New Ads Show How YouTube Music Is “Who We Are”

Despite its recent spat with several members of the recording industry, YouTube still wants to draw new subscribers to the music service it launched last year. To that end, it has premiered a new series of ads that show how music can help us get in touch with “who we are.”

The ad campaign consists of five videos, all directed by Lance Acord. In each one, a central character listens to a song that allows them to get in touch with their inner personality. The campaign was engineered by Anomaly New York, the same agency that cooked up YouTube’s pro-LGBT ‘#ProudToLove’ initiative, and the new spots feature plenty of diversity of their own. Among the five featured listeners are a Korean boy who loves hip-hop, a Muslim woman who knows Blackalcious’ “Alphabet Aerobics” back to front, and a young man who explores his gender identity with a little help from some EDM.

The ads have already started their run as pre-roll spots on YouTube, and the video site is trumpeting its dedication to inclusiveness. “We are proud that YouTube gives everyone a voice and a place to belong. This campaign reflects those values, together with the wonderfully diverse people who come to YouTube every day to find, watch and share music,” YouTube CMO Danielle Tiedt told Adweek. “We want these spots to shine a light on this diversity and individuality, while also showing how anyone can find something to love on YouTube Music.”

The new campaign arrives as YouTube is under fire from performers, producers, and other music executives, who believe the video site does not pay enough royalties to artists. The “who we are” videos won’t cause that controversy to die down, but it can generate some positive PR for YouTube while drawing some new subscribers to YouTube Music as well.