Navigating Royalty-Free Sounds for YouTube Clips

How To Get Royalty Free Music for Your YouTube Videos

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Are you an online video creator searching for royalty free music for videos? It is evident that a video must have a perfect soundtrack for video masterpieces, but ensuring it is copyright free music is a must.

It is because you would never want YouTube to remove your video due to copyright violation after working so hard on it. Fortunately, there are a few trusted resources that offer perfect royalty free music for youtube videos.

Here is a list of 10 best royalty free music for videos.

• Part1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean
• Part2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

Part 1: What Does ‘Royalty Free’ Mean?

‘Royalty free’ does not mean that the artist has given up ownership of their music, just that they have licensed it for others to use. Licenses have conditions, but they should not affect your ability to use royalty free music in your vlog. The most common condition for using royalty free music is that you need to credit the artist, which can be as simple as including a ‘music by’ note in your video’s description.

Because royalty free music still has a copyright claim on it YouTube may occasionally flag your video even though you are only using music you are allowed to use. YouTube’s flagging system is automated and prone to error. If your video is incorrectly flagged you can dispute it with YouTube and get your video cleared again.

Part 2: 10 Best Royalty Free Music for YouTube Videos

1. YouTube Audio Library

YouTube’s inbuilt audio library is one of the best ways to get soundtracks and copyright free music to use it in your videos. It is a channel committed to search the catalog and publish royalty free music for videos used commercially. It is ideal for the content creators and filmmakers.

The features of YouTube Audio Library include:

• High-quality 320kbps audio tracks
• Royalty free soundtracks
• Over 900 free songs
• Sorted by mood, music genre, and artists
• If attribution required, credit the artist in the description of the video

2. FreePD

The collection of FreePD includes collected music from the public domain and a range of other music and soundtracks from the composer of Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod. McLeod has donated his work to this site’s public domain, thus, crediting him for the music is not required.

• Download any Mp3
• Use them the way you want
• Other benefits like downloading 800+ mp3’s are available at a nominal rate

3. AudioJungle

AudioJungle offers soundtracks and royalty free music for videos handpicked by the expert quality team of AudioJungle. AudioJungle offers some of the finest quality copyright free music and soundtracks. Being a part of Envato Market, there are 35,000 professional designers, developers, and music makers who are responsible for creating all the assets in the upcoming projects. The features are-

• Heavy metals to pop and vocal music
• Music kits and sound effects available
• Top-quality royalty free music tracks
• Weekly shuffle of the music tracks

4. AudioBlocks

AudioBlocks is a premium company that offers unlimited access to the audio media library with over 100,000 tracks. You can just download and use royalty free music for youtube videos as much as you want. The features of AudioBlocks include-

• Commercial and personal use of the royalty free music for videos
• No hidden fees
• Continuous addition of new content to AudioBlocks
• Find loops, sound effects, as well as music

5. SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the global music and audio streaming platform with over 135 million tracks. From emerging artists to new and big names in the industry, SoundCloud offers a substantial collection of diverse content. The features of SoundCloud include-

• Create, connect and share music
• Build a playlist completely free
• Access to an expanded catalog of content like jazz, electronic, pop, rock, etc.
• Ad-free listening experience

6. Incompetech

First created by Kevin McLeod, Incompetech is a house of tons of copyright free music. It is categorized by feel and genre. From polka to horror soundtracks, rock to pop and all in between, Incompetech has it all. The features are-

• Easy filter and search
• Mp3 files of hundreds of music tracks available
• A good audio size library
• New music updated on a regular basis
• Special attribution feature in between the video

7. Machinima Sound

Created by Jens Killstofte and Per Killstofte, Machinima Sound offers royalty free music for videos. As long as you give attribution, you can use or download music for both commercial and personal purposes. The features include-

• An assortment of genres and tracks
• Available in MP3 format
• Look for those marked as Legacy
• Credit is required under a precise format of the license

8. CCMixter

A community site for music tracks, CCMixter offers tons of music under a common creative license. You may create sample mashups, music, listen to music and more. The features are-

• Use copyright free music for videos
• Perfect soundtrack or theme music for your video
• Thousands of hours of free music when you offer credit
• Eclectic, eccentric, experimental genres

9. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive offers royalty free music for youtube videos. WFMU radio station curates the music collection.

• Search music by genres and charts
• Copyright free music
• Uploaded with CC license
• Curated music tracks

10. Bensound

It is named after a musician and composer Bensound living in France. He has his music featured with several projects and has been writing for over 10years. Bensound offers a collection of royalty free music for YouTube videos which can be downloaded from the site with an accreditation to the writer. The features are-

• Listen to the music tracks online
• Download music without registration
• Large collection of music
• Range of genres of music

Conclusion

Have you ever tried any of these royalty free music for videos? If you are a video creator looking for copyright free music, do not miss trying out any of the above options to avoid any kind of violations.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

The Ultimate Guide to Viewer Engagement and Loyalty: 6 Proven Strategies for YouTube Success

6 Ways To Increase Audience Retention on YouTube

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett