DJs can make money on YouTube, but you may need to diversify your strategy a bit. Think again if you think you will make a ton of money by uploading your mixes to YouTube. YouTube is an excellent tool for an income stream once you have an established audience.
Making money on YouTube is a complicated business. Still, once you get the basics of what you need to get started, it’s as easy as coming up with fun content to talk about.
You can upload tutorials, interviews, commentaries, vlogs, and any other content that you think you may have a unique perspective on.
You should use YouTube as a tool to promote yourself but not focus on it as a main source of income. In fact, you should use YouTube to promote your other social media channels and portfolio of work.
Link your channel to your SoundCloud, Mixcloud, TikTok, FaceBook, Instagram, and whatever else you have and regularly post or stream on.
It might be worthwhile to look into Mixcloud and Twitch to avoid copyright infringement issues to upload DJ mixes. YouTube is super strict about copyright issues and will not hesitate to block your videos from being uploaded or watched.
Making Money on YouTube
There are some eligibility requirements to be aware of if you want to monetize your channel on YouTube. You will need to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). To meet the requirements, you’ll need to be in good standing with YouTube, have 4,000 valid public watch hours in the previous 12 months, and at least 1,000 subscribers.
To monetize, you will also have to make sure the program is available in your country of residence, follow their policies, and have a linked Adsense account.
So let’s say you have done all of the above steps and now have a monetizable account. What kind of content are you creating?
The kind of content you produce and the size of your audience are what really determine how much money you can earn on YouTube.
Earning money on YouTube is possible through their YPP program. It features different potential revenue streams such as ad revenue, channel memberships, merchandise sales, Super Chat & Super Stickers, and YouTube Premium revenue.
Each feature has its own additional eligibility requirements on top of the monetization requirements. The table below indicates some of those other requirements.
YouTube Content Creation Ideas
Vlog And Music Advice
I think there is a massive gap in the YouTube videos market for some authentic reviews and personal accounts of the realities of the music scene. This could include guidance for people who are just getting into it.
People who can suggest music to others successfully are super important!
Let’s say you go out DJing a lot, make a vlog about your lifestyle! You’re living some people’s dreams, so share what you can if you’d like. How to prepare for a long rave or behave at a rave would have been videos I would have watched before entering the scene.
If you have a genre that you’re a huge fan of and have recommendations on related music or playlist advice, that could be great content.
I have seen a lot of this on TikTok, Techno fans who share their favorite tracks or help others determine what festivals to go to based on their tastes. Drum and Bass fans are starting meetups in London to gather rave squads and more.
Track IDs
Suppose you are a master at IDing songs (A Shazam Wizard is what I call these people). In that case, you might be able to gather a large YouTube audience by sharing your music knowledge. TRACK ID HUB could be a cool channel name.
I think viewers appreciate authentic, genuine content. It could be as simple as responding to comments from your viewers and helping them ID individual tracks and record label.
Describe your journey, the sites you used to find these musical unicorns, and boom, you have some quality content.
One of my favorite channels is Original Jungle Samples, where classic Jungle and Drum & Bass tracks are broken down. You can see where their samples originated from. I love it!
Club Listings And Rankings
Personally, I’ve played around with the idea of starting a YouTube channel to direct newbies in the music scene to some of my favorite clubs and events, based on my experiences.
I wish I had someone like that to refer to when I started going out and figuring out my favorite music venues, crowd styles, etc.
I travel a lot. One of my favorite parts of traveling is experiencing the nightlife in other places. However, I always have to do a deep internet dive to figure out the coolest places to go in a given location. It can be such a chore.
It would be awesome to have a dedicated channel to rank the best clubs in any location with the style of music they play and the general vibes of the venues listed.
You could make playlists based on genres and associate venues to hear that style of music.
Live in a smaller city where Resident Advisor doesn’t fully cover the club listings and cool venues? That might be a perfect way to create content for music fans who are tourists in your town.
Additionally, if you have a lot of quality video content from clubs or parties, it would be cool to upload a compilation video of your favorite moments from DJ sets at a particular club or city.
