Easiest Way to Get MORE DJ Mix Plays (why is no one doing this?!)

Summary

This video offers essential tips for DJs to increase views on their YouTube mixes. It covers understanding YouTube algorithms, planning mix series, optimizing titles, thumbnails, and descriptions for better searchability, and using tools like TubeBuddy for analytics and thumbnail creation. The video also provides a free ebook for starting a DJ Mix series on YouTube.

Takeaways

• 🎧 Start with a clear plan for your YouTube DJ mix series, considering the mix's theme, genre, and target audience.
• 🔍 Understand how YouTube's algorithm works to categorize and recommend content based on viewer engagement and search history.
• 📈 YouTube actively supports new channels, with a team focused on identifying audiences for creators just starting out.
• 🎨 Create unique and engaging thumbnails that stand out and accurately represent the content of your mix to attract viewers.
• 🔑 Use searchable keywords in titles and descriptions to improve the discoverability of your mixes on YouTube's search engine.
• 📝 Make use of the full 5,000-character limit in video descriptions to include relevant keywords and information.
• 📈 Utilize tools like TubeBuddy to analyze search terms, track performance, and optimize your video titles and descriptions.
• 👨‍🎤 Consider featuring yourself or artists in your thumbnails to create a personal connection with viewers and fans.
• 📚 Include a tracklist and timestamps in your video description to enhance viewer experience and encourage engagement.
• 🌐 Link to artist channels and tracks in your description to support the music community and increase the video's reach.
• 🚀 Plan your content in advance, considering the evergreen nature of mixes, which can grow in reach and views over time.

Q & A

What is the main issue faced by DJs who are creating YouTube DJ mixes but not gaining views?

The main issue is that they might be overlooking fundamental aspects of YouTube best practices, which results in not reaching new audiences and not getting the views they deserve.

What does the speaker suggest is the first step before pressing play on a DJ mix for YouTube?

The first step is to consider various elements for the new YouTube mix series and plan out the next steps to help find more audience and get more plays.

How does YouTube's algorithm work in relation to content recommendation?

YouTube's algorithm compiles content recommendations based on the user's Google and YouTube search history, preferences, and interactions to show content that aligns with their interests.

What does the speaker mention about YouTube's support for new channels?

YouTube has a team specifically focused on identifying audiences for creators who are just starting, ensuring there is a path for new creators to get started and grow their audience.

What is the importance of categorization in YouTube DJ mixes?

Categorization helps YouTube to understand how to categorize the mix and recommend it to the right people, increasing the chances of the mix being discovered and viewed.

Why is planning the mix series important before starting to record?

Planning the mix series is important to ensure the mix follows a certain genre, theme, or style, and to avoid potential takedowns and blocks due to copyright issues.

What role do titles, thumbnails, and descriptions play in attracting viewers to a DJ mix on YouTube?

Titles, thumbnails, and descriptions are crucial as they are the 'Big Three' that attract viewers to watch the mix. They should be optimized with searchable keywords to improve discoverability.

How can using TubeBuddy help in optimizing YouTube DJ mixes?

TubeBuddy provides insights into search terms, competition, and viewer behavior, allowing creators to optimize titles, tags, and thumbnails for better searchability and viewer engagement.

What is the significance of searchable keywords in the video description?

Searchable keywords in the video description improve the video's SEO, making it easier for potential viewers to find the DJ mix when searching for related content on YouTube.

Why are chapter markers important in a DJ mix video?

Chapter markers are important because they allow viewers to easily navigate through the mix, find specific tracks, and can also link to the tracks and artists, increasing viewer engagement and support for the music.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the creation of thumbnails for YouTube DJ mixes?

The speaker advises that thumbnails should be simple, bright, and contain keywords or recognizable elements that attract viewers. They should also be tested at a smaller scale to ensure visibility and readability.

What is the final step recommended by the speaker to ensure the success of a YouTube DJ mix?

The final step is to use TubeBuddy's checklist to ensure all necessary elements for video optimization are in place, helping the mix to reach the right audience and gain more views and fans.

