Beyond social media, there exist other, more non-traditional venues for artists to market their work. Often time, these avenues can be more engaging for users who would consider themselves even more intense fans than the average listener. One of these platforms is YouTube. Although YouTube is not necessarily known for its music streaming, artists have been uploading their music videos to this platform for over a decade.

Many fans use YouTube to see an artist perform or watch their music videos. However, there seems to be another type of streaming that is ever-increasing in popularity on YouTube, and this is more interactive content with the artists themselves. This interactive content is also exemplified by another platform called Twitch. 

Both YouTube and Twitch allow for live streaming and interactions between the streamer and the audience. Although live streams have been around for a long time, they now offer different features for connecting with fans such as: adding links to pre saves onto the stream directly, chat sessions where users have a different status based on if they are subscribed to artist on Twitch or not, donation buttons, a submission spot to ask the artist questions directly, and more.

Live streaming is available on TikTok and Instagram as well, which artists like Rosalía have begun to use for virtual concerts, but they do not offer the same level of intimate connection with an artist that a platform like Twitch does through its chat room options and the closer knit environment of the app due to its frequent updates about when the artist will be going live, and DM option for even when they aren’t live. Twitch livestreaming also differs from Instagram and TikTok’s because they are still available to be viewed after they end on the artist’s channel, and the app’s primary purpose is livesteams rather than other types of content.

One artist that has made use of both Youtube and Twitch is Kenny Beats. Kenny Beats is a producer from Connecticut who partakes in beat battles with other producers from all over the world. He makes use of these two online platforms, and he streams live on Twitch and then uploads those streams to his YouTube channel for fans to watch later. Fans can vote on who made the best beat and interact with the artists that Kenny Beats brings to this show. 

Furthermore, Kenny Beats also uses his platform to give general music production advice to the segment of his audience that is interested in producing. Since artists are live on Twitch for extended periods of time, it is key that this form of self-marketing be more genuine to the artist themselves. Marketing professionals may help with idea generation for the channel, but most of the marketing strategy should be dictated by the artist.

This differs from traditional social media where content is often curated because it is an intimate setting, where artists will often actively engage with fans while they are commenting (Allen 2020). Furthermore, artists are able to respond in real-time to the fan’s song requests and questions, which becomes an active multi-way dialogue, as Kenny Beats will do with aspiring producers (Allen 2020). See below for an example:

In our interview with Chris and Will, two local Richmond artists who mainly use social media to promote their shows and increase awareness of the group, they even mentioned that Kenny Beats is well known for his unique use of Twitch and YouTube (Conte et al. 2022). But according to them, most artists, including themselves, are not making use of these platforms. 

This relates to the idea that Du Sauzay mentions: artists should really only focus on the marketing that they are passionate about. For example, one artist we have seen use this platform consistently is Thomas Headon. Headon will drive sales through Twitch in a genuine way by giving news out to fans about when release dates are, giving the option to pre-order an album, song, or merchandise, and often offering a contest or some sort of prize to fans if they reach a certain amount of pre-saves. This is an example of artist and label relations working well, as Thomas Headon is having genuine conversations with his fans on Twitch and will still promote his music, likely heading to label guidance.