Why Can't YouTubers Make Good Music? 

Joji broke the cycle

The mention of Wilbur here is certainly interesting timing

Vinny aint the only Vinesauce member who makes music, Joel has a straight up metal band called scythelord, and he also sometimes makes entire comedy albums about skeletons and bootleg robocop toys

Schmoyoho and Jackcepticeye's song 'All the Way' will forever be my favorite youtuber-made song

You forgot kwite exists “balls touchin when we fuckin that’s connect 4”

Jake Paul sweep

im noticing a lack of people mentioning james marriott in this comments section. actual fire.

Dixon Cider is unironic musical perfection. That bridge still gets stuck in my head to this day lmao.

ngl skipping over PewDiePie's tracks and Markiplier's and Jacksepticeye's meme songs about games was a very large piece of youtube history being thrown out

Bro didn't just skip over the Fallen Kingdom quadrilogy.

Quadeca transcended

every captain sparkles song after fallen kindom wasint a parody, they were all made from the ground up and acually got pretty welll made at some points

people forget neil cicirega is a youtuber and when they dont he will come back like the avatar

Bill Wurtz: *Am I A Joke To You?*

Something i think worth mentioning is that most of the RU-vidrs that actually made good music when they were active on youtube, were already active musicians. Joji, Neil Cicierega, Dan Avidan, they were all making music before youtubing was any major part of their lives.

First thing I think of regarding youtubers as musicians is stuff like TryHardNinja and The Living Tombstone. I don't remember if they were legit youtubers before focusing on their music, but I do know that their music primarily came from youtube, and it was legitimately great! I still have a couple of their songs on my playlists to this day!

Fun fact: A few years ago there was a dutch youtuber who decided to go do music for a living and he is now going to the eurovision as the representative for the netherlands. His name is Joost Klein

Finding out pink guy and JoJi are the same person is like experiencing every single trap from every home alone movie all at the exact same time.

the earliest example i know of a youtuber who was actually successful making music is troye sivan. he was part of that early 2010s vlog squad with youtubers like zoella and tyler oakley, but was so successful with music that most people don’t even know he did youtube. i was super into his first album in like 2015, and i didn’t find out he was a vlogger until a couple years after.

I mean, just because it's a joke song, doesn't mean it's bad. It's all about the vibe, whether a joke or not. Music is for creativity and fun. Plus to be fair, the hunger games song by BajanCanadian was 100% better than Decisions by Borgore. And Find the Pieces, Take Back the Night, and Dragonhearted were literally original songs.

LIVING TOMBSTONE SWEEP 🗣️

I used to like wilburs music back in 2020, but now i realize its just an autobiography and not a character, which really makes it clear why he made so many red flag filled songs. the shelby situation just makes "your sister was right" sound like a song made to apologize 4-5 years prior.

I got this recommended from a Danny Gonzalez music video…

Im shocked you didnt mention Troye Sivan. He started out as a youtuber and became an extremely famous singer. His first songs were cover music and self made ep's. He is arguably more famous than Joji.

Quadeca sweep

Quadeca legit has the #1 album on AOTY for 2024… and he wasn’t even mentioned once in this 😭😭

Absolutely awesome video man, this type of content on RU-vid history is so organic. Reminds me of talking to family about all the crazy stuff that happens on the platform. Only nitpick I could have is that we kinda skimmed over the point when distracks were kinda subverted like w/ content cop or Pewdiepie v T-Series. Also ai covers w/ RU-vidrs and schlatt’s my way cover is noteworthy

I've been an avid listen of music made by Will Ryan (DAGames) for many years now. As the years have passed, I have been enjoying his newest work and his storytelling. The way he is able to use his music as a way to help tell his stories (see IRIS and Pandorium) is awesome. Plus, he has been able to stay down-to-earth. Now that he's delved into other avenues like game development, I'm excited for what he has to offer in the future. This is also me being a hard rock/metal fan-

Fun fact: in Eastern Europe, if a RU-vidr ends up creating music, there is a 70% chance of it being rap and 30% chance of it being some 2014 YTP Pop.

