Tori Kelly: From bedroom EP to Grammy nominee

February 10, 2016

Highlights:
  • Tori Kelly, who has built her career on YouTube over the past eight years, is nominated for Best New Artist.
  • She’s bootstrapped her community of now 2 million subscribers, built on prolific uploading and YouTube collaborations, a contrast from the tried-and-true strategy of studio releases and radio play.
  • Instead of studio releases, her most-viewed videos are covers (albeit well-timed with official releases) and collaborations, the predominant source for gaining new fans.

At a 2010 “American Idol” audition, Simon Cowell told 16-year-old Tori Kelly that she looked like a human orange, noting, "I thought your voice was almost ... annoying."

Now, at 23, Tori Kelly is nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best New Artist.

She’s built much of her career on YouTube, with subscribers trickling in with every new cover, song, and video uploaded. Unlike most emerging artists, surprisingly, there’s no single track or video that is responsible for her success: her achievements are the result of a steady grind. It’s an aspiring musician’s dream: she has built an enormously loyal fan base at ~2 million YouTube subscribers, and she did it without a major release or significant radio play.

So how did Tori Kelly go from a six-song EP in her bedroom to performing alongside Andrea Bocelli? Of all Tori Kelly-related activities, what attracted the most new fans?

We dug into the data to find out.



First, let’s look at Tori Kelly’s subscribers over the past eight years (shown relative to her fellow Best New Artist nominees, for context).

2016 Grammy Nominees for Best New Artist: YouTube Subscribers
On Artist’s Official YouTube Accounts (including VEVO)

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 4.36.50 PM.png

Tori Kelly’s first real brush with YouTube came much earlier than for the other Best New Artist nominees. In 2007, as a 14-year-old, Kelly uploaded a cover of John Wesley Work, Jr.'s "Go Tell It On The Mountain."

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 9.47.27 AM.png

Tori Kelly’s first upload, singing "Go Tell It On The Mountain"

Over the past several years, she’s released more than 200 videos on her personal account (excluding collaborations with other YouTubers) — that’s more than twice as much as the second most prolific Best New Artist Nominee on YouTube, Meghan Trainor (86 videos). The hustle has paid off: many of her fans have been following her career for years, with roughly a third of her subscribers dating to 2013 or earlier.

Here are the most significant events during this time period, denoted by increases in subscribers to her YouTube channel.

Daily Increase in Subscribers: Tori Kelly’s YouTube Channels
1/1/2010 - 12/31/2015 for ToriKelly and ToriKellyVEVO

Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 1.45.01 PM.png


There are some 25 notable “spikes” in the above chart – moments when her subscribers suddenly increased, signaling an important event, such as a new upload, press coverage, or live performance. Let’s take a closer look at each of these spikes.

2010

November 9 (+1,033)
Kelly almost replicates her previous success by collaborating with AJ Rafael and JR Aquino to cover Far East Movement’s “Rocketeer.”

2011

July 22 (+847 subscribers)
Kelly & Todrick Hall cover Beyoncé’s “Best Thing I Never Had.”

November 14 (+608)
Kelly and AJ Rafael cover Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.”

December 1 (+867)
Kelly joins fellow YouTube musician AJ Rafael to cover Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

2012

January 22 (+2,815 subscribers)
Kelly duets with beatboxer Angie Girl, performing a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You.” It goes on to receive over 24 million views.

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 3.36.13 PM.png

Tori Kelly’s most popular video, a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You”

August 7 (+1,198)
Kelly releases a live acoustic version of “All In My Head," which receives more than 17 million views.

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 3.39.17 PM.png
Tori Kelly’s “All In My Head”



By the end of 2012, a 20-year-old Tori Kelly has more than 250,000 subscribers, almost entirely built on the success of her covers. None of these videos are breakout hits, but they are brilliantly timed and well-received: astutely, Kelly often covers songs within weeks of their release, and seizes on their initial buzz.

Her cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You,” for example, preceded the official release of the song by three months. Ocean’s track had leaked online in mid-2011, but was promptly removed until its official release in the spring of 2012. Kelly’s cover, meanwhile, came out in January 2012.

Kelly also built off the popularity of Beyoncé’s “Best I Never Had,” releasing her cover weeks after the song’s official debut. Similarly, her second most popular video, a cover of “Suit and Tie,” was uploaded three months after Justin Timberlake released the track.

2013

March 10 (+5,264 subscribers)
Tori Kelly uploads a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie.”

July 30 (+5,976)
Tori Kelly uploads a Vine of herself singing “Sun Is Out and I’m Feeling OK” in her car on the way to the studio.

September 5 (+2,344)
Scott Hoying (of Pentatonix) and Tori Kelly post a video of themselves covering Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

October 3 (+2,274)
Kelly uploads a lyric video for “Dear No One,” setting it in one of her oldest fan Tumblr sites.

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 3.50.30 PM.png


Tori Kelly’s “Dear No One” lyrics video

November 7 (+3,780)
“Dear No One,” Tori Kelly’s first official Vevo video, is released.

December 26 (+2,947)
Tori Kelly appears as a guest on SUP3RFRUIT, the YouTube channel run by Pentatonix members Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying.

2014

February 27 (+4,044 subscribers)
Kelly premieres “Paper Hearts.”

August 8 (+1,517)
Kelly uploads a video for “Silent,” featured on the soundtrack for “The Giver.”

November 4 (+2,669)
Kelly joins Pentatonix on a rendition of “Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy.”

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 3.55.08 PM.png


2015

February 27 (+1,902 subscribers)
Tori Kelly releases the official video for “Nobody Love.”

March 31 (+1,959)
Kelly releases a Snapchat-themed lyric video for “Nobody Love” on her own channel.

