Assignment #3

YouTube

First available in May 2005 as a beta version, and officially launched on December 15, 2005, YouTube was immediately an internet sensation. The original intention was simply to create space for users to upload their own videos to the site for viewing, their own personal TV show.

Today’s version of YouTube is much more than a website full of uploaded home videos. Purchased by Google in November of 2006, they have had quite some time to make changes that work for them, and their users.

YouTube is interesting because it has such a wide range of uses. Upon opening the app and looking around, it is immediately clear that there is a lot of varied content there. Changes have been made over the years to include them in the scope of this little page, so we are going to focus on what is there now for musicians specifically.

With so much content to sort, YouTube relies heavily on algorithms which automatically choose which content to show specific users, based on which content they have previously showed an interest in. Being a music student, the content that shows up in mine currently heavily leans towards my interest in music. YouTube has auto-created various categories that I have shown an interest in, which can be seen along the top in tabs that I am able to click on.

The first category is simply “All” and the first thing I see in there as I opened it is an ad about lip filler alternatives. I am not a new YouTube user and at some point I looked up something about lip fillers so I probably fit the demographic they are pushing this ad out to. Scrolling down we see some things the app is throwing things at me to see if I am interested based on previous interests. We see something about differences between British v. American bedroom design (closets, bedsheets, mattress sizes, etc.), singing techniques, and Dolly Parton shutting down a patronizing interview, which are all things adjacent to other subjects I’ve shown an interest in on the app at other times. Scrolling back up to the top, I can scroll the tabs to the right and choose one of the subjects to look at. Keep in mind these have been created based on things I have showed an interest in before, so this will vary widely based on whose account is open. The tabs I’m seeing include Music, Mixes, The Voice, Painting, Flute, Sound Recording and more. I’m seeing videos for various vocal tricks, vocal recording, etc.

I can look down at the bottom and see other navigation options. If I click on “shorts” it will take me to a feed of short videos that people have created. The first two videos there are drawing and singing videos. Other clickable options in the bottom menu are “Subscriptions” and “Library.” Subscriptions are where I can easily access channels that I want to choose to keep up with, and Library is where I can create Playlists, which can be useful for organizing videos that I’ve watched or want to watch, or which I might want to recommend to others in the future.

There is also a search bar to help find videos about specific subjects. Here is where app users can really dig into the potential for targeted learning, and the ability to use YouTube as a tool for music education. I searched “learn guitar” and a long list of videos came up. Gone are the days when the only option is to either have someone teach you in person or to figure it out yourself. There are so many different styles of teaching how to play the guitar and many different starting points you might try. In fact, there are so many options it can be quite overwhelming, and without some prior knowledge of the subject, it may be daunting to sift through all the available information to find something that might actually be accessible to a complete beginner. There are a couple of things that can help with this. Videos have the analytics available to view right below them. Viewers can see how many people have watched a video and also how many people have liked or disliked it. Most videos have comment sections which may help viewers with knowledge communicate to others whether the video is helpful and accurate, or not. This doesn’t mean every video with a lot of likes is actually good, but it’s a clue. We can also keep in mind that more content is constantly being added, so the quality keeps getting better as the bar is raised. Chances are, budding musicians will find something that will help them learn, and whenever they have a question, they can search within the app for the answer.

YouTube is a massive entity. A recent statistic suggests that 3.7 million new videos are uploaded there every day. There is so much information delivered in so many ways that prioritization and personal feedback are perhaps the greatest challenges that musicians face while trying to learn through YouTube. Some other apps have been created with a much more limited set of information, focusing on specifics that the app creators believe are the most important, and presented in the order that the app creators believe it should be presented in. This type of guidance is largely missing in YouTube, however, many content creators do have paid, step up options for learning on other apps or in other ways, which their viewers are being syphoned towards purchasing. This type of education is a growing industry so we should all keep our eyes on it.

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