Glad to see Poppy get a mention, recently went to one of her gigs and she topped my Spotify listens in 2023 and she's currently touring with Avenged Sevenfold but I entirely understand why she isn't a global phenomenon, she seems to just be having fun with it experimenting with different genres and I'm here for it.

Definitely should take take a look at Alpharads band Ace of hearts, they have a few songs and I think they’re pretty good. Then there’s also Dan Avidan of Game Grumps, who’s made a lot of comedy songs in his ninja sex party band, but has also done a lot of really good, more serious songs in his other band Shadow Academy. White Whale is one of my all time favourite songs from any youtuber, Dan kills it with those vocals.

For some more niche/indie music RU-vidr’s look up Annapantsu, Reinaeriy, Ginny Di, Jojacat, Jonathan Young, and NerdOut. Oh also Miracle of Sound and Aviators as others have mentioned.

Troye Sivan has successfully made the transition. Most people have no idea he used to be a youtuber.

This guy is Dreams and Matpats love child.

Man this isn't the type of video i would normally watch, but it is extremely intriguing, and really well. Good job will look out for the similar approaches to subjects.

Honestly, most of the RU-vid "songs" I liked as a kid were Minecraft Song Parodies. Did I think they were good? I thought they were fun to listen to but that is it. I do still think they are good but I think it's just my memories of nostalgia speaking more than the thoughts of a critic. It really does feel like the question with RU-vidrs as Musicians would be: "Is their music good because they are talented in music or because it rides on a different kind of fame?" With the latter question, I'm thinking the logic of you looked for the song because it was about a video game you like, as is the case with Minecraft Song Parodies. I only learned about Living Tombstone because he made songs about Five Nights at Freddy's or DAGames when he made songs about Bendy and the Ink Machine. Yeah, most of the RU-vidr Songs I like are video game themed, hence why they also include artists such as ChalkEaters or EgoRaptor with his Starbomb Albums. If the problem isn't that RU-vidrs don't have talent, then the problem is a subject of what they want to make music about. If the topic they're using is what they truly want, then good on them and there's nothing wrong with that. They just don't seem like an answer you can use for the question in this video. Other RU-vidrs that I listen to that fall under this category include Schmoyoho, AmaLee (even though she's mostly a VTuber and VA but still, she mainly does English covers for Anime Theme Songs), and Bo Burnham. With that said, I might consider Geno Samuel as a good example of a good RU-vid Musician. It's just that he isn't well known. Either that, or the first thing that is more likely to come to mind when you think of him is a certain documentary that I won't name.

I like Danny Gonzalez' music, but I think his style of comedy and wit works well in the songs and comes across as not taking itself seriously.

Softwilly and The Group have all made amazing music

This is very interesting to me as RU-vid Germany usually follows the trends of English RU-vid, but in this case it seems like they were actually ahead of the curve. In 2015 a German group of RU-vidrs formed a band and made real music they went on tour and even after the band broke up the members started a semi-serious music career on their own which means they have their own music channels with lots of views for each video (at least by German standards) and don't really upload to their actual main channels anymore

VTuber community actually surprises me with quality of their music. Some of their works are just phenomenal

But.. QUAD DID

Dream making a music video about his deceased friend, while trying to make it about his mental health was the most vile moment in his career.

RU-vidrs typically make music for content, maybe to try something new, maybe for money/ views. But the point is they don't typically do it for the passion and you can hear it in their music, there's no real emotion most of the time, no real passion and that's why their music isn't usually the best.

as a musician who has no idea really whats going on with wilbur and i play a radically different style of music than he does whether solo or with lovejoy (i play mainly instrumental solo math rock guitar) i really enjoy lovejoy and the music they put out and probably wont stop enjoying some of the music hes made since ive had good memories listening to some of it i dont really know what to take with the whole situation since i was a really big fan of wilbur's music and it was what inspired me to start playing music again but idkkk it feels really sketchy to say that now after all of the allegations and stuff

Neil Cicierega sweep

I like NakeyJakey’s music

Some RU-vidrs who's music I enjoy listening to is Vinny Vinesauce with Red Vox, (as mentioned in the video), Dan Avidan from Game Grumps with Ninja Sex Party and Shadow Academy, (might not fit in this video since NSP existed before Game Grumps), and Bill Wurtz, (might not fit here either). Another RU-vidr who I know makes music, which I don't listen to but I believe many others enjoy, is Penguinz0 with The Gentle Men.