DJ And Music Production Tutorials
Tutorials in DJ mix styles are really popular and a great way to get views.
If you have a unique mixing style, which is more than likely accurate as all DJs have their own flavor, it would be awesome to share with beginners out there.
If you effectively explain how to mix, that’s also helpful content.
Learning how to DJ is difficult for beginners. If you can explain it well to your friends or family, you might be able to capture a nice online audience.
If you are a music producer and create your own music, a tutorial on your tips and tricks for whatever software you use could be helpful. For example, “Ableton 11 Live shortcuts for Drum and Bass sounds” would be a great tagline specific enough to deliver quality information.
An example of a simple series would be, explaining all the features on your set of equipment.
How to link CDJs, How to record a set, Basic EQ explanations, how to mix with Loops, and more. The only limitation is your imagination. The features and buttons you use most frequently would be an excellent place to start.
Uploading your Mixes
You can upload mixes to YouTube. Unfortunately, you will most likely run into issues with copyrighted music.
Your video may be blocked from being viewed or even muted in some parts if YouTube Content ID manages to ID some of the tracks you are mixing. There are better sites to upload mixes and avoid these issues.
Alternative places to upload Mixes
Mixcloud
If you want to make money from your mixes, you may want to look into Mixcloud live streaming. You need to have Mixcloud Pro, but they offer a 60-day free trial. Their tagline is “Live Stream. Upload. Share. We sort out the copyright.”
This is a fantastic option if you don’t want to deal with potential copyright issues on YouTube.
It also provides a more focused exposure to the DJ community.
Some other Mixcloud Pro features include Licensed live streaming, Engagement stats, the ability to customize your channel, schedule uploads, and monetize your channel with Select.
You can learn how to stream and monetize your sets in this video.
Twitch
A lot of DJs switched to Twitch during the pandemic lockdown. Moment of appreciation for that sick rhyme. Twitch is a streaming platform that is popular in the gaming community.
Many DJs moved to this platform during the pandemic to live stream their sets since Twitch doesn’t have the automatic mute function when playing a copyright-protected track. However, they do have guidelines about copyright infringement as well.
Related Questions
How many subscribers do you need to monetize your YouTube channel?
To monetize your channel, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months. Basically, you need to have a quite established channel before joining the YPP.
How does Content-ID identify your music on YouTube?
Content ID scans all the music in your uploaded video to precheck any anticipated copyright infringement issues. I have heard it is pretty accurate and catches most music content. Copyright owners will need to submit to YouTube to qualify for Content ID.
How do you make sure your music is eligible for YouTube Content-ID?
To qualify for Content ID as an artist or copyright owner, you will need to apply with YouTube, and they will check your eligibility in order to receive streaming royalties.
Uploading mixes on YouTube, is it worth it?
Uploading mixes on YouTube is not the best route for DJs. Content ID may scan your mix and block certain tracks or songs from your video.
Alternatively, your entire mix might be blocked from certain countries.
To avoid this blocking or muting in your mix video upload, I suggest uploading Mixes to Mixcloud instead.
Do music channels on YouTube make money?
Yes definitely! There is a lot of quality content on YouTube about music. There are audiences waiting to be tapped into.
Depending on the content you would like to create and upload, you may earn money on your music channel.
How do you get the gig over somebody else?
You should have an excellent track record for playing gigs, have some sets recorded to use as reference, make sure you have quality videos taken of you at previous gigs, and communicate professionally with the people who would be hiring you.
Final Words
We are living in the age of content creation. You can become a viral TikTok or YouTube star almost overnight. Why not give it a shot?
If you have a unique perspective, there are guaranteed to be people who want to hear your take on things.
Whether it is music advice, tutorials on DJing, a ranking of the best places to dance, or equipment reviews, there is an audience for it.
YouTube is a fantastic tool to make money on. Just make sure you read all of their rules and regulations and start building your online presence!
Related Posts:
We hope you love the products we recommend. We may collect a commission if you purchase through one of our links. This doesn't cost you anything extra. If you do, thank you! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