Outlines

00:00

🎧 Boosting YouTube DJ Mix Views

This paragraph discusses common mistakes made by DJs on YouTube that prevent their mixes from gaining views and audience. It emphasizes the importance of understanding YouTube's algorithms, which are designed to promote content based on viewer interaction and past search history. The speaker suggests that by correcting these errors, DJs can reach a wider audience. The paragraph also introduces the channel's focus on helping DJs and music producers with post-production aspects like social media and YouTube channels, and encourages viewers to subscribe for more insights.

05:01

🔍 Maximizing YouTube SEO for DJ Mixes

The second paragraph delves into the significance of evergreen content, titles, thumbnails, and descriptions—referred to as 'The Big Three'—for optimizing YouTube DJ mixes for search engines. It advises against including the artist's name in the title unless necessary and suggests using searchable keywords that reflect the mix's theme or genre. The paragraph highlights the use of tools like TubeBuddy for researching popular search terms and tracking video performance. It also mentions the importance of utilizing the description's 5,000-character limit to include searchable terms that can enhance the video's visibility.

10:02

🎨 Crafting Attractive Thumbnails and Descriptions

This paragraph focuses on the art of creating compelling thumbnails and descriptions to increase click-through rates on YouTube DJ mixes. It advises keeping thumbnails simple and readable, even when scaled down, and using bright, attractive images that convey the mood of the mix. The description should include a tracklist with chapter markers, links to artists and music platforms, and additional searchable keywords to enhance discoverability. The paragraph also commends the practices of Flav Trippers, a successful YouTube channel, for their effective use of these strategies.

15:04

🚀 Launching a YouTube DJ Mix Series

The final paragraph offers guidance for DJs looking to start a YouTube mix series, including planning content for the first six months and considering the legalities of music uploads to avoid takedowns. It mentions the availability of a free ebook for planning YouTube video mixes and the channel's next video that addresses concerns about music selection and copyright issues on YouTube. The speaker, presumably a DJ and YouTube channel owner, signs off with an invitation to the next video and a farewell.

Keywords

💡YouTube DJ mixes

YouTube DJ mixes refer to the compilations of music tracks, usually within a specific genre, that DJs create and share on the YouTube platform. These mixes are meant to showcase the DJ's skills and attract new fans. In the video script, the focus is on how to increase views and audience engagement for these mixes, emphasizing the importance of proper planning and optimization for the YouTube algorithm.

💡Algorithm

The term 'algorithm' in the context of the video refers to the set of rules that YouTube and other social media platforms use to rank and recommend content to users. The script discusses how these algorithms can affect the visibility of DJ mixes, highlighting the need for content creators to understand and adapt to these systems to reach a wider audience.

💡Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the practice of optimizing content to rank higher in search engine results. In the video, SEO is discussed in relation to YouTube DJ mixes, emphasizing the importance of using relevant keywords in titles and descriptions to improve searchability and attract viewers.

💡Evergreen mix

An 'evergreen mix' is a timeless compilation of music that remains relevant and appealing over time. The script suggests creating evergreen mixes that can continue to attract new listeners and grow in reach and views, as opposed to mixes that are tied to a specific, fleeting trend.

💡Tracklist

A 'tracklist' is a list of all the songs included in a music mix. In the video, the importance of providing a tracklist is highlighted as it helps viewers identify the music they like and can lead to increased engagement and interaction with the content.

💡Chapter markers

Chapter markers are timestamps that help viewers navigate through a video, especially useful in long music mixes. The script mentions the use of chapter markers to indicate when a new track starts, enhancing the viewer's experience and making it easier for them to find specific songs.

💡Thumbnail

A 'thumbnail' is the small image that represents a video and is displayed in search results and video listings. The video script talks about the importance of creating attractive and informative thumbnails to entice viewers to click and watch the DJ mixes.

💡Tub Buddy

Tub Buddy is a plugin for YouTube that provides additional insights and tools to optimize video content. The script mentions Tub Buddy as a resource for analyzing search terms, planning video titles, and improving the discoverability of YouTube DJ mixes.

💡Key Plugins

Key plugins, as mentioned in the script, are tools or extensions that can enhance the functionality of a platform, such as YouTube. They can provide data on search terms, viewer behavior, and other analytics that help in optimizing video content for better visibility.

