How do I upload my music to Google?

Uploading your music to Google services like YouTube and Google Play Music can help you reach a wider audience and earn revenue from your music. Google offers artists, labels, and creators tools to upload, host, promote, and monetize audio and video content through its platforms.

The main Google services that allow users to upload their music are YouTube and Google Play Music. YouTube is the world’s largest video platform where users can upload their music videos. Google Play Music is a music streaming service where users can upload their songs to be hosted and streamed.

This guide will provide an overview of how to upload music files to YouTube and Google Play Music. We’ll cover the prerequisites, the upload process, optimizing your content, cross-promoting, analytics, and monetization options. The goal is to help musicians, artists, and creators effectively share their music through Google’s platforms.

Prerequisites

Before you can upload your music to Google, you need to have a few things ready:

First, you’ll need a Google account. This is necessary to access Google services like YouTube and Google Play Music. You can sign up for a free Google account at accounts.google.com if you don’t already have one.

Second, you’ll need to have your music in a digital format on your computer or mobile device. Google supports common audio formats like MP3, FLAC, WAV, and AAC for music uploads. Make sure your songs are properly tagged with metadata like artist name, album, genre, etc. This helps with organizing your music library.

Once you have a Google account and your music files ready in a supported format, you’re ready to upload. We’ll go over the steps for YouTube and Google Play Music next.

YouTube

YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for uploading and sharing music. With over 2 billion monthly logged-in users, YouTube provides a massive potential audience for your music (Source 1).

To get your music on YouTube, you can upload your tracks or albums via the YouTube Studio dashboard. When uploading, make sure to provide all the necessary metadata like song/album title, artist name, genre, etc. Providing good metadata will help your content be more discoverable on YouTube.

YouTube offers helpful tools for artists like Content ID which helps you easily identify and manage your music by matching it against a database when people upload videos featuring your songs (Source 2). This allows you to monitor use of your music and monetize eligible videos.

Once your music is uploaded to YouTube, focus on promotion and audience growth by optimizing with keywords, playlists, and using cards/end screens. Consider a YouTube membership or joining the YouTube Partner Program to unlock more features and monetization options.

Google Play Music

Google Play Music was a music and podcast streaming service and online music locker operated by Google. Users could upload up to 50,000 songs from their personal libraries to the cloud and stream them alongside curated playlists and radio stations. Play Music also allowed users to purchase music through the Google Play store.

To upload your own music library to Google Play Music, you needed to use the Music Manager application. Music Manager would scan your computer for audio files, match them to copies in Play Music’s catalog, and upload any tracks it didn’t recognize. This allowed you to access your full personal music collection across devices from the cloud. Any tracks purchased through Play Music did not count against the 50,000 song upload limit.

According to Google’s support page, there was a limit of 50,000 songs you could upload to Play Music with Music Manager (1). This gave most users ample space for their personal collections. The Music Manager app made it simple to keep your cloud locker and local library in sync.

Sources:
(1) https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-limit-of-songs-I-can-upload-on-Google-Play-Music-with-Music-Manager

Considerations

When uploading music to platforms like YouTube and Google Play Music, there are some important considerations around copyright, licensing, distribution, and royalties that artists should keep in mind.

First, make sure you have the proper rights and licensing to distribute the music you are uploading. Copyright laws vary by country, but generally the creator or rights holder of a musical composition and sound recording needs to approve distribution. Research your specific situation to avoid copyright infringement.

You may choose to work with a music distributor or aggregator to help with licensing and royalty collection. As noted in this Landr article, distributors like CD Baby and TuneCore can assist with publishing your music to platforms like Google Play Music. Aggregators like Soundrop can help distribute to YouTube.

When releasing music on streaming platforms, royalties are collected on your behalf and distributed by the platform provider. For example, Google Play Music collects royalties and keeps 30% commission before paying out the remainder to artists, according to the same Landr source.

It’s a good idea to understand the royalty rates and terms for any platform you publish to. This Medianama article highlights some of the complexities around AI-generated music and royalty payments in the industry.