April 28 (+3,036)
Kelly takes part in a live stream with fans from Google NYC HQ.

May 18 (+4,846)
Kelly performs “Nobody Love” at the Billboard Music Awards the night before.

June 24 (+4,026)
Kelly’s first major label album, “Unbreakable Smile,” is released.

August 3 (+24,775)
Tori Kelly appears as a guest on Miranda Sings’ channel for a vocal lesson.

August 7 (+8,587)
Miranda Sings joins Kelly on her channel and the two perform a unique cover of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.”

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 3.46.33 PM.png


August 31 (+6,968)
Kelly performs “Should’ve Been Us” at the MTV Video Music Awards.

October 25 (+3,478)
Andrea Bocelli and Tori Kelly duet at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

It’s worth noting that collaborations with other YouTubers were an important source of subscribers. At the beginning of her career, Kelly would often team up with fellow YouTube musician AJ Rafael, and it was her joint cover of “Thinkin Bout You” with Angie Girl that resulted in Kelly’s most-viewed video. Later, she began to work with members of the prominent YouTube group Pentatonix (10 million subscribers), joining them on their track “Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy.” She also appeared on the popular channel SUP3RFRUIT (~1.9 million subscribers) and collaborated with Scott Hoying. Finally, in August 2015, the first of her two video with Miranda Sings (6 million subscribers) resulted in the single largest daily increase over the past 6 years (~25,000 new subscribers in one day); in sum, both videos resulted in a staggering 33,362 new subscribers.

2016

January 4 (+2,648)
Kelly lands on the cover of Seventeen Magazine.



If there is one common thread running through Tori Kelly’s career, it is her unwavering work ethic.

Percent of Artist’s Views, by Video
On Artist’s Official YouTube Accounts (including VEVO)

Screen Shot 2016-02-04 at 10.06.15 AM.png

Over the course of nearly 10 years, she has released a multitude of videos for her fans, whether covers, originals, or vlogs. No single video is responsible for than 10 percent of her total views – a stark contrast to the other Best New Artist nominees, for whom one or two tracks are responsible for the bulk of their popularity.

As validating as winning this year’s Grammy for Best New Artist would be for Tori Kelly, she has already achieved what seasoned musicians have managed to foster: a remarkably caring and involved group of fans.

-- Posted by the YouTube Culture & Trends Team
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The Impact of the Grammys on Artist Popularity

February 09, 2016


Highlights:


  • Grammy nominations tend to have a greater impact on artists who have yet to gain mainstream prominence; winners may see a spike in popularity, but the effect of reaching a newfound national audience is mitigated by prior exposure.
  • In 2015, Brandy Clark was relatively unknown among other Best New Artist nominees (i.e., Iggy Azalea, Bastille, HAIM, and Sam Smith). She had the largest percent increase in popularity on YouTube, following the show.
  • Over the past four years, no artist has benefited more from Grammy exposure than Bon Iver. In 2012, they were famously nominated for Best New Artist, Best Alternative Music Album, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. Following the show, their popularity doubled on YouTube and “Holocene” plays increased 150 percent.
  • The 2016 awards are most likely to noticeably boost the popularity of Best New Artist nominee Courtney Barnett, whose views increased twofold after the announcement and who remains less known within the U.S. than the other nominees.
  • 2016 Record of the Year-nominated “Really Love” by D’Angelo also stands to benefit. Plays for the track tripled in the week following the announcement.


Anecdotally, the Grammys provide a huge spotlight for both winners and nominees, especially for smaller, independent artists (e.g., Bon Iver, or colloquially, “Bonnie Bear,” after the 2012 Grammys).

But how does that exposure translate to YouTube? To determine the Grammys’ effect on artist popularity, we examined the nominees for Best New Artist and Song/Record of the Year over the past five years on YouTube.

First, let’s look at last year’s Best New Artist category, which highlights emerging musicians — artists who stand to benefit the most from Grammy exposure.

Daily Views for 2015 Grammy Nominees for Best New Artist
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-28 at 6.36.32 PM.png

When we take the popularity of all artists together, it’s clear that last year’s winner, Sam Smith, received a noticeable bump in views on YouTube as a result of his Grammy win (~26 percent views/day increase from week before the awards vs. week after). Trends for Iggy Azalea and Bastille, whose music had already permeated through culture over the course of the past several months, were more modest. Brandy Clark, the least well-known musician of the group, seems to have received little benefit, but the change in her views is masked by the sheer magnitude of the viewership of Iggy Azalea and Sam Smith.

When examined individually, Brandy Clark’s music received the largest boost on YouTube following the Grammys. Even though she didn’t win, the week following the ceremony saw her views spike by 327 percent, receiving a much greater relative gain in popularity than artists who had already been exposed to the public. This increase slowly tapered off until late May, but never returned to baseline, with Clark consistently receiving 25+ percent more views than she did prior to the Grammy ceremony.

Daily Views for Best New Artist 2015 Nominee Brandy Clark
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 10.37.19 AM.png

In fact, Grammy nominations tend to have the greatest impact on musicians who have yet to be discovered by a mainstream audience; winners may see a spike in popularity, but are often already fairly prominent, as Sam Smith was, thus having fewer people that have yet to hear their music.

While Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won in 2014, their views/day had only grown by 18 percent in the week following the Grammys compared to the week prior. The largest benefit that year went to Kacey Musgraves, who remained below the radar of the wider public until the Grammy evening, and whose average views grew by 125 percent in the following week. Bon Iver, whose pared down take on folk music sealed their win in 2012, were able to benefit from both their relatively low exposure prior to the award, as well as the boost that a Grammy win provides: after taking home the Grammy for Best New Artist (as well as for Best Alternative Music Album), their views in the subsequent week increased by an impressive 95 percent.