💡Discoverability

Discoverability refers to the ease with which new viewers can find and access content on platforms like YouTube. The script discusses various strategies to improve the discoverability of DJ mixes, including SEO, engaging thumbnails, and the use of relevant keywords.

💡Categorization

Categorization in the context of YouTube refers to how the platform classifies and organizes content. The script talks about the importance of proper categorization for DJ mixes to ensure they are recommended to the right audience by the YouTube algorithm.

Highlights

Many DJs are overlooking simple yet effective ways to increase views on their YouTube DJ mixes.

Fundamentals of YouTube are often mishandled, leading to missed opportunities for new fans and audience engagement.

Subscribing to channels that help DJs and producers understand post-record creation can be beneficial.

Planning out the next steps for a new YouTube mix series is crucial for finding more audience and getting more plays.

Understanding YouTube and Instagram algorithms is key to increasing content reach and engagement.

YouTube's algorithm compiles content recommendations based on user preferences and search history.

YouTube is actively supporting new channels, providing an opportunity for DJs to grow their audience.

Categorization of DJ mixes on YouTube is essential for proper recommendation to the right audience.

Planning the theme or ideas of a DJ mix series is vital for attracting the right viewers.

Avoiding generic titles and focusing on searchable keywords can significantly improve a mix's discoverability.

Titles and thumbnails are critical in attracting viewers to watch a DJ mix on YouTube.

Using tools like TubeBuddy can help DJs understand what people are searching for and optimize their video titles and descriptions.

Descriptions with searchable keywords can enhance the SEO of a video and improve its visibility on YouTube.

Chapter markers and track lists in video descriptions can increase viewer engagement and provide valuable information.

Thumbnails should be simple, clear, and attractive to encourage clicks and new viewers.

Less is more when it comes to thumbnail design, with clarity and visibility being key factors.

Using TubeBuddy's thumbnail analyzer can help create more effective thumbnails for increased click-through rates.

A checklist provided by TubeBuddy ensures all necessary elements are included in a video for maximum audience reach.

