YouTube has become an integral part of modern society. Here are some of the up and coming YouTube channels that you should definitely check out.
Music
Music channels on YouTube have the ability to help viewers explore new genres and artists and challenge their comfort zone and broaden their taste. Below are channels worth checking out:
COLORS
COLORS’s channel brings in both rising artists and household names alike to their Berlin studio to perform a single track live. The studio features a minimalist monochrome backdrop behind the artist, encouraging the viewer to focus on the expressive outfits and musical style distinctive to each singer. While they vary in language and genre, you can expect every COLORS session to be exceptional.
Don’t miss these videos: H.E.R – Carried Away, Boadi – AwoMaa, Angèle – Ta Reine
New uploads: every three days
NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts
NPR invites musicians to the D.C. desk of All Things Considered host Bob Boilen for an intimate live performance known as a Tiny Desk Concert. Each “concert” includes a set of three songs and any additional vocalists or musicians to accompany the featured artist. Each act’s unique energy transforms the space into their own, adding personal touches like swapping out the standard office lighting for colorful spotlights or standing on the desk. Tiny Desk Concerts are a video series on the larger channel, NPR Music.
Don’t miss these videos: Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Pinegrove, Gallant
Education
Videos have the power to educate viewers and deliver stories in a way that audio alone cannot. Below are channels who have made it their goal to craft informative and beautiful content:
Great Big Story
Great Big Story’s YouTube channel produces cinematic micro-documentaries on people and places around the globe. Video production ranges from a narwhal informational done in the style of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, to raw and emotional personal narratives. With over 2,000 videos organized in five main genres, and time lengths anywhere between two to twenty minutes long, Great Big Story’s channel has something for everyone.
Don’t miss these videos: Just Call Him the ‘Time Lord’, This 101-Year-Old Tattoo Artist Is the Last of Her Kind and How Migrants Learn to Love the Sea They Once Feared
New uploads: daily
TedEd
TedEd’s YouTube channel is an educational project under the TED Conferences organization. TedEd creates animated educational shorts aimed at children, and although they may not help in cramming for an upcoming test, they do deliver information to viewers in a digestible and hand-illustrated video.
Don’t miss these videos: The myth of Cupid and Psyche and Why it’s so hard to cure HIV/AIDS
New uploads: about three times per week
Art
The Art Assignment
PBS’s The Art Assignment YouTube channel shares short and engaging videos on historical artists, events in art history, movements in art and works of art. The channel provides context and explanation for culturally significant pieces and artists that broke boundaries and bleed into other aspects of culture.
Don’t miss these videos: I Could Do That and Behind the Banksy Stunt
New uploads: once every other week
Button Poetry
Button Poetry is a YouTube channel and organization focused on performance poetry and supporting performance poets. Button Poetry displays poets with unforgettable styles and stage presences, and poetry that tackles topics like mental illness, racism, colorism and sexism.
Don’t miss these videos: “14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes” and “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny”
New uploads: about six times per week
Travel
Damon and Jo
Damon and Jo’s travel channel features a friend duo vlogging their budget world travels in English, Portuguese and French. The hosts’ warmth and authenticity is captured in each video as they entertain while inform. Perfect for building proficiency in a foreign language, learning about potential travel destinations or laughing at the hosts’ tourist blunders, the channel is worth checking out.
New uploads: every Tuesday
Gabriel Traveler
Vlogger Gabriel Traveler’s channel is filled with detailed and informative videos similar to that of Damon and Jo because of Gabriel’s mostly unedited, non-glamorized footage of the places he visits. His videos share advice for traveling in the area, costs of activities/ food seen in the videos and local’s favorite spots. Gabriel’s videos offer the most realistic depictions of the destinations and are great for getting a sense of a city that’s across the world through your screen.
Don’t miss these uploads: Walking Through the Streets of Jerusalem Unedited and A Tour of Istanbul, Turkey
New uploads: about daily
