On Saturday, people from all over the world watched the wedding of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The new Duke and Duchess of Sussex wowed their global audience with sweet moments, all-star guests, and some funny faces along the way. So that people everywhere could join together to watch this royal union, the live stream of this landmark wedding was available to view on The Royal Family Channel.
And wow, did people tune in!
Incredibly, the Royal Wedding livestream was viewed 11.2 million times while live. At peak viewership, there were 1.29 million people watching simultaneously as Harry and Meghan exchanged vows, making this the fifth most popular event ever streamed on YouTube. And the total views from May 19, 2018, to date reached 32 million as people from every continent tuned in to see the ceremony, procession, video highlights and the married couple’s first kiss.
Viewership was the highest in the U.K. and the U.S., but people everywhere were donning fascinators and getting in the wedding spirit. The top five countries viewing the live event online were:
United Kingdom
United States
Germany
Russia
Australia
And for those who missed it but would still like a peek at this next chapter of royal history, you can see the video highlights available on The Royal Family Channel.
Many fans can tell you about the first time they heard an incredible new song or watched a groundbreaking video from a musical newcomer. Some of the most memorable moments with artists happen early. That’s why we aimed to capture those moments with last year’s launch of Artist on the Rise on YouTube’s Trending tab, which spotlights three songs from emerging artists every week.
To support and help more artists get discovered at every phase of their career, today we’re expanding the Trending tab feature with the launch of a new monthly program called Artist on the Rise.
The program will promote a diverse lineup of music’s most important new voices across all genres, connecting them with fans worldwide through in-product promotion and programming, out-of-home, social and fan events at YouTube Spaces. The Artist on the Rise Trending tab will also continue to feature three songs a week from emerging artists that are making a significant impact on YouTube.
The program’s first Artist on the Rise is Jessie Reyez, a 27-year-old Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter signed to Island / FMLY and known for her smoky voice, outspoken lyrics and soulful R&B hooks. She's grown from an aspiring artist covering hits like Adele's "Hello," to become a star in her own right, receiving the Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the year and partnering with Calvin Harris on the track "Hard to Love." In true YouTube fashion, she's cultivated a loyal fanbase over the years, racking up 22.6 million views for her breakout hit "Figures." 2018 will be a huge year for Jessie – if you don't know her now, you will soon.
To check out more from Jessie Reyez, head to her story on the YouTube for Artists blog and stay tuned on the Artist blog and @YouTubeMusic’s socials for future updates on YouTube's Artist on the Rise program.
A reimagined mobile app and brand new desktop player that are designed for music.
YouTube Music has thousands of playlists, the official versions of millions of songs, albums, artist radio and more, in addition to all the music videos people expect from YouTube.
Find more of the music you’re looking for
Remixes, covers, live versions as well as deep cuts you can’t find anywhere else – from the biggest artists in the world to freshest voices breaking through.
YouTube Music’s personalized home screen dynamically adapts to provide recommendations based on people’s listening history, where they are and what they’re doing. At the airport? We’ll recommend something relaxing before the flight. Entering the gym? We’ll suggest some beats to get the heart-rate going.
Thousands of playlists built to help you discover new music. That means no matter what kind of music you like, where you are, what you’re doing, or what mood you’re in, you can easily find the right playlist for that moment.
While fans can enjoy the new ad-supported version of YouTube Music for free, we’re also launching YouTube Music Premium, a paid membership that gives you background listening, downloads and an ad-free experience for $9.99 a month.
To extend the features of YouTube Music Premium beyond the music app, we’re soon introducing YouTube Premium, the new name for our YouTube Red subscription service. YouTube Premium includes ad-free, background and offline across all of YouTube, as well as access to all YouTube Originals including Cobra Kai, Step Up: High Water and Youth & Consequences. YouTube Premium will continue to provide an ad-free experience, background play, and downloads across the millions of videos on YouTube. But because it includes our brand new YouTube Music service, the price will be $11.99 for all new members.
Current YouTube Red and Google Play Music subscribers in the U.S., Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and Mexico will continue to get the features they already enjoy at the same price they pay today. Google Play Music subscribers in all other countries will automatically have access to YouTube Music Premium as soon as it becomes available there. And if you use Google Play Music, nothing will change -- you’ll still be able to access all of your purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music just like always.
Starting Tuesday, we're rolling out early access to the new YouTube Music experience in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea*. It will expand more broadly in the coming weeks. We’ll also soon be launching in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. If you want to know when the new YouTube Music is available in your country, head to music.youtube.com/coming-soon and let us know you’re interested.
Elias Roman, Product Manager - YouTube Music, recently listened to In Due Time by Outkast
*South Korea will only offer the YouTube Premium membership, not YouTube Music Premium.
As part of our $5M investment in this program, these creators will receive support from YouTube through a combination of project funding, mentorship opportunities, and ongoing production assistance at our YouTube Spaces. They’ll also join us for our second annual Social Impact Camp at YouTube Space London this summer. The Social Impact Camp is an exclusive two-day-long camp featuring inspirational speakers, video production workshops, and mentorship opportunities with experts as well as time for the Ambassadors to connect with one another.
We’re also joining forces with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and social change agency Love Frankie to support YouTube creators from the Asia-Pacific region who are passionate about creating social impact and tackling tough issues through their videos. First up for this new partnership will be a series of Boot Camps in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand between June - November 2018 where local creators will workshop creating content about local issues alongside experts such as NGOs, academic authorities, and subject matter specialists. Following these Boot Camps, select local creators will participate in a three-month Academy Program that includes mentoring from Creators for Change Ambassadors, local experts, and NGOs to help produce informed, high-quality content that resonates in their countries.
Over the next few months, the 2018 Creators for Change Ambassadors will kick off projects addressing hate speech, xenophobia and/or extremism through different creative forms, such as a series celebrating the Black community within Brazil and a video project that creates awareness about the negative impact that hate speech can have on mental and physical well-being. There are many more incredible ideas in the works -- we can’t wait to share more from these inspiring YouTube role models soon.
To the creators who are joining us as 2018 Ambassadors: thank you. We’re humbled to be working with you on sharing your messages of hope and tolerance.
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