YouTube Music is YouTube's streaming service. DistroKid lets you easily add your music to YouTube Music - just select "YouTube Music" on DistroKid's upload form. When you upload to YouTube Music, YouTube will generate a "Topic Channel" for your work.
When you upload your music using DistroKid, you can also upgrade your artist YouTube channel to an "Official Artist Channel". You can do this when you upload your next new release, or by going to the Official Artist Channel page in your DistroKid settings. Once you have an Official Artist Channel, all of your Topic Channel content will be linked to your own Official Artist Channel.
If you don't have an Official Artist Channel, your YouTube Music content will still be available on YouTube, through the Topic Channel generated for you.
There are 2 types of Topic Channels:
- Personal Topic Channels: Many artists are automatically assigned a topic channel. This is usually your name, followed by “-Topic”. For example, Drake - Topic. Note that this a different channel than his Official Artist Channel, Drake. Both of those channels contain his music.
If you do not claim your Official Artist Channel, fans will be directed to your Topic Channel on YouTube. - Various Artists - Topic: Many times, YouTube adds artists' music to a channel called "Various Artists - Topic". This is usually for undiscovered artists with smaller play counts. When an artist becomes more popular, their music is often moved (by YouTube) to a hashtag channel.
If you want your YouTube Music releases available on your own artist channel, as well as the topic channel, you'll want to request that your own channel (also known as an Owned and Operated Channel) be converted to an Official Artist Channel.
Click here to learn more about how to claim your Official Artist Channel.