Best New Artist: Percent Increase in Total Views One Week Before vs. After the Grammys
Note: views are approximated using all videos associated with artist
*denotes winning artist

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 10.55.33 AM.png

For Song of the Year and Record of the Year, the results are similar.

Note: Song of the Year and Record of the Year are both awarded to a single track, but for different reasons. Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriters, the people who wrote the lyrics and melody. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer, producer, recording engineer, and mixing.

Song/Record of the Year: Percent Increase in Total Views One Week Before vs. After the Grammys
*views are approximated using all videos associated with track

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 10.14.44 AM.png

Over the past four years, no artist has benefited more from Grammy exposure than Bon Iver. In 2012, they were famously nominated for Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. Following the show, their popularity doubled on YouTube and “Holocene” plays increased 150 percent. Other indie hits, such as “Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys and “The Cave” by Mumford & Sons, were also significantly affected.

Song/Record of the Year in 2015 was an anomaly – every track nominated was a huge hit with millions of views on YouTube. The Grammys didn’t provide significant additional exposure relative to previous years.

Daily Views for 2015 Grammy Nominees for Song and Record of the Year
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 11.43.00 AM.png

Three of the six tracks nominated for Song or Record of the Year showed a noticeable increase in popularity. Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” won both award categories and subsequently increased from roughly 1.3 million views/day the week before the Grammys to 2 million views/day the week after, a 53 percent change. Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” saw a similar increase of about 37 percent over the same period, while Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” grew in views by 22 percent. But the Grammys seem to have had no effect on the popularity of “Chandelier,” “Shake it Off,” and “Fancy.”

Who stands to benefit this year?

The 2016 Best New Artist nominees are an unusual field, including Meghan Trainor — whose “All About That Bass” proved to be unusually catchy and launched the singer to international prominence — and a number of lesser known artists, like James Bay, Sam Hunt, and Tori Kelly, who have received notable acclaim on a lesser scale.

Daily Views for 2016 Grammy Nominees for Best New Artist
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 9.57.27 AM.png

Among this second group counts Courtney Barnett, the final nominee, who has been growing in popularity both in her homeland of Australia and within the indie rock community in the U.S. Despite having been included on several “Best of 2015” lists by music critics, her stature remains relatively obscure when compared to the other artists in this category; being nominated led Barnett’s view popularity to nearly double in the week after the announcement (compared to the week before), and — whether she wins or not — previous years would suggest that she’s likely to benefit the most from the evening’s exposure.

Daily Views for Best New Artist 2016 Nominee Courtney Barnett
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-28 at 11.23.19 PM.png

When it comes to Record of the Year, we also expect attention will be drawn to one track: “Really Love” by D’Angelo. Relative to its fellow nominees, it has the biggest opportunity for Grammys exposure.

Daily Views for 2016 Grammy Nominees for Record of the Year
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 10.35.06 AM.png

Compared to huge hits such as Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” D’Angelo’s “Really Love” is relatively unknown. When it was announced as a nominee, it tripled in popularity, averaging 12,087 daily plays (one week after the announcement) from 3,809 daily plays (one week prior to the announcement). Expect an even larger change for “Really Love” after the awards show.

Daily Views for 2016 Grammy Nominees for Song of the Year
“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Screen Shot 2016-01-27 at 5.27.34 PM.png

Of all the tracks nominated for Song of the Year, the largest post-Grammy increase in views is likely to go to Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” In the past nine months, “Girl Crush” has garnered nearly 41 million views; “Alright,” over the course of the past half year, has received 40.5 million. Although these numbers seem remarkably high, it’s important to note that over the past nine months Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” the most-viewed nominee, has amassed an astronomical 1.4 billion views.

-- Posted by the YouTube Culture & Trends Team
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YouTube's Trending Games of January

February 04, 2016

Do Super Bowl Halftime Performances Increase an Artist's Popularity?

January 27, 2016


Highlights

  • Similar to the Oscars “bump,” musicians have a significant increase in popularity on YouTube, following a Super Bowl halftime performance.
  • Beyoncé, as a headliner in 2014, and Missy Elliott, as a special guest in 2015, have had the largest lift in popularity on YouTube, following a halftime performance.
  • Missy Elliott’s music experienced a renaissance: two of her tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100 in February, and traffic to her videos on YouTube nearly doubled.
  • 2016: unlike previous years, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and Beyoncé (the latter two both repeat Super Bowl performers) are of similar current popularity; thus, it will be a big challenge for an up-and-coming or classic artist to experience a noticeable Super Bowl bump.


In music, a Super Bowl halftime performance is the equivalent of the “Oscars bump” in film: enormous exposure, and an opportunity for increased sales.

To see which artists have benefited from Super Bowl halftime performances, we examined the data on YouTube from the past four games (2012 - present).

The Super Bowl “Bump” (2012 - present)

In the past four years, Beyoncé, as a headliner, and Missy Elliott, as a special guest, have had the largest lift in popularity on YouTube following a halftime performance.

Percent Increase in Total Views Before vs. After Super Bowl Performance
Using 7-day average views prior to performance announcement vs. 7-day average post-performance. “Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Super Bowl 2015
Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 3.25.34 PM.png


Super Bowl 2014
Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 3.26.01 PM.png


Super Bowl 2013*
Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 3.26.23 PM.png
*views are approximated using all videos associated with artist.


Super Bowl 2012*
Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 3.26.47 PM.png
*For Super Bowl 2012, data compares 7-day average pre-performance vs. 7-day post-performance. Views are approximated using all videos associated with artist.


Overall, the Super Bowl has the power to catapult an artist into the cultural zeitgeist. For the week following Katy Perry’s performance in 2015, views of her music averaged 10 million views/day, a 30 percent increase over her average plays prior to being announced as a performer.