Transcripts

these simple yet effective ways to get

more views on your YouTube DJ mixes are

being overlooked by so many DJs are you

making DJ mixes for YouTube but they're

just hitting nothing you're hearing

crickets instead of new fans cheering

then essentially you could be doing some

of the fundamentals of YouTube wrong and

by doing these things wrong you could

essentially be not hitting the new fans

audience and Views you deserve because

you're getting the very Basics wrong

before we get cracking if you want to

learn more about creating a YouTube

channel as a DJ and music producer then

make sure you subscribe to this channel

that's what we do on this channel we

help DJs and producers understand

everything else after making a record so

from social media to YouTube channels to

streaming to SoundCloud channels that's

what we do on this channel and I have

helped so many DJs over the years hit

the Subscribe button now right let's get

cracking with this video before you

press play on that first track you need

to consider these some of these things

for your brand new YouTube mix series

and by planning out your next steps it's

going to help you find more audience and

get more plays on those YouTube DJ mixes

let's chat a little bit about algorithms

quickly from it comes from YouTube and

also from other algori when it comes to

algori like Instagram Instagram will

show your content to some of your

followers and then if your followers do

certain social signals like like comment

share interact with the post and

essentially watch the post then it shows

it to more people and if they like it

and so forth then it shows it to more

people more people and more people and

it just grows to reach that post and if

people don't like it and people don't

interact with it then it shrinks to

nothing and the reach goes all together

when it comes to YouTube YouTube knows

what you like it knows what you like

from your Google search history it knows

what you got like from your YouTube

search history it knows whether you like

a tech house mix it knows with you like

a 130 disco mix so it then compiles

content that can be recommended to you

on your previous history and right now

on YouTube there's loads of support for

new channels and this could be your new

DJ Channel even YouTube themselves are

saying this the director of YouTube

growth and Discovery said this in an

interview recently for new creat or

smaller creators because when you say

the algorithm follows the audience they

worry that they don't have an audience

yet for the algorithm to follow so do we

do anything for those those creators

yeah so we have a team that is

specifically focused on this challenge

of trying to identify audiences for

creators that are just getting started

for videos that don't we don't have a

lot of um information about and so you

know with with those videos and channels

we do need to try some different

approaches the title the description

when when there are viewers that show up

that seems like they might be interested

in it we'll show uh that video to those

viewers and see which of them react we

really want to make sure that there is a

path for new creators to get started

it's a metric we track how many new

creators are succeeding on the platform

we we're very focused on that we we care

a lot about it because we do believe

that there's a lot of opportunity there

with new creators coming along with new

ideas all the time and we want to we

want to help those creators be

successful they are tracking small

creators right now and this could be you

so this is a great opportunity to start

a new YouTube channel and start planning

and building a new YouTube channel

that're going to give you an audience a

fan base and essentially will get you

more DJ mixes and more record signed in

the future so when you're starting that

brand new YouTube DJ Mix it's about

trying to work out the categorization

for the mix and how YouTube is going to

categorize it and then it can recommend

it to the right people for you so to get

started let's start planning so when you

start out YouTube DJ Mix the first thing

need to do is work out what the ideas

around the mix series are and there's

different ways of doing mix series

whether it's you on screen whether it's

you off screen and it's just a mix with

an artwork but essentially you need to

work out a plan of what your mix is

going to be about and what theme or

ideas are in that mix I wouldn't just

turn up press play and record some

tracks CU I can guarantee loads of those

will be flagged and loads of those will

get takedowns and blocked you really

need to plan these mixes so does your

mix follow a certain genre does it

follow a certain theme does it follow a

certain Style sty is it a mix around a

certain record label you love and it's

all the records from one label are all

the tracks from a certain year or point

in history is the mix inspired by

certain things like a bether or

festivals or Miami or Croatia or does it

fit into what the viewer might be doing

are they going to the gym are they

running are they exercising are they

making dinner are they cooking are they

barbecuing are they outside are they

chilling what theme does it fit into

write down a list of loads and loads of

ideas for mixes it can be hundreds and

also you could probably ask AI to come

up with a list of ideas for different

places where people might use mixes

might listen to mixes and literally come

up with hundreds of ideas for mixes we

do it with this channel we come up with

a whole batch of ideas for content and

videos for us to make and then we narrow

it down to our best ideas then we'll

make those ideas spending time in this

ideation phase of creating your new DJ

Mix content is a game Cher I guarantee

it and if you're launching a new channel

then you can literally plan out the

first 6 months of mixes and six months

of content and videos you need to make

before you even start pressing play when

it comes to YouTube people watch mixes

at different times so you want to think

about the mix and the creation of that

mix as an evergreen mix people will

listen to this music for a long time

after and mixes will grow in reach and

Views over time the mix also could be a

series where it captures a moment in

time and it could be something like the

music you're into each month and that