Red Vox became my favorite band before I even had any idea that it’s Vinny’s band, and I think that really shows how the quality of their music is the focal point of the band, not the fact that people in it are on the internet

Softwilly is genuinely a creative artist that has a few solid bangers. The whole concept of multiple content creators collabing to make music in tandem with actual artists is cool.

Fully expected a little Lovejoy discussion during the Wilbur section

At 15:42 the song is called bloom by j^p^n if anyone was wondering

9:04 songs like these also helped my favorite genre, Nerdcore, start out. Before these, nobody was really that big. Afterward, we got Dan Bull blowing up, and shortly after, VideoGameRapBattles doung well for himself too. Covid blew up the genre a bit, too, as people were stuck inside, watching tv, and possibly hetting into anime and anime music.

SiIvaGunner sweep

24:09 this aged bad the second it came out 💀

I'd argue that the series of original songs that came after (and as part of a series for) the Minecraft parody "Fallen Kingdom" that, afaik, Captainsparklez did still direct or write or had some heavy input for and are uploaded to his channel, they don't rely on too much nostolgia, considering it's still ongoing and had a recent release within the 2020's.

Brian David Gilbert is a good example of a person who started on youtube through gaming and then shifted to GOOD ,usic also you do know that there are actual musician youtuber, making music and videos about it right? I assume this isnt the intention of the video but still

Counterpoint: The Stupendium

TinyMeatGang hiding in the corner with a creepy grin.

Rhett and Link had a few bangers, but they're definitely more looney

Ninja Sex Party is more of a band that ended up also becoming youtubers more than the other way around.

Never forget Post Malone was apart of team crafted back in the day

Tobuscus clears all of these with his diamond sword song

As much as I agree with the majority of the analysis in this video, one thing that irks me is that the video seems to primarily focus on youtubers who don't primarily make music content. The video seems to expand upon the premise carrying this notion that youtuber simply means the popular ones on youtube, and not necessarily the people who first and foremost put their efforts into music composition, performance, and analysis. I liked the video for regaling me about the history of music production as a side project of youtube's most iconic faces and voices, but I feel somewhat deceived by the title given that many of the youtubers who didn't find success as showcased in this video were ones that simply jumped into it later as a side hustle or as a miscalculation of their own talent.

There are so many good artists that started out as/still are RU-vidrs like Poppy, Joji, or Matt Watson. There are even more that started out making music-oriented content (not only on RU-vid too) before they fully plunged into the art like Shawn Mendez, Quadeca, or Aries. It's not that RU-vidrs/Content Creators can't make good music, it's just that a lot of them choose to because it's a popular media format that they think they can capitalize on without having to put in a lot of work into honing their skills and talents.

Surprised Danny Gonzalez never came up, honestly. He's a pretty decently sized channel. Makes comedy songs based on video topics he covers, and they're pretty good. I unironically listen to "I'm Gonna Kill Santa Claus" on loop every christmas season. Definitely the first that comes to mind for me when I think RU-vidr who make good music.

Toxic Gossip Train goes hard frfr 🔥

Holy shit, i love that you used an RAV and kill bill the rapper in your video. You choose such great artists

Nahhhh Bromance goes hard as fuck. I will still sometimes go back and show people that video because it’s simply iconic.

I think something you omitted from the video is the fact that Penguinz0, arguably the biggest and most popular commentary youtuber, ALSO makes music. Most of it is pretty experimental, sure, but he's pretty serious about it and some of it genuinely bangs. I still have 2019 Guy stuck in my head nonstop to this day, despite not listening to it since 2020. There are plenty of youtubers who make serious music both ironically and unironically, it's just that we tend to focus on the bad stuff.

i completely forgot about the diss track era.. oh my god. there was so much slop pumped out back then. glad its not a thing anymore

I think the stuff that Softwilly has been making is pretty good, some of them go so crazy. I LOVE YOU SO, KEEP IT UP, and Bloody Daisies are definitely up there somewhere in my favourite songs.

