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I'm an aspiring singer/songwriter. I started a YouTube channel for my music and have been posting since 2018 with very little engagement. Should I stop hoping for something to happen with it? It's very hard not to get discouraged.

I'm an aspiring singer/songwriter.

spring25 music music-industry music-production singer music-performance
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Elizabeth’s Answer

Hi Jenna!

Like you and many others, I have been in that type of situation. Do you perform - even open mic nights? Maybe print business cards (with your name, YouTube channel and the type of music you write) and hand them out to people. Also, try and do the same things with people you know - ask them to let others know about your music and music channel. I've tried this and it is definitely hit or miss, but you never know who might decide to listen and who else they might share your music with. Bottom line is to keep creating and sharing the music you write and of the songs you write, I would suggest just sharing the songs you feel are your best! Take care and keep on writing! God bless!

Elizabeth
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Destiny’s Answer

Hi Jenna,

It's totally normal to feel disappointed if you're not experiencing the reach and reaction you hoped for on YouTube. It's okay to take a break if you need time to relax and find other solutions. It could help if you define a purpose for your YouTube channel. What kind of engagement do you want? Also, quality is often better than quantity. If you're posting music you believe in and that you enjoy creating, that tends to attract people who care about it, even if it's not a huge audience.

Another idea is to set up a website where you can share your songs or music. It's possible that your audience may not be able to find your channel on YouTube, because the algorithms are unpredictable, and sometimes they don't always show certain channels. If you use any kind of social networking website, you could share your YouTube channel with people you know.

Whatever happens, don't give up creating music just because you don't have a huge following yet. If you enjoy being a singer and songwriter, keep doing it because you love it. I don't have a huge following, but I still consider myself an artist and musician because I love creating songs and art.

I hope everything works out well for you!
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Hanna’s Answer

It’s completely valid to feel discouraged—especially when you’ve been putting yourself out there for years with little response. But no, you shouldn’t give up hope—though you might need to shift your approach.
Here is my honest truth to you:
YouTube alone is tough now unless you’re actively adapting your content and pushing discovery. It rewards momentum, trends, and consistency plus strategic promotion. That said, your music and your journey are not defined by one platform. Instead of stopping, try some of these approaches:
-Reevaluate your content strategy. Are you posting full songs only? Try mixing in shorts, behind-the-scenes, songwriting snippets, or challenges. Short-form content drives discovery right now.
-Spread your reach. Post clips or teasers on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Shorts. One viral moment can shift everything.
-Engage, don’t just upload. Comment on similar artists’ content, reply to fans, join music Discords, or collaborate online. YouTube’s algorithm favors active accounts.
-Make your music easy to find and hear. Are you releasing songs on Spotify, Apple Music, etc., with good cover art and metadata? That helps too.
-Zoom out. Success rarely comes from one platform. Think about what kind of artist you want to be and build that step by step, one great song, one true fan at a time.
Most importantly, never stop doing something you love.
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Sharyn’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team

Hi Jenna,

Consistency is key for getting engagement with your YouTube channel. The more you post, the more exposure your channel will get.

My daughter is a singer/songwriter/producer and she posts several times a week to social media to not only expose her music but herself. People seem to engage more when they can relate to you. From her consistent efforts she was able to go from just a few views up to a few thousand in less than a year.

I suggest for YouTube to post at least once a week. You can repurpose your content, post shorts (~ 60 seconds), or longer videos where you have interesting visuals with your music as a soundtrack. If your time allows you to scale up and post 2x a week, that will help but start with the once a week to get a feel for the amount of time and effort that is needed.

Wishing you much success!
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Kyle’s Answer

In life, and youtube, I might focus on what you can control. If you want to create music, that's something you can control. You can control how good it sounds, how much you create, the style, what you'd like to communicate to your audience, what you want to say about the world and your world, and how much skill you can gain by putting the hard work into all these categories. Youtube is great way to publish all of your work but you don't ultimately control how your audience responds, on youtube or otherwise. I totally feel you on the discouragement because we'd all like to be able to connect with people around our artistry and receive affirmation for what we're doing. Unfortunately that's not something we have control of. But if you're proud of the work you've done, that will have value for the rest of your life! But yeah, it's hard.
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