YouTube shorts is gaining ground on TikTok among music fans. Will marketers follow?

Music artist Olivia Rodrigo at a YouTube shorts event

TikTok may be Gen Z’s favorite jukebox, but YouTube shorts is quickly gaining steam among music listeners, per a new report from entertainment-industry data firm Luminate.

The share of self-identified music listeners in the US, ages 13 or older, who said they used YouTube shorts jumped from 26% to 31% between the second quarter of 2023 and Q2 2024, per Luminate’s surveys.

TikTok remained the top dog among music fans, with 33% of respondents saying they used the platform last quarter, the same share as in Q2 2023. The app’s popularity may have plateaued among music listeners after it lost access in February to Universal Music Group’s catalog, including songs from Olivia Rodrigo and Drake, amid a contract dispute. The two companies announced an agreement on May 1, and UMG songs returned to TikTok soon after.

Facebook and Instagram reels trailed TikTok and YouTube in the share of music fans who said they used the apps, clocking in at 27% on Facebook and 24% on Instagram last quarter.

Share of US music listeners who use each short-video app

YouTube offers a variety of music-related features in shorts that could help it gain popularity among creators in the coming months. The company’s music lead, Lyor Cohen, told GQ in 2022 that short-form video was a top focus within its broader music strategy.

When making a short, creators can add copyrighted music to videos using the YouTube shorts audio library. These songs are provided by record labels and other rights holders that have created shorts-specific licensing agreements with the company.

YouTube released a music-licensing feature, Creator Music, in 2023, which allows creators to buy a license to use a song or share revenue with rights holders. But, the tool is currently only available to use on long-form videos.

YouTube shorts is on the rise, but will marketers follow?

TikTok is still the go-to platform for music marketers looking to drive attention to songs. The app can help tracks take off by sparking a wave of user-generated videos that ultimately lead to off-platform streams. But marketers have also been testing out Instagram reels and YouTube shorts for song campaigns, and Luminate’s report suggests those apps could become more important in the coming months.

“We’ve seen a huge spike in interest in YouTube shorts this year compared to 2023,” Simon Friend, COO of the music-marketing firm Round Group, told BI, noting that the TikTok-UMG dispute boosted interest in alternative platforms this year.

YouTube shorts may still be a tough sell for some marketers, however. The platform’s creators tend to ask for more money for song promotions than TikTok users, Friend said. The app also lacks some of the high-velocity user-generated trends that have made TikTok so effective for music campaigns, he said. TikTok trends have propelled old and new songs into the mainstream again and again.

There are unique aspects to shorts that could appeal to marketers and their teams. YouTube is a major hub for long-form music content, and its shorts feature could help drive fans to artists’ music videos and other original content, said Johnny Cloherty, CEO of the music-marketing firm Songfluencer.

“One thing that I’m really interested in seeing with YouTube is how shorts can drive consumption with other artist assets on that platform,” Cloherty said.

“I don’t think it’s near TikTok territory in terms of discovery and consumption yet,” he added.