that will let us see inside your world for a minute. There are tons of examples of this on YouTube, so feel free to use them as inspiration.

21). Tutorials

Teach us how to do what you do! Many people don’t like the idea of this because they feel like they’re creating more competition, but that actually isn’t the case (you didn’t become a historian from your history class, did you?) Most people will just enjoy watching how you do something and won’t actually take the time to learn it themselves, or if they do, they’ll put their own spin on it anyway.

22). Show Us Your Pets

I’ll admit, this one is purely selfish. I just love seeing animals so I want you to make a video about yours. If you end up doing this, let me know! Post a link in the comments and I’ll check it out for sure.

23). React to Old Songs

I did this in one of my videos and it was surprisingly a lot of fun! Show us one of your old songs and let us know what you think of it now. Are you proud of it still, or did you (like me) cringe uncontrollably?

24). Get Political

BE CAREFUL when doing this one. If you really want your channel to blow up, this is probably a good way to go, but be prepared for inevitable backlash no matter what side you’re on. If you’re really passionate about a cause and want to talk about it, go for it. Just remember that you will absolutely get a lot of comments both for and against your side. However, controversy is one of the best ways to grow your channel quickly (Jake and Logan Paul, anyone?) so use it at your own discretion. Bonus points if you can bring a musical aspect to your opinion and explain why your musical talents influence your opinion (though not always possible and don’t force it if you can’t).

One example of a political post that was funny and wasn’t about a particular side is the bass player playing to Trump saying China. There’s no political side taken and it’s a way for people to just laugh without fighting (although of course there was fighting, haha). If you can do something like that, go for it!

25). Advertise Yourself

This one might be a little blatant, but sometimes it’s good to be bold! Why should someone hire you to mix their song? Should a venue book your band for a gig? Why should people buy your new album? Give us a breakdown of why you’re awesome!

26). Strengths and Weaknesses

Are you a great guitar player but can’t sing? Can you belt notes like a Broadway star but can’t hit those high notes? How are you awesome, and where do you struggle? Things like this will help us relate to you more, and people may have advice for you in the comments!

27). Cover an Event

Be your own version of Joan Rivers and do a live reaction to The Grammys, AMAs, Tony Awards, or whatever award show you like. Music ones are obviously better if you’re a musician, but any award show where you can share your opinions and show your personality is a great idea. If you can’t live stream it, do a recap the next day or that week. You can also review old awards shows, like the one where your favorite artist won their first award.

28). Make a Challenge Musical

First, just to be clear: Do not do anything dangerous. Do not eat Tide Pods. However, YouTube almost always has a challenge going on, so see how you can find one and make it musical. The Ice Bucket Challenge is long over, but what if you did it while trying to sing? Take any current challenge and see how you can incorporate music into it.

29). Share Your Story So Far

Do a Draw My Life, or go old-school and make an MTV Behind the Music special. You can be serious or funny with it, but tell us how you got to where you are now.

30). Look Into the Future

Share your goals with us. You can make a Mood Board, read your own Tarot Cards, or even act out your future. This will be fun for you to look back on in a few years, and might even be oddly prophetic.

Bonus: Lip Sync Contest

I just think this would be a funny idea. Have your friends and family lip-sync to one of your songs. It’s a great way to promote your music and it will be funny if a friend who claims to love your song doesn’t know the words. Get your funniest friends and make us laugh!

If you want more video ideas that are less music-focused, here are some great lists!
https://grow.grin.co/101-youtube-video-ideas/
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/creative-youtube-video-ideas-list/
https://drsoft.com/2018/04/25/youtube-video-ideas-list/

Helpful Tools for Creating Videos

• Milanote: This is a great storyboarding tool that can help organize all of your content for upcoming videos. I used to have a cluttered, messy file on my desktop labeled “Video Stuff” and this is a lot easier to find what I need!
• Canva: I use Canva Pro for pretty much everything. They’re great for creating YouTube Thumbnails! I have a tutorial on that here.
• TubeBuddy, and/or VidIQ. I reviewed both of those here.

Are you inspired to make any of these YouTube content topics? If so, let me know!

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After you make it, please share a link so we can watch!