For special guests, the increase can be even more significant. Missy Elliott’s popularity tripled, increasing to 938,000 views/day for the week following her performance. We observed a similar trend for special guests from prior years as well: M.I.A. had a 160 percent increase in 2012 and Red Hot Chili Peppers had a 65 percent increase in 2014.

The Power of a Halftime Performance

Let’s go deeper on the artist most impacted by a Super Bowl performance in the past four years: Missy Elliott.

Missy Elliott’s Total Views Before and After Super Bowl Halftime
“Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID
Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 4.12.42 PM.png

 “Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

 For Generation X and older millennials, Missy Elliott remained an iconic figure, despite a slower schedule of releases than her fans had become accustomed to in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. Much of the younger audience, however, never had the opportunity to be exposed to hits like "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and “4 My People.” As a result of this gap, Elliott’s Super Bowl performance had an outsized effect: although she had received a steady stream of views prior to the announcement, they nearly doubled following her halftime act (a trend that remained consistent until late 2015, when her views increased once more), and her album and song downloads were reported to have risen 996 percent. Additionally, the two songs that Elliott performed — 2001’s "Get Ur Freak On" and 2002’s "Work It" — both entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the subsequent weeks.

An artist’s release trajectory is likely to impact their Super Bowl bump. Madonna, who holds the Guinness World Record for the best-selling female recording artist of all time, had put out her previous album four years prior, and saw an 81 percent increase in her video views; the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have consistently sold out stadiums throughout their 33-year career, had last released an album in 2011, and saw a 65 percent boost in view numbers; Destiny’s Child, perhaps the most renowned R&B act at the turn of the 21st century, had last released a record in 2004, and saw their views soar nearly 500 percent (Beyoncé — having been a core member of the group — also saw a vast increase in viewership).

Will there be a Super Bowl “bump” in 2016?

In past halftime performances, special guests and headliners have typically targeted fans of different generations and genres. In 2012, Madonna was paired with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. In 2014, Bruno Mars was paired with Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2015, Katy Perry was joined by Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot.

This year, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars (both in their second Super Bowl halftime appearances) are Coldplay’s contemporaries, with Beyoncé, known to many simply as Queen Bey, the fourth-most-listened-to musician on YouTube. Rather than classic acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, or more niche performances that cater to more specific tastes like M.I.A., this year’s show will feature artists more similar to Katy Perry — that is to say, ones whose popularity has remained fairly and consistently high.

Total Views for Super Bowl Performers
“Total Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

Super Bowl 2015

 Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 4.40.37 PM.png


Super Bowl 2016 (post-show performance TBD)

Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 4.45.41 PM.png

Will Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, or Coldplay experience a Super Bowl bump akin to that of Missy Elliott or Lenny Kravitz? That’s difficult to say — it would take a remarkably large and concentrated spike in views to register amid the impressive audience numbers that all three artists draw. The most likely outcome would be the Missy Elliott scenario: Alyson Stoner, who, as a little girl, appeared in Missy Elliott’s early videos as a backup dancer, put out a dance video to Elliott’s songs on February 12, and succeeded in drawing even more views to Missy’s videos than the halftime performance itself. If a fan reimagined a Beyoncé video akin to the way in which Justin Timberlake re-enacted “Single Ladies” on Saturday Night Live, or re-interpreted Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” a viral video spurred by the Super Bowl may very well lead to a bump in views.

One thing, however, would not come as a surprise — with three of the largest names in music, this Super Bowl halftime performance may very well succeed last year’s as the most viewed halftime show in history.

-- Posted by the YouTube Culture & Trends Team
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Adele's 'Hello' Is the Fastest Video in History to Reach 1 Billion Views

January 21, 2016



In only 87 days, Adele’s “Hello” is the fastest video to reach 1 billion views.

 It shatters the previous record, held by PSY’s “Gangnam Style,” which took two additional months to reach 1 billion views (158 days).

 Since our last post on the 1 billion club, there are now 17 videos that have reached 1 billion views, including: “Sugar” by Maroon 5, “Lean On” by Major Lazer, “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem, “Party Rock” by LMFAO, “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic, and “Chandelier” by Sia. That’s seven additional videos in only three months. 

 A few years ago, only PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby” had reached 1 billion views. And “Baby” took over four years to get there. Of the 17 videos that have reached 1 billion, four of these were released last year.

 While 1 billion views is rare, it’s occurring at a faster rate. Since 2014, the number of days to reach 1 billion views has dropped dramatically. In 2013, the fastest track to 1 billion was Katy Perry’s “Roar” at 487 days. In 2014, it was Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” at 238 days. In 2015, Adele managed to set the bar at 87 days. 

 Who’s next? Perhaps Shakira, Ed Sheeran, or Ellie Goulding?

 Posted by The YouTube Culture & Trends Team
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YouTube's Trending Games of December

January 11, 2016

Meet the YouTube Trending tab

December 09, 2015

Today, in addition to revealing the year's top trends with YouTube Rewind, we also unveil a new way to follow these hot videos and memes as they develop: the YouTube Trending tab.

Just as YouTube Rewind 2015 celebrates the biggest clips, creators, songs, and memes of the year, the Trending tab offers a way to see the videos people are watching, discussing, and sharing each and every day via a feed in your YouTube desktop and mobile app. From the most-anticipated new trailers to the hottest music videos to viral clips from the biggest (and smallest) YouTube creators, the Trending tab showcases a wide range of popular and buzzworthy content from across the world of video.

Trending Tab Android.png


Trending Tab on Android

The Trending tab is available globally and updates throughout the day with the latest spiking clips. Deeper than just a list of videos with the most views, this daily feed captures newsworthy or otherwise notable videos receiving rapid rises in viewership and generating discussion both on and off YouTube. We're also adding features, starting in Android, that help you find trending videos in key genres and topics like Music, Gaming, and News.

