As YouTube Shorts seeks to compete with TikTok and other copycats, the social platform is launching its first global ad campaign—the largest marketing push yet aimed at Gen Z fans and creators.

The campaign introduces the world to the “shorter side of YouTube,” and leans heavily into the kind of music that creators can use on the platform to create their Shorts—60-second or less videos shared in a vertical format on YouTube’s mobile site and app.

For example, a new 30-second video shows creators making Shorts set to some of today's top charting artists and their popular singles such as The Weeknd’s “Take My Breath,” BTS’ “Permission to Dance” and Camila Cabello’s “Don’t Got Yet.”

Another 15-second version features Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More.”

The campaign, created through internal creative team in collaboration with New York-based creative ad agency Interesting Development, will run on Google’s YouTube and YouTube TV, but also strategically on competitor social platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter. All the artists featured in the campaign will also be creating and sharing their own Shorts. 

Jodi Ropert, VP, YouTube marketing, says the campaign is one of YouTube's largest to-date, but would not reveal the spend behind it. She says YouTube Shorts has already partnered with more than 250 music partners, including individual artists and publishers, around music for the app. 

"YouTube Shorts gives everyone the opportunity to have all the fun of short-form video in a way that can only be done on YouTube,” says Ropert. "We’re working closely with artists, songwriters, labels and publishers to make their content available and will continue to expand our partnerships and catalog."

As YouTube, a longtime destination for lengthier videos, looked to satisfy users’ desire for short-form video and observed social platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat rolling out their own copycat TikTok features, YouTube began rolling out Shorts in India in September 2020, where it began surpassing 6.5 billion daily views.  In March 2021, YouTube brought Shorts to the U.S.  According to exclusive data from Tubular Labs, views for short YouTube videos increased by 153% from January to the beginning of August. 

Shorts’ popularity and audience has only grown since then. Now that the feature is available in more than 100 countries, its videos are exceeding 15 billion daily views, said Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer at Google’s parent company Alphabet, on the company’s second-quarter earnings at the end of July.

In May, YouTube announced a $100 million YouTube Shorts Fund to monetize creators and entice them to use the new format using original content, with thousands of creators eligible to claim payments, ranging from $100 to $10,000 based on viewership and engagement, every month. The fun began last week, and creators will begin receiving their first payouts this month.

For YouTube Shorts’ first major global campaign, it’s no surprise that the platform is highlighting the popular music available to users. YouTube has long been known as the top internet source to follow artists and watch their latest music videos. YouTube has licensing agreements with industry heavyweights such as Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music and others and have long celebrated musicians as a core part of its platform. It’s Shorts feature continues to celebrate those artists.

"With Shorts, we are focused on building another valuable way for artists to grow their audience and reach new fans on YouTube," says Ropert.

Conversely, as TikTok matured in the U.S. market, the app had its own struggles around music licensing, even to the point where the National Music Publishers’ Association threatened to sue it over copyright infringement, that is, before forming its own deal with the app. Still, TikTok users can also create videos to the popular tunes from all artists highlighted in YouTube’s new Shorts campaign, as the app now has deals in place with many of the same companies that YouTube does, such as Universal Music Group and Sony.