Nearly a third (30%) of YouTube viewers think music is a deciding factor in what makes a good video, and overuse of royalty free music is a pet peeve, according to new research.
A new study by global music licensing platform Lickd has revealed that Ed Sheeran is the number one choice of YouTube fans when it comes to the music they want to accompany the videos they watch online.
The study polled 2,000 people on their opinions of YouTube videos and how influencers can make them more engaging for fans, with 30% of people stating that the type of music used can either make or break a video. The use of popular music (as opposed to library music or unknown tracks) in online videos was voted as more important than both production values (29%) and topicality (20%).
Delving further into music tastes, when asked to choose which artists’ music they would most like to hear in a YouTube video, after Ed Sheeran’s at number one, the rest of the top five were Arianna Grande (31%) Beyonce (30%) Billie Eilish (29%) and Drake, Stormzy and Dua Lipa all at 28%. Surprisingly, despite having the most YouTube subscribers at 55million, Justin Bieber lagged behind, securing only 22% of the votes.
When it comes to annoyances, more than a fifth (20%) of respondents identified repetitive royalty free music being overused by creators as one of their major pet peeves. A further 19% cited attempts to get around copyright and Content ID – such as speeding up or manipulating music tracks – as a real turn off when it comes to enjoying creator content.
Paul Sampson, CEO of Lickd, said: “Despite the proven popularity of including commercial music in videos, content creators of all shapes and sizes tend to shy away from using songs from big artists and big labels for the simple reason that licensing it is not a straightforward exercise. No one wants to spend time creating a video only to have it instantly demonetised or taken down for improper use of copyright material. Here at Lickd we’re offering content creators a solution to this problem by simplifying how to acquire licenses for popular songs, including current chart music. This enables them to enhance their video with music people love rather than relying on royalty free tracks or creative methods of getting around the copyright issue.”