If you’re plugged into content creation at any level, chances are you’ve heard of Patreon. Today, we’ll break down what it is, why it’s useful, and if it’s right for your content or business. 

We’ll cover: 

• What is Patreon?
• How does Patreon work?
• Who uses Patreon?
• What can you sell on Patreon?
• What can’t you sell on Patreon?
• Why should you use Patreon?
• Does Patreon have any drawbacks?
• Is Patreon free to use?
• How much does Patreon cost for creators?
• Is there a Patreon app?
• Is Patreon safe?
• How to get started on Patreon

What is Patreon?

Patreon is a subscription-based platform that lets professional content creators, massive businesses, and everyone in between receive direct payment for their content, products, and services. People sometimes box it in with crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, but Patreon is a little broader in scope. 

Founded in 2013, the platform was built to bridge the gap between creators and their fans, fittingly called patrons. It’s gotten much more popular over the years, but the mission statement still rings true — Patreon doesn’t run on ad revenue or clicks. Rather, patrons subscribe to get closer to the creators they love, while creators leverage Patreon’s paid membership and commerce tools to deliver great content and subscription packages.

How does Patreon work?

Patreon’s premise is refreshingly clean: creators offer content, services, or products, and patrons pay for them. Prices can be set for one-time fees or as part of a subscription model — more often than not, you’ll see content offered in a tiered pricing structure. The higher a patron pays, the more access and content they’ll receive.

The platform can be used for a one-off project or product, but as it’s become more established, creators have gotten more comfortable using it on a long-term basis. Patrons can access your content directly through your page, or if they’ve already subscribed, your posts will pop up in their feed. 

Who uses Patreon?

For patrons, Patreon is a candy store — they can browse, buy, and subscribe to content from their favorite creators. There’s no algorithm, meaning that their search results are based upon what they genuinely want to find. 

For creators, Patreon is a place to thrive and make money your way. You could rely on it as a form of passive income, offering subscriptions for a few bucks in exchange for early-access or presale content. On the other end of the scale, you could house a fully functioning store on the platform, plus mountains of subscriber-exclusive content, Q&As, polls, and more. 

You might be a podcaster, TikTok creator, musician, vlogger, non-profit organization, journalist. You could offer step-by-step tutorial videos, deep-dive retrospective podcasts, or data-rich case studies. Whatever it is, whoever you are, there’s likely space for you on Patreon.

​What can you sell on Patreon?

Patreon is well-known for providing supplemental podcast content, but that’s just one of many examples. Let’s rattle through a few of the main things you can sell on Patreon as a content creator:

• Early-access or ad-free content: Whether you’re producing podcasts, web series, or social media shorts, you can offer early-access and ad-free options for patrons. This is a popular option for creators with established fan bases — they know what their customers like, and can provide a streamlined version for a premium. 
• Behind-the-scenes or archive content: Deleted scenes, bloopers, and alternative cuts are swell Patreon incentives, giving patrons the chance to discover more about your creative process. 
• Opportunities to steer content: If you’re feeling brave, set polls for patrons to decide on which direction your future content should go. 
• Personalized content: Higher tiers may include shoutouts, sponsored slots, or personalized sections in upcoming content. 
• Merchandise: Want to up your merch game? Patreon can host, create, and ship your items to patrons — this service is offered in exchange for 3% of your monthly earnings. 

What can’t you sell on Patreon?

Patreon’s Terms of Use are pretty broad, but some products and services are prohibited. This includes, but isn’t limited to pornography, the exchange of sexual services, illegal weapons, illicit drugs, ‘fake’ services and content, and payment in exchange for ‘not’ doing something. Presuming that’s not your jam, you’ve got nothing to worry about.

Why should you use Patreon?

We’ve touched on what Patreon is, how it works, and who uses it. But why should you use it? Let’s dig into the pros of creating content with Patreon:

• It can provide a solid income stream: If you have enough monthly subscribers set at the right price, Patreon can become a sizable or even main income stream. 
• It brings creators closer to fans: Perhaps that sounds a little clichéd, but it’s true — exclusive content and fan-only spaces help to grow communities and make patrons feel special. 
• It gives you a reality check: You can see how many subscribers you have, and in turn, how many your competitors have. This might give you the kick you need to take your content to the next level. 
• It provides solid building blocks for the future: You are in charge of the content, and you alone. Whether you’re a solo creator or part of a wider brand team, your Patreon page represents you. If you fail to honor content deadlines and quality thresholds, patrons won’t trust you to deliver and will probably unsubscribe. In that regard, Patreon’s model is great for accountability.

Does Patreon have any drawbacks?

As we’ve outlined, Patreon is a user-friendly platform with a bunch of benefits. However, as is the case with most monetization methods, it’s not all roses. Let’s look at a few of Patreon’s drawbacks:

• It’s not ideal for new creators. Unless you have an established following, Patreon probably isn’t the way to go. It can certainly help grow your following with the right kind of content, but you’ll struggle to drum up much cash if you’re starting from zero. 
• You’re tied to Patreon’s rules: If the platform changes a rule or increases a fee, there’s not much you can do about it. This goes for other platforms, too, but Patreon’s whole shtick revolves around creators offering content and goods for money. That said, if you want 100% control, Patreon might not be the right fit for you. 
• Patreon takes a considerable cut: If you make a solid amount on Patreon, you’ll take home a nice amount, sure. But the platform does take a pretty large chunk — more on that in a moment.
• You’ll need to keep an eye on your earnings: Depending on where you live, earning money with Patreon could come with unwanted tax implications. Double-check what these extra earnings mean for you and your taxes before you start using Patreon, otherwise you could be in for a nasty surprise. 

Is Patreon free to use?

Joining Patreon is free for both creators and patrons. Creating an account, sizing up the competition, or finding other creators to support won’t cost a cent. There are no upfront fees, but once a creator starts making money, the costs kick in. Read more about that below.

How much does Patreon cost for creators?

Like other monetized platforms and services, Patreon takes a slice of your pie. Fair’s fair — they provide the hub from which you make a living. Let’s look at the different kinds of fees you’ll find when distributing content on Patreon. 

Platform fees

The platform fee is what Patreon charges for subscription-based earnings on the platform, calculated via the total sales amount minus sales tax. The percentage depends on which plan you use, but the idea remains the same: you only pay based on what you earn. 

You’ll pay 8% on the Pro plan and 12% with Premium. Pro is better suited for individual content creators, while the Premium plan offers a dedicated partner manager, team accounts, and merch options. 

The platform fee is non-negotiable, remaining at the same rate regardless of how much money you make. If a creator nets $100 worth of monthly subscriptions on the Premium plan, they’ll be charged $12; if they make $100,000 every month, the platform fee will be $12,000.

Commerce fees

Commerce fees differ slightly from platform fees, as they’re based on one-off sales rather than subscriptions. It’s perfect for Patreon-hosted stores, whitepapers, digital files like comedy specials, and more. 

Patreon will take 5% of your monthly earnings through Commerce fees, plus additional taxes and fees. At the moment, the Commerce option is in beta, and only applies to digital products.

Payment processing fees

Patreon charges a small fee for processing payments, varying from country to country. This fee, which usually falls between 2.9% and 5%, transports your money from a customer’s wallet to a third-party payment processor, then finally to your Patreon balance. 

Currency conversion fees

Patreon is a worldwide business. As such, your customers will probably come from more than one country, paying in different currencies than your own. The typical conversion fee is 2.5%, but varies between territories and payment methods. 

Payout fees

So, the payment’s been made, processed, and converted. It’s in your Patreon account, but needs one last push to make its way to your bank — that’s where the payout fee comes in. US creators can enjoy a cool $0.25 payout fee per transaction, but everyone else needs to use PayPal. 

PayPal’s payout fees are set to 1%, up to a maximum of $20. That means that the maximum individual payout here is capped at $2,000, carrying a relatively small $20 fee. 

Is there a Patreon app?

Patreon has a free app, which can be downloaded via the App Store or Google Play. While it’s a handy hub for patrons, it’s not ideal for creators — it lacks some of the features present on the desktop site. There’s no harm in downloading it and looking around, though.

Is Patreon safe?

Patreon is a secure platform for both creators and patrons. Payments are handled by verified partners, they have a 24/7 fraud monitoring system, and go out of their way to recover failed payments. 

How to get started on Patreon

Now that you know what Patreon is, why other creators use it, and the financial pros and cons, let’s finish with a quickfire guide on how to get started on Patreon as a creator:

1. Head to Patreon’s sign-up page, then click the ‘Create on Patreon’ button. Decide whether you’d like to create a unique username and password, or log in with existing Facebook or Google credentials. 
2. Fill in your details, including your legal name, the proposed name for your Patreon page, and whether your content contains anything explicitly sexual. The latter point is for content safeguarding. 
3. You’re in! Click ‘Get Started’ to head to your creator homepage and build your profile, adding core details like a profile photo, cover photo, and Patreon description. You’re still in the draft stage, though — read more about tiers below and get your Patreon page off the ground.

Structure your Patreon tiers

Patreon tiers divide your content into different pools, allowing fans to choose how much they spend. Here’s how to build them: 

1. Click the ‘My Page’ link in the left sidebar. Then, hit the ‘Membership’ tab. 
2. Select ‘Add tier’, which generates a tier based at $5 per month. Edit the title, description of the benefits, and price — check out the ‘More options’ button to fully flex here. 
3. Create more tiers if you’d like, structuring them in the same fashion as the previous step. You can also create a free public tier, if you’d like to give non-patrons a sniff of what they’re missing. 
4. Create your first post: This doesn’t have to be a content-led post. It could be a free-for-everyone video or text post, outlining what you have in store for patrons and how they can get involved. 
5. Ready to launch? Click the ‘Preview’ link in the top-right corner. If you like what you see, cross your fingers, count to ten, and click ‘Launch’. You’re live!

So, that’s Patreon in a nutshell. It’s an amazing place to foster community, deliver exclusive content, and generate income. For those reasons, anything you publish on the platform should live up to the standards of your regular content.

And just like regular content, you need to consider everything: the microphones, the script, the camera equipment — oh, and don’t forget the music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content. Why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

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• How to go viral on social media

In 2021, YouTube muscled into short-form vertical video with YouTube Shorts. In this article, we’ll explain what YouTube Shorts is, and how you can use it to create elite-tier content.

We’ll cover:

• What is YouTube Shorts?
• How long are videos on YouTube Shorts?
• How do I access YouTube Shorts?
• How to use YouTube Shorts
• How to do ‘voiceover’ on YouTube Shorts
• What are the benefits of YouTube Shorts?
• Why should I use Epidemic Sound for YouTube Shorts?

What is YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts videos are bite-sized video clips that anyone can create, as long as they have a YouTube account.

YouTube Shorts videos were rolled out in 2021, around the same time TikTok started gaining wide appeal. Some might argue that YouTube Shorts was a reaction to TikTok, and they might be right!

It’s very similar: content on YouTube Shorts is short-form, can be edited in-app, is endlessly scrollable, and often features licensed, readily available music in the background. Sound familiar?

Viewers can do all the usual things as they would on YouTube, including comment, like, dislike, share, and subscribe to your channel. The content also stays online permanently, like a regular YouTube video.

As of February 2024, YouTube Shorts averaged 70 billion daily views, with the number of channels uploading Shorts growing 50% year-over-year. Far from a flash in the pan!

How long are videos on YouTube Shorts?

For the first few years, YouTube Shorts videos ran for a maximum of one minute. However, from October 15, 2024, that changed. You can now upload three-minute-maximum clips to Shorts, and sub-three-minute YouTube videos will become Shorts, provided that they’re square or have a taller aspect ratio. The latter point applies even when videos are uploaded to the main YouTube platform. 

It’s worth noting that the three-minute limit only applies when uploading content via YouTube Studio. This means that any footage captured directly in-app still needs to be one minute or less.

How do I access YouTube Shorts?

On a computer, head to YouTube’s main page, then take a look at the menu on the left-hand side. ‘Shorts’ should be there, beneath the ‘Home’ and ‘Explore’ icons. Click it, and there you go — scroll away.

On a mobile browser, the ‘Shorts’ icon appears at the bottom of the screen. It sits in the same place if you view it through the YouTube mobile app, too.

How to use YouTube Shorts

Viewers can use YouTube Shorts in a similar way to TikTok. They scroll through the feed — called the Shorts Shelf — or search for hashtags in the main search bar.

Here’s how creators use YouTube Shorts in-app.

1. Decide whether you want your Shorts channel to be independent, or part of your overall channel

We’d recommend adding Shorts as an ‘extra’ to your current YouTube channel, as it offers very different things to long-form content.

2. Once you’re on the YouTube app, click the plus (+) icon at the bottom

Then, click ‘Create a Short.’

3. Before you film, you can add music to your YouTube Shorts video

Do this by tapping the ‘Add Music’ icon at the top of the screen. You can then scroll through tracks, or search for something specific. If you’ve not made your mind up straight away, you can always add the music after you’ve filmed.

4. Once you allow access to your camera and microphone, you can start filming your YouTube Shorts video

If you want to make a video under 15 seconds, just hold the big red button and start recording. However, if you’re going to create content that’s longer than 15 seconds but under a minute, tap the ‘15’ icon above the ‘Record’ button.

5. Holding and releasing ‘Record’ means you can cram multiple clips into one YouTube Shorts video

But the fun’s only just starting: you can record at different speeds, play with various filters, adjust your transitions, add text, retouch your video, and more. This is all accessible on the right-hand side, under the various icons. These effects can be applied before each clip you film, meaning your YouTube Short can be packed with as many effects as you like.

6. Once you’ve filmed your YouTube Short video, you can go over it with a fine-tooth comb

You’ll be given another chance to add music, and you can scroll through your video’s timeline, frame-by-frame, for any final changes.

7. The final section lets you add details to your YouTube Short video

You have 100 characters to describe it – it’s not much, but it’s important. For more info about keywords and which details you should include in descriptions, check out our guide to YouTube SEO.

8. If you have ready-made footage, you can upload that to your YouTube Shorts video, too

Instead of tapping the ‘Record’ button, click the square in the screen’s bottom-left corner. This will access your phone’s camera roll.