Never miss a pizza rat, "Nae Nae" dance, or Drake parody ever again.

Kevin Allocca and the YouTube Trends team
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YouTube's Trending Games of October

November 09, 2015

'Hello' Joins List of Fastest Videos to Reach 100M Views

October 29, 2015

In less than a week, Adele's debut of her new single reached a milestone it takes most major music videos months to achieve. "Hello" crossed 100 million views in just five days, making it the fastest video to reach it in 2015. It's the second-fastest video ever to hit that mark, trailing only "Gentleman," PSY's 2013 follow up to the global smash hit "Gangnam Style," which did it in four.


Four of the five quickest videos to cross that threshold are from female artists. Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball," Shakira and Rihanna's "Can't Remember to Forget You," and Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" all saw explosive viewership for their much-discussed releases.


The 100 million-view mark was famously first crossed by another female singer, Avril Lavigne, whose original video for "Girlfriend" crossed in 2008.

Adele's earlier singles took longer to hit 100 million, and the explosive speed at which her latest release took off speaks to the scale of the audience of fans she's developed since.


The numbers here also speak to the global fanbase Adele has acquired. Over the weekend, "Hello" was the most-viewed video in 92 different countries ranging from Brazil, Greece, South Africa, France, Canada, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

- Kevin Allocca
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Adele's New Single Played Over 1M Times…PER HOUR

October 27, 2015

Late last week, two of music's biggest stars dropped new singles, both of which saw explosive viewership numbers within hours of their release.

Over three years after her most-recent upload, Adele released the video for her new single "Hello" in the early hours of Friday morning (approximately 12amPT). Within 48 hours, it had been viewed 50 million times, making it the biggest debut of any video on YouTube in 2015 and one of the most-watched music video debuts of all time.

In fact, "adele hello" was, by far, YouTube's top search on Friday and Saturday, and the video garnered as much as 1.6 million views in a single hour, averaging over 1 million views per hour over the first two days.


(For comparison, the release of the massively anticipated full trailer for "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" peaked at 1.2 million views per hour.)

Meanwhile, Justin Bieber scored another massive debut -- third-largest music video debut of 2015 -- and did so... without being in the video. The release -- designated as a "dance video" -- for the song "Sorry" was seen approximately 20 million times in its first 48 hours.

Both releases also helped grow these artists' respective YouTube audiences considerably as well, with Adele gaining over 400,000 subscribers over the weekend and Bieber picking up over 150,000 in the three days following his new vid.

If you're one of the handful of people who have missed these two premieres, you can see them both below.

-- Kevin Allocca



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Billion-view videos are happening faster on YouTube

October 09, 2015

Wiz Khalifa and his video "See You Again" hit a milestone this week, becoming the tenth video ever to cross 1 billion views on YouTube. At 184 days, "See You Again" is the second-fastest video to hit 1 billion in YouTube history (after “Gangnam Style”), and the quickest of the past year. Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s tribute to the late Paul Walker joins what appears to be an ever-accelerating trend in billion-view videos.

For ten years, the Billion View Club was one of the most exclusive circles on YouTube, but in 2015, things changed. At the start of this past June, only two videos had reached that echelon. But in just the past six months, EIGHT additional videos crossed the mark. Here are the videos ranked by views with a graph showing the trajectory of these videos over the past five years.



As you can see below, the rate at which videos are accelerating to this milestone appears to be increasing as well. The average number of days it took for a video to cross 1 billion is 484 days, but of the videos that have done it, the three most recent crossed it at an average of 241 days.



Other fun facts:

  • In what may be a surprise to Americans, Enrique Iglesias' "Bailando" became the second non-English video to cross 1 billion views. According to YouTube Music Insights, one-third of Iglesias' views come from Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina alone.
  • Only one of the videos is for a debut single, Meghan Trainor's 2014 hit "All About That Bass."
  • The first to reach the milestone was PSY with his K-pop smash hit "Gangnam Style" on December 21, 2012, at a record pace of 160 days from its upload, a record that still stands today.
  • Next was Justin Bieber with what had been, for years, YouTube's most viewed video, "Baby," on March 2, 2014.
  • Katy Perry and Taylor Swift each have had two videos hit this mark, "Roar"/"Dark Horse" and "Blank Space"/"Shake It Off" respectively.
  • Next closest to a billion: One Republic's "Counting Stars."

Count down all the music videos with 1 billion views in this playlist!

-- Kevin Allocca
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YouTube's Trending Games of September

October 08, 2015

YouTube's Trending Games of August

September 09, 2015

YouTube's Top Trending Games of July

August 14, 2015

It’s relatively straight-forward to look up what games are selling, but how do you compare the popularity of something like the free-to-play World of Warships with the episodic adventure Life is Strange? To answer this and life’s other difficult questions, we turn to YouTube’s Trending Games Chart which measures games that are growing in 1) watch time and 2) creators making content about that game. The top 10 trending games for July are …


  1. Rocket League - Rocket League is like the song of the summer, but for gaming.
  2. Life Is Strange - Episode 4 was released at the end of July.
  3. Terraria - A major update added new items, characters, bosses, and events.
  4. Godzilla - The newest Godzilla game arrived in the U.S. this fall.
  5. NBA 2K16 - Details and footage building hype for this game's September release.
  6. God of War III - A new remaster hit the PS4 this month.
  7. World of Warships - Just launched in open beta.
  8. Rory McIlroy PGA Tour - The July release coincided with the 2015 Open Championship.
  9. Path of Exile - The Awakening, Path of Exile's third expansion, was just released.
  10. J-Stars Victory VS - The manga all-stars fighting game is now available in the U.S.