This gets even more interesting when you consider RU-vid cover artists and people who do fan songs. These people are RU-vidrs who can make good music, the difference between them and RU-vidrs like Jake Paul is that the reason they’re on youtube at all, is so they have a grounds to showcase these covers and fan songs that they worked really hard on and they actually have proper training and passion in making music and a love for a work that inspired them. And then you have people like Dream who just want the feeling you get when the crowd is screaming your lyrics from the audience

Stuff like this makes me happy for the few actual success stories that came from an artist that originated on the Internet let alone RU-vid (that make good music stop it DDG) like Joji, Poppy, Jack Stauber, & Quad.

I swear Gabbie made a vine that was like her singing in the bathroom and a guy was like Guy: “Did anyone ever tell you you can sing?” Gabbie: “Yeah, actually.” Guy: “Those guys are not your friends.”

I also thought the iTunes link thing was dumb but then remembered I unironically listen to Danny Gonzalez's music on spotify 😭

Bro forgot Dan Bull💀

Red Vox mention made me happy. I think Red Vox's success is because Vinny had genuine inspiration. The type of music he makes is modeled a lot after what he grew up listening to and he had genuine passion for it.

Love the red vox mention :) I feel for the reason their music is actually good is because Vinny is quite passionate about making music, he made stuff from even his way earlier youtube days under the name Davys Gray. Shows that he didn’t do it to get that bag, he just wanted to pursue it. Also it’s not only Vinny that was passionate about it, another band member Joe had a band before Red Vox called Happy Anarchy. The fact that they had so many people passionate about music definitely helped them I’d say. Anyway sorry for getting historic, I just love Red Vox

Rusty Cage is a nice musician. He does this crazy elaborate stories to talk about morbid stuff while nailing a dark vibe with his music. Recommended.

the fact that wilbur soot and lovejoy is/was my favorite artist along with the timing of this video is perfection (note: i don’t really support wilbur anymore)

James Marriott has some of the best and impactful music out there rn imo. Shit hits me deep because it’s so evidently real in how he writes the songs

Wilbur Soot’s music actually really helped me through some hard times in my life, as cringy and chronically-online that sounds. This recent shit has really affected me, and knowing that a musician who somewhat saved my life is such a horrific person really hurts. 💔 Edit: to clarify when I’m talking about “Wilbur’s music” I mean his solo stuff, like Your City Gave Me Asthma, not his parody stuff!

Star Bomb and Matt Watson make some pretty damn good stuff

You made me realize, I'M FUCKING OLDER THAN RU-vid. And for that, all i can say is, 'how dare you.'

Regarding Wilbur Soot, he would also create a band called Lovejoy that took a more Britpop/Artic Monkeys sound that would garner him a lot more mainstream acclaim. He even ended up being able to perform at Glastonbury as I recall. The lyrics are much more biting, but there is definitely still that sadness within them.

it's funny because one of my favourite musicians are dodie and Conan Gray, and at that time I discovered them as youtubers, but then I listened to their covers and original songs and grew to appreciate them as artists! now i make my own music and think how much they influenced me - while youtube has a bad rep of music in general, i wouldn't be making music if it weren't for youtube lmao

TonyvToons is a former animation RU-vidr who got his start in the community at the right place at the right time. He eventually released a few one off songs but released "Genuine" in 2017 and was actually kinda good. The production is still a bit amateur-ish but the intention and passion was there. Until he rebranded to Tony22. He kicked off his new and improved music career with the I AM ep and it still holds up to this day, especially because he made it all by himself when he was 18. A few other EPs and an album (Human) later, he had a viral song on TikTok, rerecorded that song and put it on the 222 album which. Is a classic. The album is a classic. Its pop music with catchy hooks, funny lyrics, and a very personal connection to it trying to figure out where to go after heartbreak, burnout, existential crises, and whatnot. And also his concerts are mad hype so like.

background music choice in this is monumentally great

say what you will about minecraft parodies, but the Fallen Kingdom quadrilogy is exquisite and even the slightly cringier ones like Skelly Heart are still my childhood and I will forever have a special place in my heart for them.