How to do ‘voiceover’ on YouTube Shorts

Similar to TikTok, YouTube Shorts has a voiceover feature. Using this can add extra pizzazz to your content. Here’s how:

1. Once you’ve recorded your YouTube Shorts video, tap the checkmark button in the bottom right of the camera screen.
2. Hit the ‘Voiceover’ button. Move the vertical white line across your video’s timeline, dropping it on the spot where you’d like to start your voiceover.
3. Click the ‘Record’ button to start recording, then again to stop. If you're not happy with your first take, you can tap the ‘Undo’ button and give it another shot.
4. Before publishing the video, adjust the audio levels. This is important, given you’ll have sound coming from your voiceover, the video’s audio, and any music you may have used.

What are the benefits of YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts is more than just a carbon copy of TikTok. Here are some of the benefits of using YouTube Shorts as a creator:

• You can make great content without fancy equipment. You just need your smartphone and a YouTube account to make YouTube Shorts videos.
• There are tons of extra features. You can record Shorts side-by-side with another creator’s content thanks to the ‘Collab’ feature, and you can boost engagement on your videos with interactive Q&A stickers. 
• YouTube Shorts videos act as an advert for your main channel. The ‘Subscribe’ button is always visible during YouTube Shorts videos, so if someone’s scrolling through and vibes with your content, it’s easy for them to subscribe and hop onto your main channel. It’s an exciting way to convert viewers into subscribers!
• You can ramp up engagement, as YouTube Shorts interactions count towards how your channel performs against the algorithm. If you need to brush up on that side of things, including how to get onto the Shorts Shelf, click here for everything you need to know about the YouTube Shorts algorithm.

And if you’re looking for the perfect soundtrack for your YouTube Shorts videos, why not try Epidemic Sound?

Why should I use Epidemic Sound for YouTube Shorts?

The soundtrack can make or break your content — that’s just straight-up facts. It’s frustrating when legal issues pop up, and with YouTube Shorts, they can be pretty noticeable. Any one-minute-plus Short that includes copyrighted content, and/or has a Content ID claim, will be globally blocked on YouTube. 

It doesn’t matter if the Content ID claim was incorrect, or that you misunderstood the terms of a track’s license. If this happens to you, your video won’t be viewable or recommended on YouTube, nor will it be monetizable. Let us take care of that. 

With an Epidemic Sound subscription, you can safely monetize content on YouTube Shorts, even if the video exceeds one minute in length. YouTube won’t block your videos for that reason, and you can concentrate on doing your thing.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier. 

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Are you a YouTuber? Whether you’re an editing master or just a beginner, discover what Epidemic Sound has to offer on our Epidemic Sound for YouTube page. And, just in case you’re looking for some sound effects for YouTube, we got you covered.

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• How much does a YouTuber earn?
• How to use copyrighted music on YouTube legally

Stand close enough to a football stadium, and you might just hear it. The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, crackling through the air like electricity, sounding as fresh as it did back in 2003. Feet stamp along to the beat; fans home and away bellow the seven-note riff like it’s their national anthem.

From these in-person moments of magic to viral tracks that take social media by storm, music is an essential part of sport. It brings fans together, sculpts memories worth a lifetime, and shapes sonic branding strategies for teams, venues, and events. 

Think of any New York baseball team, and they’ll surely have played Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York during or after their home games.

The right song at the right time is like nothing else. It can influence the crowd’s behavior, and even impact a team’s performance — from tension-ramping player intros to a star-studded halftime show, music changes something. A sporting event without it would be like food with no flavor.

If you need to find music for your sporting event, campaign, or other assets, Epidemic Sound’s got you covered. Head here for a deep-dive tutorial on how to find the best sports-appropriate music, then click below for our full catalog of more than 50,000 tracks. 

Content builds connections

Sports still play a huge role in today’s digital-first world. Most notably, online fan experiences have climbed up the pecking order, becoming nearly as important as in-stadium events. Social media content, behind-the-scenes access, and original documentaries all capture tons of eyeballs and engagement. Statista even revealed that around 70% of Gen Z respondents actually preferred to watch sports via social media — the game has changed. 

Compounded by the fact that, according to Deloitte, roughly 80% of Gen Z sports fans follow a professional athlete online, these insights can’t be overlooked. Passionate fans don’t want to unplug from their lifelong loyalty, and now they don’t have to. Leveraging music across digital platforms amplifies emotional connections, making each online interaction as memorable as on the pitch.

Crafting brand identity 

Beyond just making content pop, music helps craft cohesive, believable brand identities. When fans hear a track associated with a particular team or venue, they feel closer to the game. It doesn’t matter if they’re sat in the bleachers or on the couch — a well-placed musical drop intensifies emotion wherever it’s experienced.

American cable channel ESPN did this superbly in 2014, during the College Football Playoff. Fall Out Boy’s Centuries was chosen as the event’s promotional song, and they milked that thing dry. The song became so integrated within the College Football season that the band ‘apologized’ for its alleged overuse. A decade later, it’s still referred to as their ‘football song’.

Music as a community voice

Music tightens the bond between fans and their beloved teams, for sure. It’s also great for tapping into communities and cultures. Professional teams and players always face the strange challenge of appealing to their established fanbase while still creating a brand with global reach. 

Tactically zoning in on specific genres and artists can strengthen ties with fans, while also spotlighting smaller artists on a global stage. This is why teams and leagues often collaborate with buzzy, emerging musical acts, tightening the bond between sports and entertainment.

This is something that Epidemic Sound’s own Katori Walker experienced. The California-based hip-hop artist, who’d already found popularity in the gaming and basketball community, rode that wave by performing at the NBA All-Star Weekend 2024.

On the other side of the coin, tennis broadcasting company ATP Media work with Epidemic Sound to jump into local communities at a granular level. They provide broadcasting solutions across more than 220 territories, tapping into different sub-genres depending on where the footage will be broadcast.

Sure, it’s often electronic music — as is common for tennis — but the subtle, considered details are what set ATP Media’s coverage apart. For example, they’ll often use the below track in Shanghai-based content, lending the soundtrack a more local flair.  

More often than not, fans stick with one club for life. They’re loyal, driven by a passion for the sport, pure love of the game. That commitment can — and should! — be communicated through sound. When thoughtfully integrated through a wider brand strategy, music can bring fans closer to the action, regardless of the medium.

Sound isn’t an afterthought. It’s a key component that elevates good sports experiences to unforgettable, legendary-tier material. Whether you’re planning a social media campaign or a playoff playlist, you need the perfect soundtrack.

Your professional content deserves the best. The Premier League, Miami Dolphins, Aston Villa Football Club, and more trust Epidemic Sound to take their sonic identity, campaigns, and content to the next level. That sounds like pretty good company — join them today. 

→ Find your sound

Related posts: 

• 7 things an attorney recommends brands to consider when using music in content
• Monetize content safely by licensing music from Epidemic Sound
• What are the new music trends in 2024?

Customers have been trained to consider ‘branding’ as logos, messaging, imagery, slogans — you probably know which energy drink will give you wings before you take a swig. However, there’s one massive branding element that too many brands overlook: sound. 

Strategically weaving music and sound effects into consumer touchpoints is essential for amplifying your brand’s identity. Because, at the end of the day, music isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s more. It’s a powerful tool that boosts brand recall, evokes strong emotions, and gives your brand character in a crowded market.

Using music in this way is called sonic branding. Like visual branding, it employs unique motifs and patterns to express your brand’s identity. Done well, a customer or client will immediately know who the brand is, just by hearing a few seconds. Done really well, sonic branding draws out individual emotional states, memories, impressions — auditory stimuli bed themselves deep within your audience’s brains.

Brush up on sonic branding by clicking below. Then, keep reading for some best-practice tips.

→ More sonic branding

1. Use sound to convey personality

Just like your logo or color palette, the music you choose reflects your brand’s personality. Think of it as an opportunity to narrate your brand’s story. If your brand embodies risk-taking and adventure, consider music to match that thrill, the sense of exploration, the wonder.

On the other hand, a brand focusing on wellness would be best suited to music with a more chilled, nurturing vibe. It may sound simple, but choosing the right music is nuanced. Check out this 30-second spot LeBron James did with Calm — the music manages to convey the epicness James brings, while remaining true to Calm’s status as a meditation app.

The key is to ensure the music isn’t just a background element, but something that makes your brand more. That’s why Epidemic Sound provides a unique sonic branding experience: The Epidemic Sound System. 

On top of bespoke creations and sound supervision, quick picks and full-on workshops, Epidemic Sound’s Music Curation team also offers a comprehensive Sonic Branding Playbook. It’s a complete music strategy development that covers profiling, guidelines, playlists, and long-term planning, transforming music from a tactical choice to a strategic asset. Interested? Learn more below. 

→ Find your sound

2. There is no sonic brand without consistency 

Coca-Cola doesn’t splatter all kinds of color over their assets — they know that ‌red is their identity nowadays. The same goes for sonic cues, building connections between certain styles and sounds with your brand.

Broadly speaking, it’s best to employ similar styles of music or themes across your assets, whether they be social media posts, above-the-line ads, or in-store experiences. This consistency helps your audience associate specific moods or sounds with your brand at a subconscious level. The best examples of this make the aural links to your brand objective rather than subjective — it becomes less about how ‘good’ the music is and more how well it complements the brand.  

With that in mind, a sonic brand can even be flipped on its head, like the below KFC ad. The style of music is clearly not KFC’s usual fare, and the audience knows it. The metal genre and aesthetics are played for laughs, subverting the viewer’s expectations of the Colonel’s decades-old brand. 

3. Bake music in from the beginning 

One common mistake that brands make is treating music as an unhoned afterthought, leaving selection, placement, and the legal aspects to non-experts. The soundtrack can make or break your content, one ill-placed sound or song scuppering the entire project’s emotional impact.

To avoid this, bake music into your project during pre-production — even as early as a first-draft script, storyboard, or shot list, if you have a clear idea in mind. This will reduce the risk of including an asset that feels disjointed. Squash that risk further with a defined sound strategy and dedicated music partner — someone who knows your brand inside-out, translating that intimate knowledge into musical output.

Beyond that, planning musical choices early avoids last-minute or rushed decisions. If you’re up against a tight deadline, low-quality or unlicensed music might creep onto your project timeline. It’s rare, but it does happen — these cases can sink a brand’s image and reputation.

4. Balance trending sounds with authenticity 

You’ll no doubt see brands jumping on viral bandwagons or slapping trending sounds on their content. Sometimes it works, and other times…not so much. Lean into a trend if it fits your brand’s sonic identity, but don’t force it. Doing so may backfire, coming off as insincere or disconnected from your brand’s true identity. 

It pays to look at this long-term, too. E-commerce company Asendia found that 43% of Gen Z customers would be less sensitive to significant price hikes if the brand in question were authentic. It’s worth noting that this was UK-based research conducted in 2023, during a near-40-year inflation high for the country. Authenticity doesn’t just make your brand look good — it can directly impact your bottom line. 

Gone are the days when jingles were the be-all and end-all of brand recognition. Now, more sophisticated soundtracks and data-driven musical insights have taken their place, cutting through the noise in a digital world littered with distractions. When used thoughtfully, sound can bolster your brand’s identity in a way that visuals alone can’t. 

That’s what BabyBjörn did with their Always By Your Side campaign, leveraging sound to complement their visuals and tell a rich, authentic story.

Music is a universal language, but it has endless dialects. Find the right lingo with Epidemic Sound and take your sonic branding, campaigns, and content to the next level.

→ Find your sound

Related posts: 

• 7 things an attorney recommends brands to consider when using music in content
• Monetize content safely by licensing music from Epidemic Sound
• What are the new music trends in 2024?

As the spooky season approaches, it’s worth getting your haunted house in order and finding some Halloween music for your content. After all, music can make the difference between a video being blood-curdling or rib-tickling.

You probably wouldn’t soundtrack a ghost walk video with German trance, nor would you pace through a house of horrors with Enya blaring in the background. You need to nail that emotion and express it with some scary music that chills your viewers to the core.

Here are some quick tips for finding the best Halloween songs for your content.

Follow the below steps to find the perfect songs for Halloween videos

1. Open the Epidemic Sound player – if you’re not signed up, you can get started here.
2. Think about what tone your Halloween music should have. From trick-or-treating to R-rated movies, the freakiest month of the year covers a whole range of emotions. You can search the Epidemic Sound Player for a specific vibe – browse moods including Sneaking, Suspense, Scary, and Fear.
3. Consider the kind of genres that would make the best Halloween music for your content. As much as we love a massive pop banger, it might not fit your atmospheric graveyard video. Try looking for genres like Horror, Amusement Park, Chase, Mystery, Supernatural, and Circus & Funfair.
4. If you’re struggling for ideas, why not dig into our specialized Horror & Thriller page?

Want to give it a try? We’ve got more than 50,000 tracks to choose from – check out the catalog below.

Looking for a shortcut?

If you just want to pick and choose the best Halloween music from a playlist, we’ve got you covered. Our music experts at Epidemic Sound have compiled themed playlists for:

• Halloween Town
• Eerie & Creepy
• Thriller Chase
• The Villain

These playlists include everything from Salsa and Dubstep to Latin and Electro. Check them out, then read on for the best Halloween songs for your content, chosen personally by our music curation team.

The top 5 Halloween songs for your content

Ready to haunt your viewers’ dreams? Here are five Halloween-style tracks that ought to do the trick, selected by Epidemic Sound’s elite-tier Music Curation team — we’ve heard they sleep upside-down. And in coffins. And in graveya- anyway. Get inspired! 

Luella Gren – Sleep Forever 

When you think of the glockenspiel, you’ll likely imagine gorgeous Californian landscapes. Maybe some Beach Boys, a bit of Weezer blasting from a boombox down the promenade. Luella Gren clearly didn’t get the memo — Sleep Forever is a ghastly, goosebump-inducing soundscape, angling glockenspiel around cautious harpsichord and some Treehouse of Horror-style theremin. It’s instrumental Halloween music crafted with a clear love for the season, making it perfect for anything from in-store experiences to social media shorts. 