Not only are Rocket League and Life Is Strange the #1 and #2 games of July, they are also the only games on the chart that aren’t established franchises that have been around for years. For Rocket League, more highlights of insane goals, last-second saves, and just plain luck are going up every hour. Life Is Strange has shown up on this list every time a new episode comes out, but episode 4 has been a real breakout and prompted about twice as many YouTube searches as any previous episode.

Life Is Strange seems to trend every time a new episode is released, but will Rocket League continue to grow? Check back in next month, and we’ll all find out together. Until then, Rocket League?

--Jeff Rubin
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YouTube’s Top Trending Games of June

July 07, 2015

YouTube’s trending games list looks at games that are growing in both watchtime and uploads. Here’s what was trending in the U.S. this June:

  1. Batman: Arkham Knight
  2. Lego Jurassic World
  3. Fallout 4
  4. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  5. Lego Worlds
  6. The Elder Scrolls Online
  7. Skylanders: SuperChargers
  8. Star Wars Battlefront
  9. Final Fantasy VII
  10. Heroes of the Storm

Let’s take a deeper dive into what’s trending and why:

Batman: Arkham Knight - The highly anticipated Batman simulator was a huge hit on YouTube. There are lots of angles to enjoy - YouTubers were interested in searching for easter eggs, learning how to pull of impressive combos and, of course, trying out the game with Adam West.
Don’t miss - Batmobile Wants to Help Too

Lego: Jurassic World - Lego video games are becoming as reliably popular as the toy they are based on (more on that a little later in the list). In June, the film "Jurassic World" broke several box office world records including the biggest North American weekend of all time. Put it all together and you’ve got the second fastest growing game on YouTube in June.
Don’t miss - Lego Jurassic World: Creating My Own Dinosaurs!

Fallout 4 - Fallout 4 won YouTube’s E3 trailer battle with 14 million views, the most votes, and the most comments. But remember, to be a trending game it’s not enough to just have a popular trailer - you need to have lots of YouTube creators uploading video about your game. Thankfully just a brief glimpse of Fallout 4 provided more than enough grist for commentators to start analyzing the game, its plot, and potential connections to the rest of the series.
Don’t miss - Fallout 4 -- E3 Showcase World Premiere

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - If you look at a calendar, we’re actually closer to the release of November’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III than 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. But Advanced Warfare demonstrated it still has some life in it, growing since last month alongside the premiere of the Supremacy DLC.
Don’t miss - Exo Zombies “Carrier” Easter Egg Guide

Lego Worlds - Our second Lego game of the month, and with Lego Dimensions coming out in September you can probably expect to see more plastic bricks on the trending game list before 2015 is over. YouTube loves games that lets players show off their creativity, so this construction-themed Lego game has the potential to grow for some time.
Don’t miss - LEGO Worlds - Epic Vehicle Stunts! Building The Biggest LEGO Jump!

The Elder Scrolls Online - This massively multiplayer extension of the Elder Scrolls universe has been open since 2014, but its June release on consoles lead to a surge in uploaders creating content from Tamriel.
Don’t miss - Mother of God

SkyLanders: SuperChargers - The newest entry in the franchise is named after the “SuperCharger” vehicles the SkyLanders get to drive this time around but, based on the news that got the biggest reaction at E3, a better title might be “SkyLanders: Bowser & Donkey Kong Are In This One.”
Don’t miss - Sky Kids Surprised w/ Skylanders Superchargers @ E3 2015

Star Wars Battlefront - This game trended in April when it was announced, and it’s trending in June now that we’re actually seeing gameplay footage. Call me crazy, but I think we’ll talk about this game again in November when it finally comes out.
Don’t miss - Star Wars Battlefront: Multiplayer Gameplay | E3 2015 “Walker Assault” on Hoth

Final Fantasy VII - 1997’s Final Fantasy VII is one of gaming’s all-time classics and is always in the conversation, but Square-Enix’s E3 announcement of a proper remake and HD update pushed the game to officially reach trending status.
Don’t miss - Live Reaction Final Fantasy VII Remake Trailer

Heroes of the Storm - Heroes of the Storm has been a game that’s knocked on the trending games list for a few months now, but leaving beta on June 3 seems to have resulted in enough watchtime and uploads for the game to officially chart. If this game continues to grow like other free-to-play MOBAs, it could be on the trending list for months to come.
Don’t miss - HeroStorm Episode 1: Aspire to Inspire

--Jeff Rubin
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Trending This Week: #LoveWins All, Kittens Fly High, and Michael Jackson Dance Parties!

June 26, 2015

Love Wins the Supreme Court and YouTube



In case you spent your entire Friday stuck inside the black hole of the DMV or you chose today to “unplug,” I’m excited to tell you the Supreme Court announced this morning that same-sex marriage will be legal in all 50 states effective immediately! Within minutes of the decision, YouTube released the video “#ProudtoLove” that is being described by AdWeek as “the perfect video on the historic day of gay rights.” The video is not only a celebration of marriage equality but pays homage to the countless LGBT creators and YouTube users who have influenced the course of this monumental decision. Our team has continued to celebrate this ruling with playlists highlighting influential LGBT creators, emotional same-sex proposals, inspiring coming out videos, advice on how to be an effective LGBT ally, and a music list all about dancing to the beat of your own drum.

The Evolution of Michael Jackson



Just when we thought Pentatonix had abandoned the YouTube airwaves for a Europe, then Asia, then the United States tour, the a cappella group surprised fans with an “Evolution of Michael Jackson” video that hit 1.8M views in the first 24 hours. The video follows in the footsteps of Pentatonix’s past hits “Evolution of Beyonce” and “Evolution of Music,” which was the video that began PTX’s rise to fame over two years ago. In other PTX news--to keep you in the know with the hip, “Pitch Perfect 2” obsessed kids--the group is at work on their first all-original album, gearing up to tour with Kelly Clarkson, and recently released their first documentary “On My Way Home” on Vimeo.