By reviewing the licensing, distribution, and royalty considerations upfront, you can make informed decisions and avoid potential issues when sharing your music online.

Optimizing

Optimizing your YouTube videos with proper metadata, keywords, and descriptions can help enhance their discoverability. According to “YouTube Optimization For Musicians”, you should include your song title, featured artists, and genre keywords in the video title and description. The description should be detailed, providing context about the song, your artistic vision, etc. Use targeted keywords relevant to your music that people may search for.

When uploading the video, fill out the metadata fields thoroughly. Enter the song title, artist name, genre, mood, and other relevant details. Include common misspellings of your name or song in the tags section. As explained in the YouTube help article “Metadata Basics”, tags improve the chances of your video appearing in searches. You want to rank for keywords that new listeners may use to find songs like yours.

Additionally, write an engaging video description that makes viewers want to listen. Briefly explain what the song is about and call viewers to action. Enable viewer comments too, as discussion and engagement can raise your video’s ranking over time.

Cross-Promoting

Linking your YouTube and Google Play Music accounts can help cross-promote your music. Here are some ways to connect them:

Make sure you are using the same Google account for both YouTube and Play Music. This allows for seamless integration.
In YouTube Studio, enable the “Publish to Google Play Music” feature. This will automatically upload your YouTube videos to Play Music.

Consider adding a Google Play Music link under your YouTube videos or in your channel description. This encourages viewers to check out your music catalog.
Similarly, link to your YouTube channel or specific videos from your Play Music artist profile page.
Use the same artist name and imagery across both platforms for branding consistency.

Promote new video premieres to your Play Music followers and vice versa.

Strategically linking your YouTube and Play Music accounts helps fans discover all your content while allowing you to expand your audience.

Analytics

Once you’ve uploaded your music to YouTube and Google Play, you can view detailed analytics to gain insights into your music’s performance. The two main platforms to use are:

YouTube Studio – This provides in-depth analytics on your YouTube channel and content, including views, watch time, traffic sources, audience demographics and more. You can view stats for individual videos as well as aggregated channel performance. Useful features include real-time reporting and the ability to filter data by date, country and device (source).
Google Play Console – For music uploaded to Google Play Music, the Console shows you statistics like number of listeners, top songs, listener locations, and more. You can view global metrics or drill down into statistics for individual countries (source).

Regularly monitoring these analytics platforms provides valuable insights that can inform promotional strategies and creative decisions around future releases.

Monetizing Your Music on Google

There are a couple ways to earn money from your music through Google’s platforms:

You can monetize your music videos on YouTube through the YouTube Partner Program. Once your channel is approved, you can earn a share of revenue from ads displayed on your videos. The amount depends on factors like viewer location, type of device, ad format, etc. But generally, the more views your videos get, the more you can earn. There are requirements around number of subscribers and watch time to qualify.

You can also sell your music directly through the Google Play Store. Google takes a service fee, but you keep the majority of sales. You retain full ownership of your tracks. Payout rates are around $0.70 per paid download after Google’s cut. The Google Play Store provides detailed analytics on your sales and earnings.

See https://musicdigi.com/sell-your-music-on-google-play and https://w.songcast.com/faq/sell-your-music-on-google-play for more details on distribution and monetization through Google Play.

Conclusion

Uploading your music to Google services like YouTube and Google Play Music can help you reach new listeners and spread your music online. In this guide, we covered the main steps for getting your songs onto these platforms, from creating accounts to optimizing your uploads.

To recap, the key steps are:

Sign up for a Google account
Create or claim your YouTube channel
Upload high-quality audio and visual content to YouTube

Provide complete metadata and keywords
Optimize your channel and videos for discovery
Link to your website and social media

Analyze your YouTube analytics
Monetize your content if eligible
Upload your music to Google Play Music

In addition to YouTube and Google Play Music, Google offers other services like Google Podcasts where you can distribute your content. Using Google’s array of options together can help maximize your reach and give fans multiple ways to listen.

With persistence and quality content, Google’s platforms offer unsigned artists a powerful way to build an audience and share their music with the world.