Luella Gren – Sleep Forever

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Ruiqi Zhao – Behind You

Watch out! It’s behind you! No, seriously — it’s Behind You, by Ruiqi Zhao. It’s all ominous, discordant pizzicato until it’s not — strings and woodwind crash like waves, giving way to ‌unsettling bouts of piano and nightmare-fueled choral vocals. Deliver your establishing shot with a bang, soundtrack a high-octane chase, play this in the background of anything to flood it with dread. Behind You is straight-up scary music, and if you don’t mind, we’ll keep the light on tonight, thanks. 

Ruiqi Zhao – Behind You

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Hampus Naeselius – Bounty Hunter

Hampus Naeselius sells spooky, but in a different way. Bounty Hunter kicks off all high-drama and tension, folding into a synthwave-inspired orchestral track that’d slot snugly into the latest season of Stranger Things. This would work a treat in any ‘challenge’-style content you might have lined up, echoing the ebb and flow of facing and solving a problem — it could work year-round, come to think of it.

Hampus Naeselius – Bounty Hunter

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Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto in F Minor, Op. 8 No. 4, RV 297 "Winter": I. Allegro non molto

Vivaldi isn’t scary…is he? The Italian composer may not have lived to catch Saw and The Shining in theaters, but his compositions remain. The Allegro non molto ‘Winter’ section of The Four Seasons is one of his most recognizable, often used to portray stately, aristocratic characters in film and television. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used to shock, though. Think of movies like A Clockwork Orange, Black Swan, and Shutter Island, all of which employed iconic classical tracks to terrify viewers.

This spine-tingling version of Vivaldi’s signature piece will inject class into your content — contrast it with something horrific on-screen for a real crowd-pleaser. And if Vivalidi isn’t quite your tempo, don’t sweat it. You’ll find a treasure trove of world-famous classical renditions in the Epidemic Sound Classical Essentials collection. You’re welcome. 

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto in F Minor, Op. 8 No. 4, RV 297 "Winter": I. Allegro non molto

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Alcónes Negros – El Calaveras 

On the Day of the Dead — or Día de Muertos — death does not represent absence, but life. This celebration of death has been around since the pre-Hispanic era, now typically observed on November 1 or 2. It’s a holiday to spend time with family and eat in honor of the dead.

Alcónes Negros’ El Calaveras will chime with any Día de Muertos content you might have. It’s a low-tempo, somber son jarocho instrumental track with some genuinely beautiful moments. Like the previous two examples, you could probably use this in content beyond Halloween, too. 

Alcónes Negros – El Calaveras

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If you want access to all that Halloween music, plus more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects, why not use Epidemic Sound?

Are you a filmmaker wanting to go pro? We've got you covered with background music for videos, including:

• iMovie
• TV shows
• Video production music
• Music for commercials

Take your video editing to the next level with our massive catalog of music for filmmakers.

Whether you’re a professional YouTube content creator or a household brand, you should consider using YouTube Analytics to fine-tune your content. Learn what this powerful tool can do for your metrics, how you can access it, and more. 

Today, we’ll cover:

• What is YouTube Analytics?
• How reliable is YouTube Analytics?
• How to check YouTube Analytics 
• Is YouTube Analytics free?
• How to use YouTube Analytics 
• Can you see YouTube Analytics for other channels?
• What’s the best YouTube Analytics tool? 

What is YouTube Analytics?

YouTube Analytics is a tracking and reporting tool housed under YouTube Studio. It contains all of the juicy metrics that help you understand and improve your video content, letting you know what’s working and what’s missing the mark. 

On top of that, YouTube Analytics delivers key demographic stats, giving you a clearer understanding of who your viewers, subscribers, and top supporters are. From there, you can tweak your content strategy to deliver videos that speak more directly to your audience. 

Beyond YouTube Analytics’ walls, you’ll find third-party, ‘small a’ YouTube analytics tools and services. For most of this article, though, we’ll focus on the official YouTube Analytics.

How reliable is YouTube Analytics?

YouTube Analytics is pretty reliable compared to other tools, because it collects data straight from the source. It may suffer from errors like data delay, sure, and might not scoop up data from users with strict privacy settings. However, these pitfalls are likely shared with other, unofficial YouTube analytics tools — nothing’s perfect. 

How to check YouTube Analytics 

YouTube Analytics is accessible to anyone with a YouTube account. Here’s how to get involved

Access YouTube Analytics via desktop

1. Head to YouTube in your browser, then log in.
2. Click on your account thumbnail and select ‘YouTube Studio’.
3. Look to the left-hand menu, and you’ll see ‘Analytics’. Give that a click to find stats for your overall channel. 
4. If you’d like to dig into specific videos, select ‘Content’ in the left-hand menu instead of ‘Analytics’. Then, find the video you’d like to analyze, and hit the corresponding ‘Analytics’ button.

Access YouTube Analytics via Android or iPhone

1. Download the YouTube Studio app from Google Play or the App Store. 
2. Open the YouTube Studio app, then tap ‘Analytics’ in the bottom menu. 
3. If you’d like to look at specific videos, select ‘Content’ from the bottom menu instead of ‘Analytics’. Then, find the video you’d like to analyze, and head to the ‘Analytics’ section. Hit ‘VIEW MORE’ to, well, view more! 

Is YouTube Analytics free?

Much like YouTube Studio, YouTube Live, and the wider YouTube service, YouTube Analytics is 100% free to use. You don’t need to pay to download, own, or use YouTube Analytics. The only barrier to entry is that you have a valid, active YouTube account — if you’re reading this article, we guess you’ve got that covered.

Some third-party YouTube analytics tools are free, while others may include a free trial before kicking into a paid subscription. While we can’t stop you from trying them out, we’d recommend you give YouTube Analytics a shot first. After all, it’s the OG.

YouTube Analytics may be free, but music isn’t. Somebody somewhere has to pay when a track is used in video content — it can get expensive and complicated. If you want the choice but not the hassle, try Epidemic Sound.

Our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks is cleared for use on YouTube, whether it’s just for fun or part of a monetized content plan. Check out the catalog below, find the plan that suits you, and start soundtracking the world today. 

How to use YouTube Analytics 

Now that we know what YouTube Analytics is, why it’s used, and how to access it, let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Here are the key features you need to know about when using YouTube Analytics. 

YouTube Analytics for your channel

First, we’ll look at the broader deets available on YouTube Analytics. These are the numbers tucked away in YouTube Studio’s ‘Analytics’ tab, before you root around in any of the details tied to specific videos. Let’s take a look:

• Channel views: The total number of YouTube views your channel racked up in the selected period — it’s set by default to 28 days, but can be adjusted. 
• Channel watch time: The total amount of hours viewers have spent watching your videos within the set period.
• Channel subscriber growth: Counts how many subscribers you’ve gained within the set period, along with any you may have lost. 
• Real-time report: This shows you ears-to-the-ground, real-time performance stats from the past 48 hours, drilling into how many subscribers and views were gained following a fresh video. You can also squash the real-time report down to just 60 minutes, gathering the freshest stats and letting you know what works and what doesn’t. 
• Top content: A bite-sized preview of your best-performing content, based on views. If you adjust the time frame to ‘Lifetime’, you can see which of your videos have pulled in the most traffic, full-stop. 
• Impressions: Track how many times your YouTube thumbnails have been shown to viewers. This is platform-exclusive, excluding website embeds, social shares, and other non-YouTube traffic sources.
• Impressions click-through rate: Based on all of your impressions within the given timeframe, this breaks down the percentage of those who actually clicked onto your videos.
• Top referral sources: This keeps track of where and how people found your content, whether it was on YouTube, other social media platforms, or somewhere else. 
• Top remixed: Shows which of your videos have been most remixed or used in YouTube Shorts content, plus the number of remix views. 
• Videos added or removed from playlists: Playlists can bring in massive waves of traffic, so this is a handy stat to keep a handle on. 
• Top subtitle languages: Explore the most popular subtitle and closed-caption languages viewers use for your videos.

YouTube Analytics for specific videos

Once you’re in the YouTube Studio app or desktop site, why stop at the channel breakdown? Click one of your videos from the ‘Analytics’ overview to pull up the stats for that exact piece of content. From there, you can use the ‘Reach’, ‘Engagement’, and ‘Audience’ tabs to find metrics exclusively for said video.

Let’s look at a few of the video-specific metrics available via YouTube Analytics: 

• Video views: This includes repeat views from unique viewers — it’s the total number of views stacked up within a given timeframe.
• Subscribers from a video: Track the number of viewers who’ve subscribed — or unsubscribed! — off the back of a video. This is such a nifty tool, as it provides concrete evidence regarding whether a certain video is pulling its weight. 
• Video watch time: The amount of time people have spent watching this one video, measured in hours within a set timeframe. 
• Average view duration: How long does the average viewer stay on your video before clicking away? Your ego probably doesn’t want to know, but the professional YouTuber inside you does. 
• Average percentage viewed: A ballpark percentage of how much of your video is viewed during audience sessions.
• Audience retention moments: A blow-by-blow, percentage-based summary of how many viewers still watch your content past the 30-second mark. 
• End-screen click rate: Measure the percentage of viewers who clicked your video’s end-screen graphic.
• New viewers: You can see the split of new vs. returning viewers.
• Likes and dislikes: This balances the thumbs-up against the thumbs-down reactions, giving you the ratio for each video. 
• How viewers found this video on YouTube: Break down the percentage of viewers who found your video by routes including suggested videos, playlists, YouTube’s search function, and more.
• Playlists featuring this video: Displays the number of YouTube playlists featuring your selected video. 
• Content suggesting this video: Dig into the percentage of impressions scored from other creators’ content suggesting your video. These suggestions are largely thanks to the YouTube algorithm.
• Impressions leading to watch time: Figure out how many thumbnail impressions your selected video receives, and how many views come as a result of that. 

YouTube Analytics based on audience 

That’s an awful lot about your channel and videos, but what about the people who make the magic happen? Here are a few key YouTube Analytics features that focus on your audience: 

• Unique viewers: This estimates the total number of people who’ve watched your video within the timeframe, rather than the total number of views. So, if someone watched your video seven times, they’d only count as one unique viewer. 
• Repeat viewers: How many unique viewers have returned to your content within the set timeframe.
• When your viewers are on YouTube: With this knowledge in your back pocket, you can make better-informed decisions regarding when you publish your content. 
• Subscriber watch time: We already covered channel watch time, but subscriber watch time breaks down how much time your lovely, loyal subscribers spend combing through your content. 
• Subscriber bell notifications: See how many times your subscribers were actually notified of your new videos, via the handy bell.
• Search terms: Pull back the curtain on exactly which terms viewers use to find your content. This is gold dust for planning a YouTube SEO strategy. 
• Audience demographics: Break down the age, gender, location, and language stats for the people watching your videos. Based on this information, you can plan content to cater to these viewer subsets.
• Other content and channels your audience watches: Find out what your viewers watch when they’re not on your channel (rude!). This can help you fill content gaps, come up with more inspiring headlines or thumbnails, and more. 

It’s worth noting that while YouTube Analytics’ range of features may seem overwhelming, they’re all presented in a user-friendly, bite-sized manner. If you just want a basic overview, you can get that; if you’d rather knuckle down into groups of videos based on theme, or videos ranked by new or returning viewers, you can do that.

Can you see YouTube Analytics for other channels?

You can’t officially see other channels’ YouTube Analytics info. Imagine if someone got ahold of yours — it’d be like giving the secret sauce away. This information is locked behind YouTube’s data protection and customer privacy agreements, but is there a way to uncover some of that information? 

The last point in the previous section, ‘Other content and channels your audience watches’? Yep, that. This provides so much rich data — if your viewers are elsewhere, you can find out exactly where, and then work toward the why. 

Or, if you really want to push the boat out, you can try your hand at a third-party YouTube Analytics tool. 

What’s the best YouTube Analytics tool? 

Well, this article is about YouTube Analytics, after all. You’re probably not shocked that we think the official YouTube Analytics tool is a well-rounded, reliable way to track and optimize your video content’s performance on the platform. 

However, that’s not the be-all and end-all. There are tons of different YouTube analytics tools out there, both free and paid-for. Here are just a few of them. 

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is a handy lil’ dashboard that’s great for visual learners. As well as deep-diving into your own stats, this tool provides detailed competitor comparisons, summarized in user-friendly ‘scorecards’. TubeBuddy is available to download for iOS, Android, and as a browser extension — the basic plan is free, with paid-for plans going for as little as $3.75 per month.

vidIQ

vidIQ’s main selling point is that it compares your channel’s performance against competitors. The tool gives an ‘SEO score’ for each video on the channel, showing how well it’s optimized and how. From there, vidIQ suggests SEO glow-ups like extra keywords, metadata tweaks, a change of title, and more.

The core vidIQ tool is free to download and use. However, its more advanced features come bundled in monthly plans, which start at $16.58. It’s available to download for iOS, Android, and as a browser extension.

ViralStat

ViralStat covers more social media platforms than just YouTube, bundling them all into one handy dashboard. This makes it perfect for larger social media campaigns, but if you only want to use it for YouTube, have at it!

ViralStat is a jack of all trades, offering engagement metrics, influencer discovery, competitor analysis, and new content ideas. You can grab a seven-day free trial, but after that, plans start from $29 per month. The ViralStat tool is available to use on desktop.

Those three YouTube Analytics alternatives are all worth exploring, but there’s no shame in sticking with the official tool. It does a whole lot, puts the user experience first, and doesn’t cost a cent — when budgets and time are tight, that’s hard to beat.

Whether you’re distributing content as a solo creator or part of a larger team, YouTube Analytics is bursting with features to analyze, strategize, and optimize. Once you get a handle on it, your videos will be informed more by insights than luck.

One thing you certainly don’t need to leave to chance is the music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Related posts: 

• YouTube vs. Vimeo: Which is best?
• The best YouTube alternatives to try
• What is the YouTube Create app and how do you use it?

Storytelling. When most people hear that, they think of words, images, or visuals: things you can see, things you can point at. But sound is just as powerful, working behind the scenes to bring stories to life, conveying emotion without viewers realizing the magic in play.

Take a scary movie. Turn off the sound or swap it for something jolly, and it’s not nearly as frightening. Probably looks like a completely different genre — remember when Universal accidentally uploaded a draft version of The Mummy’s trailer?