Stowaway Kitten Gets the Ride of a Lifetime



In under a week, this video of a cat surprising a pilot mid-flight has received over 14M views, driven mostly my viewers curiosity over how the story of this acrobatic kitten will end. While this whiskered hero is certainly the biggest animal video of this week, close contenders in the cuteness category go to these goats and these dachshunds who swallowed their pride, threw on a Minion costume, and danced around for your entertainment. All I can say is, bless them and their thumbless, Minion-like ways.

Does Race Affect Your Dating Life?



Vlogger Franchesca Ramsey nails it once again in her popular MTV series “Decoded,” where this week she examines how race plays a huge role in every person’s dating life. While people often see their dating preferences as a personal choice, Ramsey explains in her signature comedic and thought-provoking way all the ways racial bias and stereotypes are subconsciously molding the chemistry we feel for another person. Ramsey has long been known on YouTube for her honest, complex discussions about race. Though she started her YouTube channel Chescaleigh in 2006, it wasn’t until six years later, after the viral upload of her video “Sh*t White Girls Say to Black Girls,” that she began to gain notice in the larger YouTube community. Her candid conversations about race, the LGBT community, self confidence, beauty, and relationships have made her a role model to young girls-- especially young black girls--who see her as not only someone who resembles them but understands the issues they face on a daily basis.

--Carly Lanning
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Who Won the Biggest E3 Yet? The Votes Are In

Every June, the gaming industry embarks on its annual pilgrimage to Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). This year, for the thousands who showed up in person, there were millions who tuned in virtually. New announcements, radical technology, and reveals from much anticipated projects pushed the number of E3-related searches on YouTube to double compared to 2014 - making this the most searched-for E3 on YouTube.



One of the popular questions to ask the week after E3 is “Who won E3?”. With the E3 Trailer Battle, we posed that question to the global gaming audience on YouTube. Sixty-one participating trailers were watched for over 2 million hours from Monday to Friday of E3 week - that’s twice the amount of time people spent watching trailers in last year’s battle. We also received five times the number of votes compared to 2014 and a clear winner emerged.

Congratulations "Fallout 4"! With the most votes, most comments and over 14 million views, this post-apocalyptic masterpiece is something we can’t wait to get our hands on.

From canine companions to dueling lightsabers and beyond, take a look at the five most voted for trailers in YouTube’s E3 Trailer Battle 2015. You can check out all the participating trailers at youtube.com/e3.

 

Gautam Ramdurai, Insights Lead, Gaming recently watched "No Man's Sky - Interview and Exclusive Footage [YouTube Live at E3]."
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Trending This Week: Ed Sheeran Can’t Stop Being a Dreamboat, and Ron Howard Takes Over YouTube [AGAIN]!

June 19, 2015

Ed Sheeran Just Can’t Stop Surprising Fans



Ed Sheeran, you’ve done it again you beautiful dreamboat. This week, after hearing someone performing his song while shopping in a Canadian mall, Sheeran went to investigate, surprising 13-year-old Sydney Bourbeau with an impromptu duet of “Thinking Out Loud.” With 6.6 million views to date, the video shot by Sheeran’s cousin is just one of many capturing the personal, kind deeds of the Irish singer including his wedding performances, duets, and messages to hospitalized superfans. While people didn’t need more of a reason to love Sheeran -- “Thinking Out Loud” has become the wedding song of 2014/2015 and after 36 weeks, still sits on the Billboard top 100 list -- it’s these very down-to-earth, human moments that endear him to his audience.

Just Two Bros Playing Frisbee



It’s the combination of this pair’s confusion about Frisbee, coupled with the fact that no one else at the beach seems to appreciate their athleticism, that has lead to this video’s rise to fame. The hilarious video of two Bosnian men engrossed in what they believe to be a game of beach Frisbee has delighted the hearts of nearly 1.5 million viewers who can now take this unique sport and share it with the rest of the world.

Ghost Busting Goes British in New Short Film



After seven years of making short sketches on YouTube, comedy duo Jack Howard and Dean Dobbs have branched into the world of short film with “Ghost Hunting Corporation.” The short follows two best friends who hire a mysterious ghost hunter to evict a messy spirit from their flat. Over the years, Jack and Dean have become huge influences in the U.K. creator community and through YouTube, gone on to host live comedy shows and a BBC radio show. The short is part of the Incubator series from New Form Digital, a studio founded by Ron Howard that assists classes of YouTube filmmakers in producing their dream short films. Nine other filmmakers were part of this class including Wong Fu, Tim H, Ben Cook, and Arden Rose, who each released their own film. The most popular to date among the program has been Kick the PJ’s “Oscar’s Hotel,” which is now in production for a full Vimeo series.

Dinosaurs Make Awful Pets



All I’m saying is, never turn your back on a dinosaur and a box of cereal. Coinciding with the premiere of “Jurassic World,” this short dinosaur sketch is one of the most popular of this week and the first video from the channel “We Have a Dinosaur” gained an audience of 1.6 million views. These past two weeks leading up to the “Jurassic World” release have seen a huge upswing in dinosaur-themed content with science facts with Vsauce and Chris Pratt, dinosaur experts rating dino toys, easter eggs, science lessons, piano covers, and of course, a parody by Cookie Monster.