It's funny to hear that youtube had 1.5 million users in the late 2007. Back then when a video had a million views, it felt like everyone I knew also saw it. Now a make up tutorial or a cooking video can get 30+ million views and most of us will never see it or hear anyone ever mention it. Times have truly changed.

1 youtuber I will say creates *INCREDIBLE* music is Andrea Russett. She has 7 original songs (Darkest Hour, Get Out Alive, Freezing, Stranger, Butterfly Wings, Sranger, KINK and 6 Feet Under) and 1 cover (Back to Black) on spotify. Darkest Hour and Freezing being my top 2 favourites of her songs. And even outside of her spotify, the covers she posted on her youtube channel throughout the years and on her tiktok are beautiful.

I kinda get the main topic. I love my "modern human psychology", "hour+ long video essays" and "walking in prohibited places" type of channels, but honestly, the songs they decide to make randomly are not good and it's just sad seeing them do this and get no attention at best because it's not their area of speciality.

Just gonna throw in some really great musicians that got their start on RU-vid and/or are still releasing music on RU-vid. Lindsey Sterling, Living Tombstone, Aviators, Star Bomb, Midnight, Essenger, Scandroid, Adrian Von Zeigler, Marcus Warner, Jyc Row, Alex Moukala, Osirois, Samuel Kim, Chad Lawson, Miracleofsound, Timecop 1983... Just to name a few.

Red Vox is one of my personal favorites, made by Vinesauce’s Vinny. His music just seems to get better with each album and they all have a distinct sound and tone from album to album. Also can’t forget the musical genius of the Gentle Men

Captain Sparkles literally owns a label and produces his own EDM. Jordan Maron - Lift Off is an amazing song...

Man it’s rlly simple. Making music is something you train and get better at with experience and feedback. All musicians go through a beginner phase where they write pure ass before improving and finding their own creative voices (or figuring out the formula to finesse the most money). When that finally happens, they start getting the opportunities to get popular and make the rounds. Non musician famous people like youtubers or actors who decide to make music circumvent that process entirely. They already have audiences, so their first releases instantly become high profile regardless of quality. They don’t need to get into the groove of honing their craft so that it becomes successful because it already is by nature of being attached to their brand. This is really evident with someone like dream. That mask song scans like one of the first things you’d write if you were just starting to make alternative pop, it might even be a first draft for all we know. It being shit wouldn’t be an issue for any other beginner artist though because being crap at art is a necessary first step towards becoming not crap at art, but dream is already popular, so his half baked first attempts get blasted across the whole world. The whole thing is just embarrassing to see every time it happens. I’m already deeply ashamed by the demos I made when I was starting out and no one even heard those, so I can only imagine what it must feel like some 2 or 3 years down the road for these RU-vidrs to look back at these songs.

It's worth noting that most of the exceptions to the rule in terms of RU-vid creators making bad music are.. well, music channels. One of my favorite musicians is DM Dokuro, and his entire channel is almost nothing but music.

Opening line is actually so funny cuz my favourite band is Red Vox and two of their four members are streamers, Vinesauce Vinny and Jabroni Mike. They’re genuinely so good and I’m obsessed. I also want to bring up Shiey and Jakey, both of which do rap! Shiey’s videos are urban exploring, going into abandoned places and showing them off. Jakey does video essay type videos about whatever topics please him and I love both their videos and music! I never see people talk about Red Vox, Shiey or Jakey so I want to shout them out, here! YO WAIT RED VOX MENTION LETS GOOOO

moistcritical with the gentle men do be putting out bangers tho

The guy from eurovision with Europapa was a youtuber for years, and then made music... I'd say hes one of the good ones.