That’s the undeniable power of sound — it can make or break your content. When used strategically, it can transform your work and create a stronger emotional connection with your audience.

Music as an emotional hook

We sat down for an exclusive chat with Marijn Roozemond, a sonic branding expert, and Christian Schaanning, Epidemic Sound’s resident sound designer.  Luckily, they both agree that music and sound are essential for any storytelling experience. In fact, Schaanning goes as far as to say that sound is an act of emotional manipulation, and necessary to incorporate until the point where you ‘get busted’. 

No, he doesn’t mean you’ll be arrested for soundtracking your arthouse film with Crazy Frog, distasteful as it may be. He means that when sound is used well, it becomes an invaluable tool for evoking emotion or hammering home a message.

Take this video from Epidemic Sound’s recent Sounds of Adrenaline campaign, produced by Benjamin Gugick. There’s no dialogue, not much in the way of character development. It’s a 45-second slot which, through ‌cinematography and sound, tells the story of the driver. You guess what kind of person they are, the decisions they might make, all jacked up to 11 by Ruzer’s Looking at the Clock. You don’t just hear the sound — you feel it.

Music to influence consumer behavior

Music is also proven to influence consumer behavior. During a study in the late ‘90s, researchers found that shoppers in a liquor store are more inclined to purchase French wine while French music is playing, and German wine when German music is playing. Naturally, that won’t be the case for every single person, but it works well enough — the music acts as a subtle, subliminal cue.

On a similar note, airlines often play relaxing music as passengers board, switching to more upbeat, peppy beats upon arrival. This keeps people calm on their way in, and puts a spring in their step when disembarking — funeral doom metal probably wouldn’t have the same effect. Even if customers aren’t explicitly aware, music helps them associate sound with action.

Need music for your brand’s next project? Whether it’s a multichannel ad campaign, bespoke out-of-home experience, or a video for social media, we’ve got you covered. Dive into Epidemic Sound’s catalog of more than 50,000 top-quality tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations today. 

5 top tips for telling great stories with sound

Want to learn how to stir emotion in your next piece of content? Schaanning and Roozemond have five top tips and best practices to make your project sing.

1. Go back to basics with sound effects

If you have access to a large catalog, it’s tempting to mix all the sounds together — you want to create something unique, after all. Resist the urge and work with one sound at a time. That way, your project timeline remains clean, and never feels overwhelming. 

Using this approach also lends more appreciation to individual sounds and effects. Even straightforward sound effects can highlight pivotal moments when coupled with the right visual stimulus — one sound might do more heavy lifting than ten. 

2. Tell one story at a time

Rather than trying to convey an entire narrative at once, break things down into shorter segments. This allows you to carefully craft and fine-tune the sound for each part, ensuring that every segment serves the story in its own right.

By doing this, you give every moment the clarity and impact it deserves. If one sound doesn’t make something happen, it shouldn’t make the cut. 

3. Consider diegetic sound and music

Diegetic sound is audio that comes naturally from your content’s ‘world’. This includes everything from noise picked up during the initial shoot, foley sounds or ADR added in post-production, and music ‘playing’ in the real world of your film. 

Non-diegetic sound fleshes out the theme, and is the backbone of many a classic scene — imagine The Good, the Bad and the Ugly without The Ecstasy of Gold. However, diegetic sound is of equal importance, settling the viewer into the scene and sucking them into the story.

Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is arguably the GOAT of diegetic music, forgoing a traditional score for a jukebox-style soundtrack. Just imagine that famous dance scene without You Can Never Tell playing in real time — it wouldn’t work.

4. Short-form and long-form content need different sound beds

Short-form and long-form content are two different beasts. As such, their soundtracking needs are usually contrasted. Quick pieces like social media posts or ads need sounds that hook people instantly — think of upbeat, catchy beats and riffs that instantly lodge themselves into viewers’ brains. 

On the other hand, think of long-form content like podcasts, documentaries, and detailed case studies. These would benefit from gradual, evolving sounds and leitmotifs that can run alongside the narrative, setting the mood and spiking various emotions.

5. Be careful of trends

Trends are the backbone of modern social media — the best viral content succeeds because it taps into the zeitgeist, if only for fifteen minutes. While this isn’t something you should ignore, it’s worth approaching with caution. 

Relying too heavily on music-based fads for short-form content can make your output feel generic or short-lived. Think of all the trends that went as quickly as they came — if your content focuses solely in this space, your brand may be seen in a similar light. Plus, if you work on long-form content, the trend might be ancient history by the time your film’s ready for release.

Try striking a balance between current, on-the-button trends, while also considering less time-sensitive elements. You can dial each of these up and down for different pieces of content, but the happy medium flips between viral hits and evergreen content. Paired well, they’ll give your content a lasting impact that’ll stick with your audience.

Sound isn’t an afterthought. Rather, it’s a key ingredient that elevates your content from good to unforgettable. Whether you’re setting the scene with a spooky melody or using a subtle sound effect to signpost a plot twist, the perfect soundtrack makes perfect content. 

Your professional content deserves the best. Take your sonic identity, campaigns, and content to the next level with Epidemic Sound. 

→ Contact sales

Related posts: 

• 7 things an attorney recommends brands to consider when using music in content
• Monetize content safely by licensing music from Epidemic Sound
• What are the new music trends in 2024?

You’ll find autofocus settings on most modern cameras, but should you use it for your video and photography projects? Let’s run through the ins, outs, ups, and downs of autofocus today. 

We’ll cover:

• What is autofocus?
• How does autofocus work?
• What are the different types of autofocus?
• Do pro photographers and filmmakers use autofocus?
• Is autofocus better than manual focus?
• Should you avoid autofocus?

What is autofocus?

Autofocus is a camera system that works with the lens to focus automatically on a subject, making it as sharp as possible. That’s hardly the surprise of the century, we know — most DSLR and mirrorless cameras feature some kind of autofocus mode, as do iPhones and other smartphones.

Your camera’s lens will likely include an ‘AF/MF’ switch — if it’s not there, it might be on the camera’s body. This switch toggles between autofocus and manual focus. If you use the latter, you’ll have to lock onto the focal point yourself. 

There are several autofocus modes and methods, which depend on what kind of camera you use and the type of footage you’re shooting. For example, some cameras include a handy face/eye autofocus, which is perfect for close-up shots and vlog-style content. With the correct settings applied, autofocus can help you capture dynamic, high-quality footage and photographs.

How does autofocus work?

Most cameras with autofocus will toggle between two systems: passive phase detection and active contrast detection. Usually, you won’t have to flip a switch to change the mode — the camera will act accordingly. Let’s take a quick look at phase detection and contrast detection.

Phase detection autofocus (passive)

When light enters the camera, it hits a five-sided reflective prism. The prism separates the light into two images — if said images line up, the subject will be in focus. If they don’t line up properly, the subject will be out of focus. The camera’s sensor sorts through the visual information and tells the lens to adjust the focus, using an electrical motor to tweak the focal length.

Phase detection is ideal for fast-paced scenes, as it’s a quick autofocus system. However, this makes it more likely to go wrong in low-light environments, due to the camera’s sensor and lens not quite understanding what to focus on. 

Contrast detection autofocus (active)

This system shoots a tiny red beam onto your subject, bouncing back to the lens. The autofocus system then combs through the contrast of the pixels present on your camera’s sensor, adjusting the lens’ focal length until it focuses.

This is a more complex process than phase detection, taking more time — this means it’s not as good at tracking fast-moving or far-away subjects. It also struggles to do its job when there’s not much contrast in the frame.

What are the different types of autofocus?

Different cameras may have different names for their autofocus modes, but broadly, there are three main types: continuous focus, single-shot focus, and automatic focus. Let’s go through them.

Continuous focus

This autofocus mode is best suited to tracking moving subjects for photography, or for shooting on-the-move video. The camera does the work, complex algorithms predicting where the subject will go and adjusting the lens as needed. It does so by referencing the distance between the camera and subject, adjusting focus each time it recognizes a change.

Once the focus is adjusted, the autofocus point will let you know. If you shoot before the autofocus point says it’s ready, you’ll likely end up with blurry content. 

Naturally, shooting wildlife is a completely different ballpark to athletics, motorsports, or concert photography. That’s why big-name manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, and Sony offer bespoke continuous focus modes, geared specifically toward these situations. 

Single-shot focus

This is the preferred autofocus option for shooting static subjects, like landscapes or portraits. Once you’re happy with your frame, just lock the focus and it’ll stay there, even if you change position. This means that the initial subject won’t fall out of focus once the autofocus is in place.

Automatic focus

Automatic autofocus flip-flops between continuous and single-shot mode, depending on your subject. This is often used to save time when shooting numerous subjects. 

Do pro photographers and filmmakers use autofocus?

Professional photographers and filmmakers don’t use autofocus too much. Manual focus allows more control — if you’re sticking to a strict shot list or storyboard, autofocus will make it harder to nail the shot.

However, there is one genre of content where autofocus rules the roost: selfie-style vlog content. Some of the most-subscribed YouTubers out there, like Pewdiepie, rely on autofocus to deliver crisp, well-realized talking-head footage. 

Or, if you want to mess with people’s heads, shoot a full-length film on a standard-definition, handheld camcorder, complete with autofocus and dim lighting.

On second thought, maybe don’t.

Is autofocus better than manual focus?

Overall, manual trumps autofocus in most areas — the former offers a customizability the latter just can’t match. However, autofocus does have an ace up its sleeve: action.

If you’re shooting fast-moving sports, animals, or vehicles, continuous autofocus could come in handy. Manual focus isn’t great for tracking moving objects, as the point of focus keeps changing within the frame.

Should you avoid autofocus?

Autofocus is perfect for beginners, as it takes away the guesswork and lets you focus on capturing your subject. It can also be suitable for professional video, fast-paced photography, and killer B-roll, but it’s often misused and struggles under poor lighting conditions. If you want to deliver top-notch content, consider follow focus instead. 

Beyond its aesthetic pitfalls, excessive autofocus can even make it difficult for people with vision and neurocognitive differences. Why make your content inaccessible when, with a little more effort, you could make it more inclusive and higher quality?

Another way to crank your content up a notch is with music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Are you a filmmaker? We've got you covered with background music for videos, including:

• iMovie
• TV shows
• Video production music
• Music for commercials

Take your video editing to the next level with our massive catalog of music for filmmakers.

Instagram and TikTok creator subscriptions are an exciting, fan-friendly way to monetize content. But what are they, and who can use creator subscriptions?

What are creator subscriptions?

If the concept sounds familiar, it’s probably because you have heard it before. Platforms like Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube already have paid-for, members-only content. That’s what a creator subscription is: viewers pay a certain amount of money per month, receiving anything from bonus content to chat perks, merch discounts, and more in return. It’s a fan club, basically!

YouTube introduced this in 2018, with Facebook following two years later. It was a successful, handy way for users to support their favorite content creators. But now, with Instagram and TikTok creator subscriptions, the idea’s been revitalized.

What are Instagram Subscriptions?

Instagram Subscriptions are available to creators with more than 10,000 followers, giving fans the chance to financially support their favorites. They can do this with:

• Subscriber Lives, which are exclusive Live broadcasts for paying fans. It means viewers can interact with creators on a small-scale, intimate level.
• Subscriber Stories, which lets subscribers watch exclusive Stories, with cool interactive Story Stickers thrown in too.
• Subscriber Badges, which sit next to viewers’ profiles. The Badge is purple, so it’s kind of hard to miss, giving subscribers more visibility in content creators’ comments and DMs.

Can you make money with Instagram Subscriptions?

The tiers are priced in eight individual brackets: $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $4.99, $9.99, $19.99, $49.99, and $99.99 per month. Depending on what kind of content’s available and how large the fanbase is, creator subscriptions can make Insta stars a pretty penny – especially given that Instagram itself doesn’t take a commission.

If you want to make money on Instagram, you’ll need to tighten your purse-strings and cut out the stuff you don’t need. When it comes to soundtracking your content, individual licenses for tracks can get expensive; if you use music without obtaining the rights, you could run into legal trouble.

So, let us handle it. Our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations has got you covered.

What are TikTok Subscriptions?

For years, TikTok Subscriptions weren’t as clear-cut as Instagram Subscriptions. While Insta was handing out subscription tiers like Oprah giving cars away, TikTok spent a while tweaking things behind the scenes. They rolled out paid-for subscription options for a small number of users a while back, but that’s all changed now. 

From September 2024, TikTok Subscriptions are available in selected regions, including the UK, Italy, South Korea, France, and the US. Creators with more than 10,000 followers and 100,000 video viewers in the past month are eligible to use this feature. Once you’re in, you can offer three priced tiers for followers to choose from, offering perks like shout-outs, behind-the-scenes content, performance requests, and more.

Subscriptions aren’t the only way to top up the ol’ bank balance, though. If you want to know how to make money on TikTok, click here.

What are TikTok LIVE Subscriptions?

TikTok LIVE Subscriptions are available for creators with more than 1,000 followers. Like rival service Twitch, TikTok LIVE subscriptions allow fans to pay for access every month.

In exchange, they receive several perks on TikTok LIVE, like a subscriber-only chat, custom emotes, badges, and more. Creators can personalize their LIVE rooms, and subscribers’ badges update the longer they’re signed up, giving them a ‘true fan’-type status.

Who can use creator subscriptions?

As long as you have enough followers and/or views to unlock the appropriate subscription tool, you should be good to go. The only stumbling block would be any restrictions or bans hanging over your account — hopefully you don’t have any! You must also be at least 18 years of age, and can’t offer subscription-based content if your output is designed for children.

Should you use creator subscriptions?

While it’s not been around for ages, the idea of creator subscriptions is something content creators should get used to. Twitch popularized its subscription model in the mid-2010s, and with massive names like Facebook and YouTube joining in, it was only a matter of time before Instagram and TikTok got involved.

The idea of paying for content is becoming normalized. People pay for video and audio streaming services, so why shouldn’t they pay for behind-the-scenes access or bonus videos from their nearest-and-dearest creators?

Familiarizing yourself with creator subscriptions gives you the chance to future-proof your channel and monetize in a way that suits you and your fans.

Getting to grips with music licensing is a vital piece of this puzzle, too. We’ve got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier. 