--Carly Lanning
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Trending This Week: Coming Out, Apologizing to Bees, Shaking Off the Makeup Shamers

June 12, 2015

Beauty Guru Comes Out on YouTube



This week, Ingrid Nilsen (Miss Glamorazzi) came out as gay on YouTube in an incredibly emotional video that has already garnered over 3.9 million views. In the video, Nilsen talks candidly about her journey to understand and embrace her sexuality, as well as addressing her past relationships with men -- one of which she frequently shared on her channel. In the past four days, the overwhelming amount of support -- both in traditional media (Time, CNN, Vanity Fair) and online (with comments from John Green, Joey Graceffa, Hannah Hart, Zoella, Alfie Deyes) -- has demonstrated just how fast the conversation around LGBT relationships is changing for the better. Nilsen follows in the footsteps of countless creators, such as the Rhodes Brothers (their January video now stands at 18.8M views), whose coming out experiences have not only been used to inspire LGBT individuals in the same situation, but educate potential allies around the world.

An Open Letter to Bees



For anyone who has ever had a beef with bees, this video is for you. Comedian Mike Falzone is one of those hidden gems of YouTube who has built a loyal fanbase with videos that epitomize quality over quantity. Looking at the numbers, Falzone would be considered “little YouTube” with just over 122,000 subscribers and 13M views in the past nine years. But like so many other smaller creators (Lex Croucher, Beckie0, Akilah Hughes), Falzone’s influence reaches far beyond his view count, and instead lies in his long run on YouTube and loving fanbase of YouTube power players such as John and Hank Green, Olan Rogers, and SourceFed. He’s also laugh-till-you-snort hilarious, an extremely talented musician, a published author before every YouTuber became a published author, and, as I like to call him, “the Kevin Bacon of YouTube.” It’s a real thing, everyone is in one way or another connected to Mike Falzone.

‘Grand Theft Auto’ In Real Life


As a former Los Angeles resident, I think I speak for everyone when I say at one point or another, we’ve all wished we could approach gridlock traffic with a few “Grand Theft Auto” tricks. But, alas, due to a still engaged moral compass, Corridor Digital’s recent viral hit “Grand Theft Auto IRL” is the next best thing. Filmmakers Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer hit a high note with their recent video-game inspired short that has gained over 11M views in four days -- a huge accomplishment even for filmmaking veterans like Corridor. The pair have become known for their studio-level special effects, past collaborations with Freddie Wong (they were roommates), and infinite love of bringing video games to life with popular hits such as The Glitch and Superman With a GoPro.

The Power of Makeup



In recent months, beauty gurus have begun experiencing what is being called “makeup shaming,” a trend in which someone who enjoys wearing makeup is labelled as unfeminist, insecure, conceited, and vain. (For further explanation, see Amy Schumer’s incredible music sketch “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup.”) Popular beauty guru Nikkie Tutorials confronts this trend head on through her video “The Power of Makeup” which has inspired a conversation of over 5,300 comments. In the video, Nikkie walks viewers through her makeup routine while discussing why women are recently ashamed rather than empowered to admit to wearing makeup. With half her face left bare and half made glammed up, Nikkie drives home the point that makeup should be seen as source of expression and confidence that depends on no one’s opinions but your own. “The Power of Makeup” is reminiscent of last year’s “Ray Rice Makeup Tutorial,” “How to Put on Your Face,” and “Honest Makeup Tutorial,” which have made political and social statements through the use of a makeup video.

--Carly Lanning
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Introducing YouTube's top trending games

June 08, 2015

No matter what kind of gamer you are, one question you have to eventually ask yourself is “What game should I play next?” We’re a little obsessed with both video games and numbers at YouTube, so we’d thought we’d try to answer the question with data.

Those who love video games increasingly turn to YouTube to learn about and celebrate the newest titles, either by watching other people’s videos or creating their own. We noticed that if you measure those two things - the interest people have in watching a new game as well as the number of people celebrating that game by uploading new videos - you could start to predict what’s going to be popular. Today we introduce YouTube Top Trending Games, a chart that looks beyond what’s already big today to what’s going to be big tomorrow.

  1. The Witcher 3
  2. Life Is Strange
  3. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
  4. Splatoon
  5. Kerbal Space Program
  6. Rust
  7. Batman: Arkham Knight
  8. Assassin’s Creed: Unity
  9. Smite
  10. Project CARS

The #1 game for May is "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," an RPG based on a series of Polish novels. Watchtime was largely driven by thousands of Let’s Plays including instant classics from Conan O’Brien and PewDiePie. Interest in the new "Witcher" games is so high that it’s actually driving interest in the first two games of the series, as new fans drawn in by strong reviews try to catch up on the world’s dense mythology. YouTube search traffic for "The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings" was as high in May 2015 is as it has been since the game was released on consoles in 2012.

In May, "Kerbal Space Program" emerged from a successful early access program. Gamers who are just now picking up the spaceport simulator drove a spike in views to classic "Kerbal" creations like this rocket-jet powered Volvo, the mod that makes the game more like "Interstellar," and, of course, this spaceship that makes it all the way to Mars on a single 15 kiloton explosion. "Kerbal Space Program" is the kind of game that facilitates open-ended creativity, and now that it’s officially launched we expect more insane rocket ships for months to come.

A lot of the watchtime growth for "Batman: Arkham Knight" came from official trailers like Be The Batman and All Who Follow but, remember, there’s more to trending than people watching a trailer. For a game to be trending, the number of creators discussing it have to also be growing. Every time Rocksteady gives us a glance of their new Batman game, it’s met with hundreds of reaction videos from creators like Tyrone Magnus, The Reel Rejects, and Knightwing001.

"The Witcher 3" has trended for a few months now as hype and anticipation has grown, but will its fanbase continue to expand in June? Or will it be dwarfed by the official release of "Heroes of the Storm," the "Final Fantasy XIV" expansion "Heavensword," or some indie game we haven’t even heard of yet? Watch this space for June’s trending games and we’ll all find out together.
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