One way to get more fans to your official YouTube artist channel is by using the YouTube statistics.

With YouTube Analytics, you will get some more insights in their activities and use that to your advantage.
Some of the most valuable information for a YouTube Artist Channel will be:
-Most watched video
-Total revenue per YouTube video
-Top Searches on your YouTube Channel
-Audience Demographics
-Content ID claims/information
-Top Related videos

The more you know about the topics above, the better you can adjust your content and create better videos for your fans.
Here is a small introduction to YouTube analytics and how you can use it to grow your YouTube Music Channel.

What do I need to know about YouTube Analytics as a musician?

The main reason why you want to know all these things is to improve your YouTube content and optimize your YouTube strategy.
Simply put, if you know your audience, you know what to post in order to stay connected with them.
That is why you need useful information from your fans. And, you will find all that information in your YouTube Analytics.

It will also depend on the goals you have set for your YouTube Artist channel.
Do you want to have an online music portfolio, or a YouTube Channel that attracts new viewers and fans from the YouTube Search Algorithm?
For example, if you want to become the next cover artist, you might want to learn how to rank in search. By checking out what your best fans are watching, you can change your content accordingly.
Another example might be, if you are a gear-review channel, you might want to know what is the best music gear to review, or what your competitors are creating.

What YouTube video stats are most useful for artist?

While it might be tempting to check how many subscribers you gained, how much revenue you made with your latest music video, or how many viewers watched your latest live-show, these are not THE most important in the end.
Sure, they will give you insights, and they will also keep you motivated!
But those stats are not helping you to grow your channel directly. They just tell you if your content is being watched.
Good to know, but we want more info!

The stats that will help you grow your channel are the following:

–Traffic Source
You want to know where your viewers come from. Did they use a search phrase or did they found your videos in one of the suggested videos, do they come from a certain social platform or from a playlist?
By knowing this, you can create content that connects more with those traffic sources.

Example: If your video is being watched after a certain cover song, you could choose to create a similar cover song from the same artist, or in the same style.
Or, after they watched some content from a certain channel, you can check that channel to get inspiration for your next videos.

–YouTube Search
If they found you trough search, what is the search phrase they used to end up on your video?
These results can help you to determine what type of videos you should create more of.

Example: By knowing what keywords are used to help your videos show up in YouTube search, you can create more content that matches those search terms. So, if they typed in ‘best guitar for beginners’, you can create a few more videos that cover that topic in more depth.
Alternativly, you can use the same data to see if your channel is heading in the right direction.
Are those the keywords you want to rank for/be found by?
If so, make more videos around that topic.
If not, simply avoid using those words in the title, description and thumbnail of your newer videos, and stop focusing on that type of content.
(creating a fun video about a non-music related topic might not help your music channel to grow).

–Copyright/Content ID claims
As a YouTube artist, the content ID system will be one of the most important parts of your channel.
Not only for your own music if it is used on another channel, but also if you want to use music in your videos, but you already distributed your songs through a service like RouteNote, Distrokid, CDBaby or any YouTube Music distribution partner.

There are more statistics that you want to check to increase your YouTube channel performance, but if you are new to YouTube, or just have a few videos on your channel, those are the ones that you could start with.

Access the YouTube Creator Studio

You will find all the stats in the YouTube Creator Studio.
On your YouTube page, you click on your profile image (top right) and choose Creator Studio.
In the studio, you choose Analytics. This is where you will find all the important info that will help you find the best audience for your music, and to create better content.

Note: The more videos you create, and the longer you are on YouTube, the more statistics will become available. So, when you are brand-new on YouTube or only uploaded a few videos, not all available statistics might be visible.

Are there other tools to grow my YouTube Music channel?

With tools like Tubebuddy, VidIq or Morningfame, you can optimize your next video for search intent and suggested videos.
These tools help you to create better titles, tags and thumbnails, and even show you what thumbnails could perform better.
By consistently using these tools, you will increase the chance of your videos to become the next suggested video or the next top listing for a search term that makes the most sense on your channel.

My suggestion is to start with the free version of Tube-buddy, and if you find it useful, combine it with Morningfame.

Both apps give me great results on my own YouTube channels.

Where to go from here?

With all the information that you have right now, you can change some things in your YouTube strategy.
-Now that you know the search terms, you can create more videos around that topic.
-Now you know what videos suggest your video, create similar videos and increase the views on your YouTube Channel.
-If you know what your audience watches on YouTube, you can experiment with different content.

Take one step at a time, try out new videos along the road, but stay consistent.
Be consistent in creating new videos every week, and you will see results.

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Keep creating awesome music, and share it with the world!

Maurice from Music-Mindset.com