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Related posts:

• What is TikTok and how does it work?
• How to get your first 1,000 followers on Instagram
• What is film grain, and how do you use it in your content?

Country music’s enjoyed an explosion in popularity over the past few years. Learn why it’s so hyped, the difference between its many subgenres, and where to find the best country music for your content. Plus, get the scoop with our exclusive chat to rising star Kylie Dailey. 

We’ll cover:

• The history of country music
• What are the different country music genres?
• Why is country music so popular in 2024?
• How to find the best country music for your content
• Five elite-tier country songs for your content
• Introducing: Kylie Dailey 

The history of country music

Country music means different things to different people. Some folks think of country as purely hoedown tunes, while others have a broader scope. As with most of these things, the truth sits in the middle. 

Country music found its feet in the American South and Southwest during the 1920s, officially starting in Bristol, Tennessee. It arrived fully formed as a storytelling genre: this style of music was made to spin yarns, to tell tall tales about working life, the grind, heartache. Instrumentally, it focused on string instruments like the banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and lap steel guitar, with a well-placed harmonica or piano thrown in for good measure. 

Most people will be familiar with the Nashville sound, popularized by country music legends like Jim Reeves in the 1950s. Nashville country is slicker than the honky-tonk that came before, swapping rough-and-ready rhythms for sweet melodies and orchestration. This made it immensely popular with the public. 

Country music mutated from there, most notably when Sun Records nurtured rockabilly giants like Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison in the late ‘50s. Cash eventually swerved away from the record label machine, birthing the outlaw country movement alongside artists such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.

Later came country rock and 1990s country music, the latter of which saw Garth Brooks take country to stadium-sized audiences. Alternative country and country pop drove the genre to the present day, with megastars like Taylor Swift bringing this little genre to the hugest stages imaginable. 

In a nutshell, country music is so much more than a cowboy hat. It can be a heartfelt ballad or a knees-up dance, an electronica-influenced hit or an orchestral powerhouse. Forget about it being an American-only tradition — country music can be found everywhere from Australia to Sweden, the UK to Japan. It’s a global phenomenon now.

What are the different country music genres?

As you might have guessed, country music has enough subgenres to keep purists arguing for hours. We won’t be able to cover them all today, but we’ll run through a few of the key styles below. 

Early country

Bands like The Skillet Lickers made waves as commercial recorded music became more common in the 1920s and ‘30s. Their brand of early country took folk songs people already knew — music they heard in bars, on the street — and gave them a new lease of life. If you were to liken it to anything, it’d be something like Irish traditional music.

Country blues

Country blues is another old-timey style, focusing on a solo blues vocal and underpinning it with finger-picked guitar, maybe some piano or harmonica. It’s sparse and unique, often used as a catch-all to describe those groundbreaking, early forms of blues like Memphis and Delta blues. 

Honky-tonk

Honky-tonk music is mainly associated with, well, Honky Tonks. These are bars in which country music is played — mostly piano-driven, upbeat ragtime numbers. Of all the lively characters within the genre, Hank Williams is the best-known honky-tonker, and one of the biggest country legends full-stop. 

Bluegrass

Bluegrass is the style often associated with ‘old’ country, played on acoustic string instruments and drawing influence from English, Irish, and Scottish folk music. It came from Appalachia in the mid-’40s, and is a little jiggier and upbeat than most other country subgenres. Bill Monroe is the groundbreaking bluegrass artist, but if we’re being real, most people’s thoughts on the subgenre come exclusively from memes of the below scene in Deliverance.

The Nashville sound

Honky-tonk was out in the late 1950s — chilled-out tempos, crooning, and heart-swelling orchestration from Nashville, Tennessee was in. The Nashville sound is a stark contrast to country music’s origins, designed to deliver hits from artists like Jim Reeves.

The Bakersfield sound

Bakersfield country popped up in Bakersfield, California during the 1950s. It’s a more raw, electric flavor, honky-tonking against Nashville country’s shiny production values. Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Wynn Stewart are all timeless, classic examples of the Bakersfield sound.

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is the one that gets folks dancing. The one with the double bass, the doo-wop vocals, the rhythm and blues, the boogying piano riffs — it’s such a good time. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Bill Hailey and His Comets helped popularize the genre, which has since evolved into odd little corners like psychobilly. 

Country folk 

Country folk is a subgenre of a subgenre, to be fair. The term came into use around the 1970s, when Bob Dylan’s acoustic work started impacting new musicians. Broadly, country folk is quieter, subdued folk music with country instrumentation, like a banjo or fiddle. 

Outlaw country

Outlaw country reared its head in the 1970s and ‘80s, spearheaded by big-ticket artists like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. As you might have noticed, some of these subgenres are less about the sound and more about the attitude. Outlaw falls into that category, bucking against commercial country and leaning more toward rockabilly and honky-tonk. 

Country pop

As the name suggests, country pop is built to reach mainstream audiences‌. Growing from Nashville country, it rolled with the times and incorporated contemporary pop stylings: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 gave way to Shania Twain, The Chicks paving the road for Taylor Swift. Nowadays, country pop covers a broader canvas than ever, bringing in influence from far-flung genres like hip-hop and electronic dance music. 

Why is country music so popular in 2024?

Country music’s always been popular, sure. That said, its upswing in the past five years has been hard to ignore, considering the amount of young people gravitating to the genre — especially Gen Z. 

You could point to Taylor Swift, whose beginnings as a country-pop artist shine more light on the genre. You could also chalk it up to Lil Nas X’s 2019 country-trap hit, Old Town Road. The song gained traction in late 2018 as part of the ‘Yeehaw Agenda’ TikTok trend, but found new life the following year, when it was re-released featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. It ultimately won multiple awards, including two Grammys.

Since then, we’ve seen Beyoncé’s Americana album, Cowboy Carter. Post Malone dipped into country music with his F–1 Trillion record, while icons like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton worked with newer artists like Orville Peck and *checks notes*...Pitbull? And it all rocks. 

This music is popular because it’s awesome, of course. But the whole country aesthetic — the fashion, the outlook, the lifestyle — makes it timeless. 

How to find the best country music for your content

Struggling to find country music for your content? Don’t sweat it. We’ve got you covered:

1. Open the Epidemic Sound player — if you’re not signed up, you can get started here. 
2. Think about what tone you’d like for your country music. You can search the player for a specific vibe — browse moods like laid-back, hopeful, countryside, sentimental, or restless. 
3. Consider the related genres that would fit your country music brief. Try looking for genres like straight-up country, but don’t be afraid to delve into pockets like Western, Americana, country folk, country blues, and bluegrass.

Looking for a shortcut?

If you want to pick and mix the best country music from a playlist, we can help you out. Epidemic Sound’s music experts have curated playlists for:

• Cowboycore: Shooting on location in a dust-choked desert? Isolated mountain? A simple meet-cute? Whatever you’re capturing for your content, this playlist’s got the tunes. 
• Nashville Pulse: Bluegrass? Country rock? Americana? It’s all here. 
• Country Pop Essentials: Whether you’re looking for a brash country-pop banger or a tempered, folky soundtrack, the songs in this playlist all have one thing in common: hooks. 
• Cinematic Western: If your content needs more Ennio Morricone and less Garth Brooks, this playlist’s got the goods — it’s the perfect balance of gritty and epic.

Still need convincing? Check out our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations below — we’re sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. 

Five elite-tier country songs for your content

Now that we’ve gone through what country music is, the different subgenres, and why it’s so popular, let’s get down to business. Here are five elite-tier country songs to take your content to the next level.

Kylie Dailey – Be the Cat

As we’ve covered, country music isn’t all yee-hawing and rootin’-tootin’. Kylie Dailey’s Be the Cat is a subdued Americana track that grazes corners of pop, folk, blues, and soul along the way. 

The cleanly produced vocals cut like a knife through butter, at odds with the softer, stripped-back instrumental. The result is still an undeniably organic song that could soundtrack a high-budget ad just as well as it could a mumblecore film project — it’s truly rare. 

Kylie Dailey – Be the Cat

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Wildflowers feat. Easton – Country Girl

Appropriately released on Valentine’s Day 2024, Country Girl is modern country music to a T. Wildflowers feat. Easton have combined all of the elements that make the genre so well-loved today: lyrics about someone way out of your league, upbeat verses, and shouting ‘Guitar!’ immediately before a solo.

Capped off with some slidey pre-chorus guitar and enough vocal twang to tune an instrument, Country Girl blends the old with the new — a great choice for hopeful, bright content.

Wildflowers – Country Girl

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Johan Glössner – Loner on a Cliff

It’s giving Kevin Costner in a cowboy hat, Kurt Russell riding into town and fighting cannibals. Johan Glössner does what so few can with Loner on a Cliff, using that Spaghetti Western cadence and instrumentation without ever feeling, well, tacky. 

It’s so easy to throw a harmonica on something and call it a day, but Glössner’s atmospheric world-building gives this track raw authenticity. It makes Loner on a Cliff ideal for any large-scale, cinematic content you have in mind. 

Johan Glössner – Loner on a Cliff

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Roy Williams feat. Francie – Martha’s Song

Everything about Martha’s Song is just so warm. Roy Williams’ gentle duet with Francie gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘tender’, those slight tremolo strings and faint arpeggios giving the two singers room to breathe. What we’d give for someone to sing about us the way they sing about Martha…

Roy Williams feat. Francie – Martha’s song

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Staffan Carlén – Tennessee Gardens 

Sometimes, it takes one tiny earworm to hook someone in. Staffan Carlén knows what we’re talking about — for all of Tennessee Gardens’ lush guitar and subtle percussion, the two-second whistling refrain is what stands out. It’s a cheerful country pop tune that says a bunch without any vocals, and it’s begging for a shot as a sound bed for your next project. 

Staffan Carlén – Tennessee Gardens 

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If you like what you hear, there’s plenty more where that came from — use Epidemic Sound to find the perfect soundtrack every time. 

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below, and keep reading for an exclusive chat with our own country star, Kylie Dailey. 

Introducing: Kylie Dailey

We’ve gone through weather-worn classics, exciting new artists, and everything in between. Let’s finish with a chat to Epidemic Sound’s own rising star, Kylie Dailey. 

How did you get into music creation? 

Kylie Dailey: I started writing songs for my friends in middle school on a karaoke machine and an electric guitar my dad bought me from Sam’s Club. I’d record them on cassette tapes — I wish I could find those tapes! It just felt like a natural way for me to show how I felt.

I moved away from home to Nashville in my teens and was drenched in all kinds of music on the regular. I’d occasionally write as a response to the art I was hearing, but music creation really took off for me when I started having kids 11 years ago. I was feeling so many tumultuous waves of love and pain, while also becoming so strengthened and aware of the power I had to bring life into the world. I began writing more than I ever had with much less self-doubt. 

What’s the best part about creating music with Epidemic Sound?

KD: I love collaborating and making art with my community — we really do have world-class players, producers, and engineers here in Nashville. Epidemic Sound enables me to collaborate with them, work in incredible studios, and continue to develop and grow. It’s such a privilege to work with this company and make a living with my friends. 

Where did you find the inspiration for your upcoming album, Way Past Taken?

KD: This record is an exploration of exchanges and emotions, both human and divine. These melodies and ideas percolated during a six-month writing period in 2024. Along with my producer, Kevin Dailey, I considered each song and let them take shape.

I shared this collection with a group of my favorite musicians, who contributed their own unique character to each song. I wanted to have violin and woodwind on each track to add a sense of spirit that only those sounds can give. We tracked most of this record live at Skinny Elephant Recording in Nashville, with our dear friend Dylan Alldredge, during the very hot month of June. We called it adult summer camp, because it was!

What visuals do you see when hearing or playing your own music?

KD: I see a lot of color when I feel strong emotions, which often happens through music. Like an exploding star pulling on space, but with watercolor paint in bold hues.

Country music and Americana has gotten super-popular recently, especially with young people. Why now?

KD: To me, the folk and Americana tradition is the sound of the people. The poetry is water-tight and powerful, and the acoustic instruments sound human — they’re songs about war, injustice, poverty, heartache. When things are hard, this music is where many people, including myself, turn. To voices that understand. 

What would you tell ten-year-old Kylie if you could speak to her today?

KD: Ah, I think about this a lot because of my kids. I would say: I believe you. You are inherently good. You do you, girl!

Kylie Dailey’s sophomore album, Way Past Taken, releases on all major streaming platforms later this year. While you wait, why not listen to Kylie’s entire back catalog in the Epidemic Sound player?

→ Listen here

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Storyboards are a pre-production essential — they add structure, technical precision, and flare to your content. With a little trial and error, you can get started on your own. 

So, let’s get into it. We’ll discuss:

• What is a storyboard?
• Who uses a storyboard?
• What does a storyboard include? 
• What are the different types of storyboards?
• What are the best storyboarding software for beginners?
• How to create a storyboard 

What is a storyboard?

A storyboard is a filmmaking tool that breaks a scene down into shot-by-shot panels, sort of like a comic book. The ideal storyboard shows the scene playing out chronologically, covering details like camera angles, dialogue, camera shots, and more. It’s a vital document used in pre-production everywhere from big-budget movies to small-scale web series, video ads to professional social media content. 

Most filmmakers use storyboarding as a visual representation of their production’s script. Paired with a detailed shot list, a storyboard can give crew members the details they need to nail the shot.

Some filmmakers employ storyboards for every single scene, while others only whip them out for more complex staging arrangements. Used properly, storyboards get everyone on the same page, saving time, money, and stress.

Who uses a storyboard?

Not all filmmakers use storyboards all the time, but they’re rarely considered a drawback. Beyond the time- and money-saving aspects during pre-production, storyboards can help get your work financed or green-lit. Pitching a project with a detailed, vibrant storyboard sells your vision to potential stakeholders or collaborators, even if it’s just on a small screen.

What does a storyboard include? 