could be the what the mix is about or it

could be uploading your radio show say

for instance you have a data

transmission radio show and you're one

of our radio show hosts you could then

use this opportunity to record the mix

or put the mix on your own YouTube

channel as well and it grows the reach

of you and your show and if you want to

get on data transmission radio we're

taking on new shows at the moment we're

taking on new host at the moment and

I'll link to the form so you can apply

to be a show host maybe the ideas behind

the show is a weekly show that you

focuses on one genre Tech house bangers

for instance and it's the new music

you're into that week and the new artist

you're so supporting that week now you

have the ideas for the mix and what's

next the biggest thing when it comes to

YouTube is titles thumbnails

descriptions The Big Three the title and

the thumbnail will attract the viewer to

watch that mix the title and the

thumbnail also don't have to have the

same information some people make that

mistake let's talk titles first the

title doesn't need to have your artist

name in it your page will have your

artist name in it unless of course it's

from a label or Club Show event and then

the mix is from a certain person within

your roster or your crew but if your

name's in your title or your channel you

don't need it in the start of your mix

when it comes to the titles think about

what will I search Grand and farmer to

find your mix mix I'm definitely not

searching new mix one new mix 2 Tech

house mix one very few people are

searching those if it's a tech house mix

or maybe a drum bass mix then what could

they search and as I said is there a

theme to that mix maybe it's a festival

Tech house mix maybe it's a poolside

Tech house mix maybe it's Tech house

grooves from Miami if we look at our

friends flavor trip and look at what

they've do they've got an absolutely

massive Channel and they've got over

nearly 500,000 subscribers in the last 2

and a half years which is absolutely

epic well done guys so if we look at

their brand new mix at the time of the

recording this had 650,000 views already

and it was only a week or so old their

title is slow morning house music mix

chill funky breakfast playlist deep

relaxing Branch teris DJ sets as you can

see with that title they've packed as

many searchable keywords into that title

as humanly possible where will people

search that mix relaxing house music mix

they might use those words that mix is

still coming up or brunch music mix that

mix is still coming up or funky

breakfast mix that mix is still coming

up and as you can see the combination of

the words together will actually help

you find that mix so the more you think

about the title and the more your

preparation and the time spending on

titles the more you're going to come up

in Search and that is so important one

way to hack the search and find out what

people are actually searching what

people viewing and what people are

looking for is by having some key

plugins and one of those key plugins is

chew budy and we use chew buddy a lot

for our channel to understand what

people are looking for and what people

are searching for CH gives you so much

more information about your the videos

and the Search terms that people are

using and it can actually ranks the

search and how many people to show you

whether that's that search time is good

or it's really good or if it's not so

good because there's a lot of

competition in that search term and

you're not going to appear in that

search which actually can help you plan

out your videos and test different

titles to see if they work when it comes

to the actual tube body dashboard you

get tons and tons of information it will

show you how much retention there are on

your videos it will show you how much

growth there on your videos which videos

are performing well and it can recommend

titles and ideas for future videos once

you started putting out videos and if we

look at the title breakfast house music

mix let's see how that comes out with

these plugins with the TU buddy plugin

we can see that this has an excellent

rating the competition within this term

is good which make these terms great for

YouTube video and it says even though

the competition the search volume is

high enough to make this a great keyword

to Target it tells you all this

information that's excellent that's

going to make your videos easier to make

it also gives you related terms and

related keywords you could consider as

well and also common tags within that

space which going to help you when

you're tagging your video for people to

find it which you can actually select

and copy so you haven't got to even type

them out super quick super easy if you

spent a bit of time researching terms

researching ideas then Che will give you

so much information and then again when

it comes to the planning phase and as

you start learning what works and what

doesn't work it's going to make it

easier to work out these videos and plan

these videos next up descriptions when

it comes to descriptions you get 5,000

characters to put in your description

and these words again are completely

searchable and will come up and they're

basically SEO for the video for what

people might be searching to find that

video and this can massively help the

searchability of your DJ Mix let's look

again at our friends over at Flav trip

to see what they're putting in their

descriptions and if you look they have a

hook right in the top line to make you

click into the description and all it

says is track list down below with a

finger down which as DJs we can all

agree we want to know what tracks being

played and you're going to click in

there now this is either before we start

a mix to see what tracks are in there

see if we like the sound and the vibe of

the mix or it could be while it's

playing oh I like this track what is it

there's a track list there they've even

taken the time to put the chapter

markers in the video for each of the

tracks and link to each of the tracks

and also link to each of the artist

YouTube channels to link back to help

you find your new favorite artists so

consider it it's also going to send a

notification to those artists they might

start commenting and become fans of that

page that's going to help labels and