The end product will differ from filmmaker to filmmaker, but there are a few storyboarding basics that most follow. They are: 

• Imagery: This is the foundation of most storyboards. The imagery can be quickly doodled in a sketch style, or with well-realized, professionally composed drawings. Photos, reference images, and 3D imagery can also be used — you can even use stick figures, as long as they convey what you need. 
• Shot description: This covers any non-technical information about the shot, including action, dialogue, and duration. 
• Shot specifications: Here’s where you’d put all the nitty-gritty details like camera lens length, shot type, shot size, shot number, and more. 
• Direction arrows: Some filmmakers attach arrows to each of their storyboard panels. They do so to convey how a subject and/or the camera will move to the next shot, and in which direction. This helps a bunch with dynamic, on-the-move techniques like crane or dolly shots. 

What are the different types of storyboards?

As we’ve touched on, every storyboard is different — the most important thing is that everyone understands what’s been written. However, there are a few different types of main storyboards. Let’s dig into them.

Traditional storyboard

Traditional storyboards are broadly composed of the elements we listed in the previous section. They’re generally quick, pencil-style sketches, capped off with all the juicy info concerning shot specifications, dialogue, arrows for movement, and more. 

They don’t always have to include everything and the kitchen sink, though. Ridley Scott storyboarded Alien with a bare-bones approach, sketching key points and describing them in depth. We’ve heard that movie did OK. 

Digital storyboard

Digital storyboards are the most common in the industry nowadays. As the name suggests, they’re created digitally, either in a border editing program like Adobe After Effects or Photoshop, or via specialized storyboarding software.

These storyboards are super-versatile, allowing filmmakers to edit on-the-fly if needed. They also allow 3D models and special effects, which makes them ideal for larger, CGI-heavy productions. 

Animated storyboard

Animated storyboards take the pencil-ish style of traditional storyboards and, well, animate them. They require extra time and software, but will give your colleagues a more detailed breakdown of a scene’s pacing, key moments, and camera movements. Take a look at this elite-tier example for Toy Story 3.

Written storyboard

Written storyboards cover most of the information you’d find in the above, but without any imagery. Format-wise, they’re similar to shot lists.

Thumbnail storyboard 

Thumbnail storyboards don’t feature any written instructions in the frame. They’re appropriate for smaller projects where everyone is on the same wavelength, but are rarely used on larger productions. 

Sketched storyboard

Sketched storyboards are simple, crudely drawn storyboards used to display straightforward shots and actions. They work if you’re blocking something with actors or other members of your team, but aren’t suitable as a final-product storyboard.  

Some filmmakers figure out the soundtrack during post-production, but the best know what they want to use in advance — you can’t argue with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Check out our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks below and find the perfect match today.

What are the best storyboarding software for beginners?

While programs like After Effects and Photoshop can produce pro-level storyboards, you might have to fiddle around to find all of the extras you’re looking for. Luckily, there are plenty of user-friendly storyboarding software out there, designed to plot your content into lovely, neat panels. Here are three of our highlights. 

Storyboard That

Storyboard That has a lot going for it: it’s unbelievably user-friendly, operating on a drag-and-drop basis. This is isn’t made for high-level, professional productions, but is great for low-key projects, or for people who may struggle with more technical apps and software. 

Bursting with thousands of images, infographics, speech bubbles, and more, Storyboard That is a comfy fit for first-timers. The free plan is watermarked and offers limited panels and effects, but you can grab the unlimited, watermark-free version starting at $9.99 per month. 

Studiobinder

Studiobinder comes in a bit pricier, starting at $29 per month — there is a free plan, but it’s limited to one project. This is more than just a storyboarding program, covering shot lists, call sheets, shooting schedules, script breakdowns, and more. 

Its storyboarding function is pretty exhaustive, with tons of templates if you’re struggling to get started. Studiobinder’s used by household names like Cartoon Network, BuzzFeed, and Lionsgate, so it’ll probably cut the mustard for your project. 

ShotPro

ShotPro’s noteworthy because it’s available on both mobile and desktop. The mobile version can be purchased for a one-time $39.99 payment, while the desktop software costs $25 per month. The mobile version is worth exploring, if only for its game-changing facial motion-capture tool.

Once you settle into ShotPro’s gentle learning curve, you’ll love its super-detailed 2D and 3D animated storyboarding capabilities — it even supports AI-based features like text-to-speech. Like Studiobinder, it’s been used by high-profile studios to plan scenes for shows like Black Sails, Fear the Walking Dead, and Power. 

How to create a storyboard

Now that you know what a storyboard is, what the different types look like, and which software is the best for beginners, let’s walk through how to create one.

Our storyboard tutorial is condensed into five steps, and is universal. You can follow these points whether you’re scribbling notes on an old pad of paper or using top-range software. 

1. Decide how to present your panels

Panel presentation depends on what kind of storyboard you create. If you’re going for a slimmed-down, basic storyboard, you can probably fit ten or even twelve panels on each page. However, a more detailed storyboard would benefit from around two to four panels per page. 

As a rule of thumb, the more professional or ‘high-level’ the project, the fewer panels per page. If you were pitching a project and trying to land seven-figure funding, you’d want to dazzle potential investors with one or two panels per page. If you’re creating a student film or professional online content for your own channel, the storyboard’s X-factor is less important. 

2. Read the script, then read it again

You’ve probably read the script already, but it pays to analyze it in painstaking, full-nerd detail. What are you trying to achieve with each scene, and are there any nuances you might have missed on your first read? Revisiting the script will strengthen your shot list, expand your knowledge of the story, and give your storyboard more life.

3. Create your images

Here’s the fun part! Compiling a storyboard is a creative process as much as it is practical — get playful with it. If you’ve opted for ‌good-quality software, go wild with your mock-ups, and don’t forget to check out stock imagery if needed. 

If you already know the specifics like the shot type or angle, go ahead and convey it in your imagery. This will make it even easier for others to understand your storyboard at a glance.

4. Place your arrows

As we touched on earlier, storyboards often use arrows to show movement. They can be placed within, above, below, and beside your panels, showing how the subject or camera moves within the frame, and how they enter the next.

It’s tempting to litter your panels with arrows, but remember the point of storyboards: to provide clarity. Adding too many arrows may clutter your storyboard and make it more confusing than clear. If you’re editing digitally, it’ll be easy enough to remove or reposition arrows if they become too messy. 

5. Add the rest of your details

Shot types, shot numbers, movement, shutter speed, props, specific lighting requirements — this is your chance to pack all of that info into the storyboard. Like with the arrows, you’ll need to experiment with how much to include before it gets too complex. 

Now that you’ve filled in the descriptions, it’s time to review your storyboard, share it with collaborators, and make any changes based on feedback. Once you’ve reached a place where everyone is broadly happy with, you can start shooting your content!

Once it’s done and dusted, your storyboard will provide direction on-set. It’s a source of truth, inspiration, and vibes all rolled into one. 

If you want to inject your production with a little more of that special sauce, don’t forget about the music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

Are you a filmmaker? We've got you covered with background music for videos, including:

• iMovie
• TV shows
• Video production music
• Music for commercials

Take your video editing to the next level with our massive catalog of music for filmmakers.

Want to stream your content on YouTube Live? We’ve got you covered. Today, we’ll dive into all the basics you need to get started.

We’ll cover:

• What is YouTube Live?
• What are YouTube Live’s main features?
• How many subscribers do you need to go live on YouTube?
• Does YouTube Live Shorts exist?
• How to use YouTube Live
• Tips and tricks for producing great YouTube Live content

What is YouTube Live?

No surprises here: YouTube Live is the livestreaming division of the big red video-sharing platform. Established in 2011, it was initially available to select partners and brands — broadcasting the 2012 London Olympics on YouTube was a huge deal. 

Nowadays, YouTube Live is available to most users. There are a few requirements and boxes to check, but on the whole, it’s an accessible tool. YouTube live streams can be about anything and anyone, with the biggest production values or a low-key mumblecore aesthetic. It’s a more well-rounded, broad streaming platform than Kick or Twitch, which are still heavily associated with gaming. 

What are YouTube Live’s main features?

People use YouTube Live because, well, YouTube’s the second-most visited website on the planet, behind Google. The platform has reach.

The sheer number of users naturally leads to competition and saturation, but top-quality video still rises to the top. If your content scratches an itch and you employ a little YouTube SEO, you stand a better chance of appealing to the algorithm and reaching more viewers’ feeds. 

Let’s run through a few of YouTube Live’s key selling points. 

YouTube Premieres

Driving hype for a music video, product launch, or vlog? YouTube Live offers a service called YouTube Premieres, through which a clock counts down to your scheduled content’s eventual premiere. Once it’s live, viewers can comment and react in real time, like they’re in a watch party. YouTube Premieres are great for fostering community and drumming up interest. 

Streaming games

While platforms like Twitch and Kick are more well-known for streaming games, there’s nothing stopping professional gamers from trying their hand at YouTube Live. It’s a huge market — YouTube Live’s gaming section hosts playthroughs of everything from Gran Turismo to Pet Simulator. 

Looser content

If you’re a solo content creator or influencer, YouTube Live is an opportunity to cut loose and address your audience directly. They won’t expect a polished, by-the-numbers monologue, because it’s live — the interaction and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments are what make people tune in.

Live chat

The YouTube Live chat is buzzy, exciting — it’s a place for viewers to communicate directly with their favorite creators and brands. You can set the live chat to member- or subscriber-exclusive, assign moderators, and block messages featuring specific words or phrases.

Monetization

YouTube supports several monetization routes, and one of them is YouTube Live. During YouTube Premieres and regular YouTube Live streams, viewers can take part in the Super Chat. This lets them donate anything between $1 and $500 — in return, their comments will display prominently in the live chat. They can also buy specialized stickers, appropriately called Super Stickers. 

That aside, you can run pre-roll, mid-roll, display, and overlay YouTube ads during your live session. Like Super Chat, your ads’ success hangs on how many people watch and engage with the content.

Collaboration tools

If you’re collaborating with another brand or creator, you can direct your live stream’s viewers to said partner’s stream. This function’s called ‘cross-channel Live direct’, and is perfect for creating audience crossover. You can also use Go Live Together, which lets mobile live-streamers invite other hosts to join the session. 

Live performances and presentations

Before YouTube Live was officially YouTube Live, the platform still dabbled with live streaming. In fact, YouTube were innovators. Their broadcast of U2’s Rose Bowl gig in 2009 was the world’s first full-length live-streamed concert, watched by more than 10 million people across seven continents.

If U2 isn’t your thing, that’s fine. YouTube Live in its current form offers live streaming capabilities for gigs, sport, conferences, stand-up performances, and more. 

And if U2 really isn’t your thing, we’ve got your live stream soundtrack covered. Epidemic Sound’s catalog is bursting with more than 50,000 top-quality tracks, none of which feature Bono. We wouldn’t say no if he called, though. 

How many subscribers do you need to go live on YouTube?

You don’t need 1,000 subscribers to use YouTube Live. As long as you’re verified to use the service — more on that in a second — then you’re pretty much good to go. Desktop has no minimum subscriber count, while mobile streaming requires 50. 

However, YouTube Live has some requirements for extras like monetization. For that, you need 1,000 subscribers. The only other real YouTube Live requirement is that your account mustn’t have any live streaming restrictions within the last 90 days.

Does YouTube Live Shorts exist?

There is no official way to live stream YouTube Shorts content. Given how successful Shorts is, both for monetizing creators and content-hungry users, there may be some wiggle room in the future. But for now, you can’t use YouTube Shorts to stream live video. 

How to use YouTube Live

Now that we’ve covered what YouTube Live is, what it’s used for, and what the requirements are, let’s go through how to use it. 

Verify your YouTube Live channel

Before you start broadcasting live, you’ll need to verify your channel for YouTube Live. This process has nothing to do with a blue tick or having X amount of followers — you just need to head here. Then, type in your phone number and confirm the verification code. 

From there, it can take up to 24 hours to access YouTube Live. Once you’re verified, you’re free to stream from desktop, or mobile if you have more than 1,000 subscribers. 

Stream YouTube Live from desktop

1. Head to your YouTube dashboard on the desktop site, then click the camera button in the top-right corner. 
2. Choose ‘Go Live’. Assuming this is your first rodeo, you’ll need to accept the YouTube Live Terms of Service when prompted. 
3. If you’re streaming from your computer’s built-in camera — or an external model — go ahead and click the ‘built-in webcam’ option. We’ll discuss how to set up a stream with a dedicated streaming software in a moment. 
4. Title your stream, adjust the privacy settings, and tinker with settings like live chat, monetization, and more. Once that’s done, click ‘Next’. 
5. If you’re ready, tap ‘Go Live’ and do your thing. Once you’re done, hit ‘End Stream’ at the bottom.

This process becomes a little more complicated when using dedicated streaming software or encoding hardware, but it’s worth it. Programs like Streamlabs offer much more customization than YouTube Live, which makes them ideal for gaming-related content. 

Stream YouTube Live from desktop via streaming software

1. Once you’ve initially ‘Go Live’ on your desktop, choose ‘Streaming software’ instead of ‘Built-in camera’.
2. Assuming this is your first time, click ‘New Stream’ — when you set up your next stream, you can click ‘Copy and create’ to use your previous stream’s settings. 
3. Adjust your title, description, privacy settings, monetization settings, category, and more. Then, choose a thumbnail. Once you’re happy here, click ‘Create Stream’.
4. Head to ‘Stream Settings’, then copy your stream key. Paste the stream key into the appropriate field in your third-party streaming software, then head back to the YouTube dashboard.
5. Click ‘Go Live’ when you’re ready, and ‘End Stream’ when you’re done and dusted. 

Stream YouTube Live from mobile

1. Open the YouTube mobile app, click the camera icon, and select ‘Go Live’.
2. Title your stream and adjust the privacy settings, then click ‘More Options’ to add a description. 
3. Hit ‘Show More’ to play around with settings for the live chat, monetization, promotions, and more. Once you’re done, tap ‘Show Less’.
4. Click ‘Next’, then take a photo or upload a custom thumbnail for your stream. If you’re ready, you can click ‘Share’ to grab the link and share it across your other platforms.
5. Finally, do the same as you would on desktop: click ‘Go Live’ to kick things off, then ‘Finish’ when you’re done.

Upload existing content to YouTube Live

Scheduling existing content for YouTube Live is a bit different from the traditional live streaming setup. Rather than heading to YouTube Live, stick to the YouTube desktop dashboard and click ‘Create’. Select ‘Upload video’, then fill out all of the necessary details. 

At the last step, click ‘Save/Publish’, set the audience as ‘Public’, then choose ‘Set as Instant Premiere’ if you’d like the YouTube Live stream to start immediately. 

If you’d like the content to debut later, click ‘Schedule’, select the date and time you’d prefer, then finish the job with ‘Schedule’. 

Once your live videos finish, they’ll be archived as regular video content on your channel. If you’re unhappy with a live stream or need to get rid of it for some other reason, you can delete it the same as you’d delete a regular video. You’ll also be able to chart your live content’s popularity and effectiveness with YouTube Analytics, then fine-tune your approach for future streams. 

Tips and tricks for producing great YouTube Live content

Let’s wrap up with some tips and tricks for producing great YouTube Live content. 

Find the right content for your YouTube Live streams 

Research other live streams and see what works for different audiences and channels. Would a how-to guide work for your live content, or would it feel disingenuous? Are you better suited to AMAs or high-production interviews? Weigh up the type of content you want to produce against your intended audience, budget, equipment, and crew you’ll have available. 

Create a script

Depending on what kind of content you’re producing, the script can be rigid or loose. But even if you’re doing an off-kilter improv performance, it’s good to have something outlined, if only the call-to-action or intro. Learn more about creating YouTube scripts here. 

Use the appropriate gear

You need the right equipment to do your live streams justice. A webcam might cut it for very basic vlog content, but most broadcasts would benefit from extra bells and whistles. This could be anything from ring lights to external microphones, cameras, and more.

Check your battery levels, then check them again

It might sound like we’re teaching you to suck eggs, but it bears repeating: check your battery levels, then check them again. Keep spares on hand and be ready for a speedy changeover if something goes down. 

Check your other levels, too

Bad audio kills good video. Check your mic levels, deal with any issues before you start, and shoot some test footage before you go live. The same goes for the camera, too — something as simple as autofocus capturing the wrong thing can scupper a good stream. 

Check when your audience is online

Use tools like YouTube Analytics to determine when your core audience will actually be awake. Naturally, you’ll never capture every viewer, but going live at a time that suits your most-populated territory is a safe bet. 

Promote your stream

Give your stream the chance to gain steam and share it across other social media platforms. Figure out if drilling into avenues like Facebook event pages would be worth your while, or if just sharing might cut the mustard.

Consider a moderator

A big part of YouTube Live’s appeal is the connection with the audience. If you feel that you can’t communicate with them in real time, consider hiring a chat moderator.

They’ll be on hand to assess feedback, highlight relevant questions, and combat any potential offensive comments. Depending on the workload, your moderator could also monitor the quality of your stream, suggesting audio or visual adjustments when needed.

Analyze your stream’s performance

Once the dust settles, the real work begins. Use YouTube Analytics to check out the metrics, digging into key info like when viewers dropped off, where most of your viewers were based, your YouTube Live view count, and more. From there, you can make tweaks to improve the next steam. 

So, that was YouTube Live in a nutshell. It’s an accessible, well-rounded platform that can give your streams more reach and let you monetize them.

One thing you’ll need to watch out for is the music, though. YouTube’s Content ID is an advanced digital fingerprint system, which detects when copyrighted music is used unlawfully. If you use a copyrighted track during your stream without the proper clearance, your stream could be muted or even ended. Don’t let that happen, but don’t compromise — use Epidemic Sound. 

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Related posts: 

• The most-subscribed and most-viewed YouTube channels in 2024
• The best YouTube alternatives to try in 2024
• What you should know about using ad blockers on YouTube

You might not see fisheye shots every day, but when you catch one, you know. Fisheye lenses are one of the more unique pieces of camera equipment, giving your footage a surreal, hyper-stylized quality. 

Ready to wade into the weird world of fisheye lenses? Let’s discuss: 

• What is a fisheye lens?
• Who invented the fisheye lens?
• Why would you use a fisheye lens?
• How does a fisheye lens work?
• At what point does a lens become fisheye?
• Does the iPhone have a fisheye lens?
• What are the disadvantages of a fisheye lens?
• What are the best fisheye shots?

What is a fisheye lens?

A fisheye lens is a camera lens used to capture wide wide angles, often ranging between 180 and 280 degrees. For this reason, they’re sometimes called ‘super-wide’, ‘ultra-wide’, or curvilinear lenses.

These spherical, unnatural angles lead to distorted and bent imagery, which filmmakers use to hammer home a specific vibe: ridiculous, bizarre, uncanny. If used to highlight landscape, a fisheye lens offers a panoramic, if not entirely realistic, view. 

Who invented the fisheye lens?

The fisheye lens goes way back, before Hollywood opened its doors. In 1906, the physicist Robert W. Wood was messing around with a pinhole camera, a bucket of water, some mirrored glass, and light. He wanted to see what life looked like through the eyes of a fish — we’ve all been there. 

If you’ve never chatted to a goldfish or sea bass, they see things at a steeper angle than us, taking in the world at 180 degrees from both sides. That’s why Wood called his contraption a fisheye lens. 

Following the lens’ birth, Wood patented a host of inventions, from circus-style gimmicks to a disk that calculates the age of stars. Other scientists and inventors ran with this idea from the 1910s onward, developing the fields of meteorology and astronomy. Eventually, the ultra-wide fisheye lens made its way into consumers’ hands, most notably via Nikon in the 1960s and ‘70s. 

Why would you use a fisheye lens?

In a word, fisheye lens photography looks cool. It just does. It’s highly stylized and doesn’t work in every situation, but when it hits? It’s magic. That’s why so many music videos and skate compilations used fisheye lenses in the ‘90s. It presented the content in a unique, strange way, making potentially generic shots feel dynamic, bringing viewers closer to the action.

As we touched on, not every shot will work through a fisheye lens — it would probably ruin your favorite episodes of Friends or Only Murders in the Building. 

Need some music to soundtrack your fisheye compositions? We’ve got you covered. Check out our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations— we’re sure you’ll find what you need.

How does a fisheye lens work?

There are two main kinds of fisheye lens: full-frame and circular. A fisheye lens drinks in 180 degrees or more of coverage, using special mapping to take a 3D image and bend it into a 2D version. 

Full-frame fisheye lenses fill the entire frame, whereas their circular counterparts project that 180-degree (or more) angle as a circle in the center of the frame. Full-frame lenses are easier to work with, but the public are more familiar with circular fisheye shots. 

Circular fisheye shots were popular in ‘90s music videos, but remain in rude health to this day. Take a look at the album cover below. You know it. That dropped in 2019, and is one of the most well-known fisheye shots out there.

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A post shared by @harrystyles

At what point does a lens become fisheye?

So, what’s the difference between a wide-angle and fisheye lens? Generally, a wide-angle lens is any lens with an aperture between 24mm and 16mm. Anything below 16mm is considered super-wide and will start stretching your footage. Once you get to 8mm, you’ll find the 180-degree fisheye angle you’re looking for. 

Does the iPhone have a fisheye lens?

If you’re an iPhone user who’d like to experiment with a fisheye lens effect or filter before cracking open the wallet, you’re in luck. Try the FishEyeVideo Square app — it’s free to download and use, offering nine different fisheye lens effects. 

Want something more tactile? No worries — you can pick up a cheap-ish fisheye iPhone lens for just over $10 on Amazon. You won’t achieve the same results as a professional fisheye camera lens, but these little gadgets are convenient for strapping onto your iPhone and experiencing the fisheye vibe. 

If you have more cash to spare, you could try Motion, Apple’s own video editing software. It’ll set you back $49.99, but it’s a great software in its own right, and includes a handy fisheye filter. 

What are the disadvantages of a fisheye lens?

Fisheye lenses are popular for a reason, but do they have any downsides? Short answer: not really. If you’ve plotted fisheye footage into your shot list and it suits the aesthetic of your content, you’ve got nothing to worry about.

But if you’re shooting fisheye on the fly? It could be tricky, for the reasons we’ve outlined — it might just be too weird. That said, if it matches the mood, you could score some out-there B-roll. 

What are the best fisheye shots?

Now that we’ve covered what a fisheye lens is, where it comes from, and why it’s used, let’s wrap up with three elite-tier examples of fisheye lenses in action. 

Francis Bourgeois

You might know Francis Bourgeois as ‘the train guy’. The British content creator shot to fame during the UK’s COVID lockdown, during which he went trainspotting with a fisheye GoPro strapped to his head.

The result? Unnecessarily strange interactions between Bourgeois and rail staff, his excitement intensified by the extreme close-up framed by the fisheye. His TikTok account went viral, and he’s since enjoyed a modeling career, book deal, and a picnic with Joe Jonas.

@francis.bourgeois

Quite unusual to bump into Percy Pig, a British icon. This year, we’re celebrating 30 years of Percy Pig and I want to make sure it’s a great day for him! (AD)

♬ original sound - Francis Bourgeois

Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things 

Yorgos Lanthimos loves a good fisheye. The Greek filmmaker’s work is littered with them — his Oscar-winning 2023 movie, Poor Things, is a great example. The fisheye lens adds a distorted, dreamlike quality to the film. If you’ve seen it, that’s, um, more than appropriate. 

TLC – No Scrubs 

No Scrubs, no notes. Perfection. 

Love them or loathe them, fisheye lenses make your content stand out. They give your shots that extra jolt of electricity, the push they might need to convey a particular point. 

Another way to do that is with music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Are you a filmmaker? We've got you covered with background music for videos, including:

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YouTube is still the boss of long-form video content in 2024, reeling in more than 1 billion hours of video views every day. But are there any alternatives out there, and are they worth using?

Today, we’ll cover:

• What is YouTube’s biggest competitor?
• Will anything replace YouTube?
• What are the best YouTube alternatives?
• Vimeo
• Dailymotion
• Twitch
• Kick
• Are there any other YouTube alternatives?
• Can you use YouTube alternatives to make money?

What is YouTube’s biggest competitor?

On the surface, YouTube’s biggest competitor is probably Vimeo. We’ll discuss it more in a moment, but the platform was founded before YouTube, operates under the same premise, and has more than 260 million users. Granted, that’s still a fraction of YouTube’s audience — around a tenth — but it’s still a noticeable competitor. 

If we think laterally, though, YouTube’s biggest rivals look a little different. Think of the high-quality, movie-level production you see in professional YouTube videos, often rendered in sparkling 4K. They suck people in for hours, encourage binge-watching, leave audiences wanting more. Sound familiar?

Netflix. Amazon. Disney+. Terrestrial television. These options have splintered viewers’ viewing habits over recent years, giving them more choice but forcing them to make tougher decisions with their cash. 

YouTube is a never-ending paradise of content, and that’s before you even get to YouTube TV: a 100+ collection of on-demand and traditional network content, spanning from news to live sports, kids’ TV to classic comedies. With this in its back pocket, YouTube reaches places none of its competitors can — you’ve got short-form content on YouTube Shorts, ‘regular’ YouTube content on the main platform, and traditional media on YouTube TV. 

Will anything replace YouTube?

Probably not. The amount of YouTube monetization options, massive user base, and name recognition holds the platform in good stead going forward. Plus, as we touched on earlier, YouTube’s largest traditional competitor is way smaller — it doesn’t mean that it’s better or worse, but in terms of size, it’s not doing much damage.

Need music for your content, on YouTube or otherwise? Check out our massive catalog of more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects below. 

What are the best YouTube alternatives?

Now that we’ve waxed lyrical about YouTube, let’s look at the best alternatives: Vimeo, Dailymotion, Twitch, and Kick. 

1. Vimeo

We’ve already mentioned Vimeo, and it’s hard to ignore: it’s the OG. The platform launched a year before YouTube, and focuses on more high-end content. We’re talking 4K UHD, ad-free browsing, and a built-in video editor.

Vimeo is still a big deal, but its audience is narrower than YouTube’s — it’s like comparing Netflix to, say, a curated streaming service like MUBI. They kind of do the same thing, but the former is a jack of all trades while the latter focuses on staff picks, spotlights, and maintaining a steep quality threshold.  

Creators and brands can broadcast live and monetize content on Vimeo, but it’s not as accessible as YouTube. There’s no ad revenue, meaning all money earned on Vimeo comes from premium subscriptions — this leaves no room for passive income. You’ll also need to splash the cash to access Vimeo’s premium and business plans, compared to YouTube, which is always free to use. 

2. Dailymotion

You’re probably familiar with Dailymotion. If not, you will be as soon as you use it, given how similar it is to YouTube. The layout, the range of quality between videos, the search bar — it’s uncanny.

However, some users find Dailymotion a little hectic and unorganized. On top of that, brands and creators don’t get much of a say in how they monetize content on Dailymotion, as the only payout method comes from ads. It’s a start, but not something you’d want to bank your business on.

3. Twitch

Primarily known as a streaming platform for gamers, Twitch has opened its doors to creators of all stripes. There’s streaming, there’s VOD, there’s money to be earned wherever you look — what’s not to like?

Compared to YouTube, Twitch is still considered a niche platform (although 240 million active users isn’t to be sniffed at). Newcomers can find it tricky to navigate, and may be put off by the heavy focus on gaming content. From a creator and brand standpoint, Twitch monetization may feel too competitive.

4. Kick

Kick, um, kicked its way into headlines back in 2023, offering Twitch streamers an alternative with fewer restrictions and more control. The platform labels itself as a ‘creator-friendly’ option, boasting a frankly unbelievable 95/5 ad revenue split with creators. That leaves Twitch’s 50/50 and even YouTube’s generous 70/30 split in the dust. 

However, Kick does have its drawbacks. It’s a newer platform, and for that reason, it doesn't have the backing of major brands and creators like Twitch does. Some viewers also find the platform to be less user-friendly than Twitch, and have noted unwanted content — including gambling and nudity — pop up in their feed.

Are there any other YouTube alternatives?

Outside the big four, there are tons of smaller, niche YouTube alternatives. Let’s dig into a few of those now. 

5. DTube

When people sing the praises of decentralized, uncensored content, they’re usually talking about something like DTube. It’s a community-powered, ad-free video platform on which users can upload content without it being muted, blocked, or deleted. On top of that, payments are made through cryptocurrency rather than cold, hard cash. 