artists come back in and it might even

add to comments which is also going to

add to the reach of that video super

smart they have also even put the track

sauce and beatport Links at the very

bottom of the description so you can

even go and buy those tracks to help

support a smaller artist in smaller

labels again so smart sharing the love

and showing love to the industry and the

scene as a whole I absolutely love this

and you can add those chapter markers

within tube buddy there's actually a

button that you can just click you watch

the mix through and you can add the

track markers as the tracks are changing

and you literally click one button and

it adds a track marker and then you just

keep watching we normally put it on a

double speed so it kind of goes a little

bit quicker and then add the points in

Long the video click one button and it

adds those chapter markers super super

simple so so much time I can guarantee

and then the final bit of their

description is they put more searchable

words into the description that you

might search let's read what they've put

join us for a delicious slow morning in

Cale where we enjoy some deep funky

house Tunes in the hot sun and let the

salty Breeze from the coast heal our

Spirits it's all about enjoying the

Small Things good music good food and

good weather listen to this set for

breakfast brunch barbecue doing the

chores on when you just need Focus love

that they also link to their socials and

merchandise and even their patreon which

they have a small membership of people

that's growing from fans of their mixes

and they give away more in their patreon

which again I absolutely love and then

getting that information that searchable

information is going to help that

discoverability of that mix even more

and it's going to help you find that

video and also them as DJs and making

sure your videos are searchable is so

important on YouTube because YouTube is

actually the second biggest search

engine which is owned by the biggest

search engine in Google so search engine

optimization and search engine

discoverability is so important this is

one of the biggest things that DJs miss

when it comes to making YouTube DJ mixes

and appearing in the search comes down

to the words and titles that you're

putting in those titles and the

descriptions that's why I'm being so

specific about these the final part of

YouTube videos discoverability is your

thumbnail and making it interesting to

see people when they're scrolling down

the scroll that they want to click into

that mix what you put in that image for

a thumbnail is key to whether someone

Clicks in and listens to that mix and

someone finds you for the first time the

temptation when it comes to thumbnail is

to pack it with logos and extra and all

this other stuff that's just not needed

and actually with a thumbnail less is

better and what I do and what many do is

scale their thumbnail down to 16 20%

within canva to see how it views cuz

this is what's going to be viewable when

people are scrolling on a phone can you

read and see everything in that

thumbnail and if the answer is no remove

it great DJ thumbnails can literally be

you DJing the guys from Flavor trip they

put themselves in great locations and

it's always a bright image you can tell

it's them and it always looks fun and

packed also great thumbnails for DJs if

you're not on screen it's just a mix it

could be a bright thumbnail with

keywords that you looking for certain

mixes for certain themes as I saying

before maybe it's a Miami mix maybe you

drop it just as it's coming up to Winter

Music Conference you would have the

words Miami and maybe a Miami background

and Miami colors that's going to be

attractable to anyone clicking on that

mix or maybe like I said you're putting

out DJ mixes on a labels page and it's

about announcing the artist that's in

that mix and using the thumbnail to have

a photo of them and their name and

that's where you get their name into the

whole title thumbnail description part

because that's then clickable that

people might see it and they want to

click into that certain artist cuz maybe

they follow that artist and the final

type of thumbnail is just doing super

bright glitter box for their radio they

have a glitter box logo it's got really

bright background and maybe if they got

a guest they'll put the guest's name in

that artwork again super simple can you

scale it down to 16% and what does it

look like one thing tub already can do

is it's got a thumbnail analyzer and it

can actually analyze how good your

thumbnails are where the key click

points are and if it's a good thumbnail

and it can actually even create better

thumbnails for you using some of its own

AI for the final part of creating your

video Tu will give you a checklist of

things you need to do to get the best

out of your mixes and it'll give you a

list down them and all you need to do is

make sure you got a tick next to each

one and make sure you've checked off

every part and that's going to help the

mix get the most audience and most views

and most new fan base and it's going to

make sure that video gets categorized

right in the algorithm if you want more

information on you buddy then I'll put a

link to them in the description go and

click on it and you can sign up there

this is not a page anything I just

really really like this software it

really really helps your YouTube videos

that's what I want to talk about today

if you want to start a YouTube DJ Mix

Series this year I've made a handy free

ebook and I'll put a link to it to go

and grab it in the description of this

video you click on the link and download

it today it's going to help you start

plan out your YouTube video mix and your

whole Channel go and grab that today if

you're considering starting a DJ Mix

series and and a YouTube channel for

yourself as a DJ but you're worried

about takedowns you're worried about the

music you play and you're worried about

picking the right tracks so you don't

get these takedowns and also legalities

around takedowns and uploading music to

YouTube in DJ mixes you want to watch

this YouTube video next cuz I go into

how to avoid that and how to avoid

takedowns and how to pick the right

tracks for your DJ mixes go and jump

into this video now and I'll see you in

there I've been growing farmer I'll see

in the next one bye