That’s cool, and the decentralized server reduces the chance of data leaks and hacking. However, the lack of content control means viewers may stumble across content they’d rather not see. Also, users have reported difficulty when uploading files to the site. 

6. PeerTube

PeerTube supports high-quality video, is proudly algorithm-free, and doesn’t serve any ads. It’s crowd-funded and open-source, giving users the chance to shape their own ‘homemade YouTube’-style experience. It does require a few JavaScript packages and complicated instructions to set up, but is a nice little space once it’s up and running.

7. Odysee

Like the two examples above, Odysee is a decentralized video platform. To be fair, it looks more user-friendly than the other two, set up to appear like Twitch and Kick more than anything else.

Can you use YouTube alternatives to make money?

Yep! As we’ve discussed, pretty much all YouTube alternatives offer a route to monetization. However, they don’t support the same range and accessibility for earning as YouTube. You can talk about YouTube vs. Vimeo or YouTube vs. Dailymotion until the sun goes down, but none of those platforms come close to toppling YouTube. 

On a similar note, the YouTube alternatives we’ve listed today just scratch the surface of what’s out there. You can check out some of the above platforms like PeerTube and Odysee, but monetization options are either non-existent or outside the scope of mainstream currency via crypto.

So, now that you know what the main YouTube alternatives are in 2024, it’s time to weigh up your options. Is it worth spreading your output across multiple platforms, or do you feel safer sticking with what you know?

One thing you do need for your YouTube videos, though, is music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — don’t let an off-kilter needle-drop kill the vibe. We’ve got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier. 

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

Related posts:

• The most-subscribed and most-viewed YouTube channels
• What are YouTube tags and how important are they?
• What you should know about using ad blockers on YouTube

Adobe After Effects is a beast of a program, and is considered one of the finest in its field. But what does it do, who’s it built for, and what are some of the standout features?

We’ll cover all of that and more today, including:

• What is After Effects?
• Do professionals use After Effects?
• Is After Effects good for video editing?
• Is After Effects free?
• How much does After Effects cost?
• Is there a free After Effects alternative?
• What are the After Effects system requirements?
• Is there an After Effects app?
• Does After Effects have hotkeys?
• How to use After Effects: The basics
• 3D text
• 3D models
• 3D camera
• Green screen
• Glitch effect
• Roto Brush
• Generative fill
• Graph editor
• Color effects
• After Effects plugins

What is After Effects?

After Effects is an Adobe-owned editing software used for visual effects, motion graphics, animation, compositing, and more. It comes to life during post-production, allowing filmmakers and editors to manipulate multiple layers of video across the same project timeline.

The software’s been around for over three decades, undergoing more than 70 different versions. Green screen, 3D models, text animation? It’s all in there. Stick around for the lowdown on all things After Effects, then we’ll dig into the most popular effects and features.

Do professionals use After Effects?

After Effects is readily available to pretty much anyone, but does that cheapen it? Not one bit. The software’s used everywhere across sectors including — but not exclusive to — film, TV, advertising, digital media, web design, and more. It’s an essential tool in a professional filmmaker’s workflow, complementing other programs within an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, but not chained to it. 

Filmmaker Gareth Edwards used After Effects to prove his worth with 2010’s Monsters, while Star Trek: Into Darkness wrangled the software for its credits sequence in 2013. And if you’ve not heard of that little show Stranger Things, check out the intro below. Yep, it’s After Effects.

Think of some of the world’s best actors — Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, someone like that. Neither of them have won an Oscar. After Effects literally won an Oscar before them, nabbing a trophy in 2019 for a Scientific and Engineering Award. If it’s good enough for the Academy Awards, it’s good enough for the rest of us. 

Is After Effects good for video editing?

After Effects is a powerful engine, but it’s not the best at day-to-day video editing. Programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are better suited for bulkier, longer video files.

After Effects is the cherry on top, the missing piece of the puzzle — it shapes graphics and supportive material, rather than creating an entire video project from scratch. This is because the editing timeline is structured vertically, allowing users to pile hundreds of effects and layers atop one another. If you did this with video clips, it’d get very messy very quickly. If you’d like to read more about After Effects’ limitations here, check out our article on Premiere Pro vs. After Effects.

Is After Effects free?

If you want to try After Effects before committing to the whole thing, you’re in luck — you can grab a seven-day free trial with Adobe here. The trial offers the full After Effects software for desktop, and can be canceled at any time within the week-long window. However, once the trial ends, you’ll need to pay for a subscription to keep using it. 

How much does After Effects cost?

The overall After Effects price varies depending on who’s using it. Generally, it costs $22.99 per month for individual users, or $37.99 for those seeking a business plan. Students, teachers, schools, and universities are eligible for discounted rates, and Adobe often runs sales. 

You can also snag After Effects as part of the wider Adobe Creative Cloud package. Depending on the size of your budget, team, and project, this might be worth considering. Read more about After Effects’ pricing here. 

Is there a free After Effects alternative?

If your budget can’t stretch or you only need to work on one short project, you could consider a free After Effects alternative like DaVinci Resolve or Blender.

DaVinci Resolve can perform After Effects-like tasks, but the free version doesn’t come with nifty extras like blur effects, stereoscopic 3D tools, or HDR grading. However, the free version doesn’t place a watermark on exported content, which is a huge plus. 

Blender is an open-source 3D software that won’t cost a cent, but it’s less user-friendly than After Effects, and isn’t as hot when it comes to 2D animation. Read more about Blender here.

What are the After Effects system requirements?

Most modern computers will run After Effects, but it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Here are the main After Effects requirements for Windows and Mac:

Windows:

• Intel 8th Gen or newer CPU
• Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2) Support
• Windows 10 (64-bit) version 22H2 or later
• 16GB of RAM
• 8GB of hard-disk space

Mac:

• Intel 6thGen or newer CPU
• macOS Monterey (version 12) or later
• 16GB of RAM
• 8GB of hard-disk space

If you’d like to peruse the recommended settings, head to Adobe’s After Effects system requirements page. 

Is there an After Effects app?

There is no mobile After Effects app, nor is there a sneaky After Effects APK — the only After Effects app is the official software available from Adobe. Anything else you come across is not legit, and may leave you open to viruses and other trouble. 

Does After Effects have hotkeys?

After Effects is packed full of features, which means, well, more things to remember. Not a problem — the program’s happy to let you hotkey your way through projects, executing commands with a button or two. 

We can’t list them all now, otherwise we’d be here for days. However, once you get cozy with After Effects and figure out which features are your favorites or most-used, you’ll almost certainly be able to find a corresponding hotkey. Whether you want to add new layers or keyframes, zoom in and out, interpret footage, or something else entirely, you can tap away.

After Effects is a world-class tool, but it’s only as good as the people and project behind it. Without incredible visuals, audio, and behind-the-scenes magic, motion graphics and animation can only take you so far. 

Give your content the best chance with the perfect soundtrack — use Epidemic Sound. Our catalog of more than 50,000 tracks and 200,000 unique sound effects and variations will help you find the right fit every time. 

How to use After Effects: The basics

Now that we’ve discussed what After Effects is, who it’s for, and how you can access it, let’s get into it. Here’s a checklist of tips, tricks, and mini After Effects tutorials, covering the program’s core features.

After Effects: 3D text

Creating and editing 3D text is one of After Effects’ biggest selling points. Here’s how to build 3D text-based content:

1. Press the ‘Ctrl’/’Command’ and ‘T’ key to create your text as a regular text layer.
2. Select your text layer, then set it as 3D. This will produce a standard, thin 3D layer. 
3. Keep the layer selected, then hit ‘P’ to show its position properties. 
4. Click ‘Alt’/’Option’, then the stopwatch next to ‘Position’. This opens the ‘Expressions Editor’ menu, which you can set to ‘[value[0],value[1],index*10]’.
5. Hold ‘Ctrl’/’Command’, then tap ‘D’ to duplicate the layer. 
6. Keep duplicating layers until you reach the 3D thickness you’re after. 
7. Select the original text layer and all of its duplicates, then pick whip them — it’s the swirly icon — to the Null layer. This now means that the Null layer is the parent layer. 
8. Set the Null layer to 3D as well. Then, select all of the layers apart from the Null layer and the front layer. Adjusting the color in those selected middle layers affects the sides and depth of your 3D text.
9. Click the ‘R’ key. This lets you rotate the Null layer, and the other layers will follow. You can then add more duplicate layers or remove existing ones, which will change the depth of the 3D text. 

From there, text and logo animation can be activated with the ‘Transform’ option — this changes the layer, rather than the text within. Alternately, feel free to throw on a text animation preset or animate the source text.

After Effects: 3D models

Created or downloaded 3D models elsewhere? No worries. After Effects lets you import and render 3D model files as you would with other 3D layers, like lights and cameras. 

After Effects supports popular 3D model files like GLTF, GLB, and OBJ. You can use these models for everything from character animation to UX mock-up animations.

After Effects: 3D camera

After Effects’ 3D camera tracker is the go-to tool for extracting camera motion and scene data from a 3D scene. It also helps you composite 3D elements atop any 2D footage you may have. Here’s how to access and apply this handy fix: 

1. Select a layer of footage, then click ‘Animation’ and ‘Track Camera’. This applies the 3D camera tracker. Footage status will appear as a banner across your footage. 
2. Change the settings as appropriate. Any 3D-solved track points will appear as small ‘X’ shapes — you can use these to place more content in the footage. 

After Effects: Green screen

After Effects is ideal for tinkering with chroma-keyed footage, as it boasts a bunch of handy green screen options and presets. Here’s how to replace green screen footage with a different background:

1. Import your green-screened footage, and create a new project timeline. 
2. Head to the ‘Effects & Presets’ panel, then find the snappily-titled ‘Keylight + Key Cleaner + Advanced Spill Suppressor’ tool. Drag that onto your video clip. 
3. Go to the ‘Effects’ window and hit the ‘Keylight’ option. Underneath the ‘Screen Color’ setting, click the eyedropper-style icon and select the green screen color.
4. Select the ‘Screen Matte’ option to view your content in black, white, and gray. If you’d like to adjust the effect on your background or subject, mess around with the ‘Clip Black’ and ‘Clip White’ options.
5. Click the ‘Key Cleaner’ effect to smooth over your subject’s edges. This will make your final green-screened shot look more realistic and less choppy. 
6. Reinforce this with the ‘Advanced Spill Suppressor’. This cleans up any excess spill from your subject into the background — you can also toggle the intensity, depending on how much of a clean-up you need to do. 
7. Add a new background to the project timeline, on a separate row to your green-screened footage. If you still see straggling bits of green, go through the previous steps again to try and pin down the problem.

After Effects: Glitch effect

After Effects’ heavy focus on motion graphics makes it a solid choice for freaky, glitched-out effects. Check out our guide on datamoshing, which is the official term for this technique — you don’t even need a plugin, if you want to go old-school. If you are strapped for time, though, you can always try something like the Datamosh 2 plugin. 

After Effects: Roto Brush

After Effects takes rotoscoping to the next level with its AI-powered Roto Brush. Separate a subject from the background, replace the background, add whatever effects you want — Roto Brush will get the job done. 

The Roto Brush menu’s tucked away in the toolbar, under an icon of a paintbrush and a person. If you’re struggling to find it, you can always use the ‘Alt’/’Option’ and ‘W’ hotkey to open it up.

After Effects: Generative fill

After Effects makes generative filling user-friendly, whether that be through masking or Adobe’s own Content-Aware Fill. Here’s how to do the latter: 

1. Draw a mask around the area of your content you’d like to fill.
2. Click on ‘Windows’, then ‘Content-Aware Fill’. From there, hit ‘Fill Method’, then set the range you’d like to analyze. 
3. Select ‘Generate Fill Layer’, which true to its name, generates a fill layer on top of the masked layer.

After Effects: Graph editor

If you’re working on anything that requires smooth movement, you could do worse than After Effects’ graph editor capabilities. There are tons of different ways to animate graphs within the program, but for clarity and brevity, we’ll stick with a more straightforward ‘S’ curve:

1. Import an object into your composition. Click ‘P’ to access the ‘Position’ menu, then ‘Separate Dimensions’.
2. Set two keyframes, then move the object from left to right. Select both keyframes, then Easy Ease them with the F9 key. 
3. Click ‘Shift’ and ‘F3’ to access the graph editor. You’ll see a lovely, soft, ‘S’-shaped curve in your object’s movement.

After Effects: Color effects

After Effects works like a dream when it comes to color correction, effects, and editing. Let’s rattle through a few of the standout features:

• Auto Color and Auto Contrast: These tools automatically adjust the contrast within an image, based on variables like shadows, midtones, and highlights. 
• Auto Levels: This makes highlights seem brighter and shadows look darker. 
• Change Color: You can change the color of a subject or portion of the frame without affecting the rest of the action. 
• Color Balance: Tweak the red, green, and blue across your content’s shadows, midtones, and highlights. 
• Equalize: This changes your content’s pixel values to create a more stable brightness level.
• Lumetri Color: This gives you the power to color grade footage directly on the After Effects timeline. 
• Vibrance: This plays around with saturation, cranking up the values without oversaturating important details like skin tones. 

After Effects plugins

We’ve waxed lyrical about After Effects, and it is a genuinely great program. But Adobe know that they can’t please everyone. That’s why After Effects generously allows for plugins, letting users customize their experience based on their needs. 

Take the award-winning Sapphire plugin, the effects of which pop up in Hollywood movies, TV shows, and music videos. Or on the lower-scale side, the Flow plugin, which eases keyframes and makes your curve editing sing.

And if we’re to blow our own horn, there’s the Epidemic Sound Plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro. Once you’ve downloaded this puppy, you can enjoy the full Epidemic Sound experience directly in your Premiere Pro, Audition, or After Effects editing space. There are so many exciting plugins out there to suit your workflow, and Adobe’s made a software that can accommodate them. 

In the right hands, After Effects is a world-class tool — it’ll give back as much as you put in. The sheer scope and quality of the features can provide your content with the polish it needs to stay ahead of the pack. 

Another way to fine-tune your project is with music. After all, the soundtrack can make or break your content — why let one needle-drop derail your project? Epidemic Sound’s got you covered.

Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best. You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.

It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.

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