Holly-What?

MTV was yesterday! With digital music consumption now stronger than ever, a new decade for music channels has come.

“Music videos were one of the most interesting things that happened in the media landscape of the eighties and the nineties. However, the ‘golden age’ of the music video is long gone, and the Internet has caused the end of music videos as we knew them. But music videos are born again in a new form and in a new space: YouTube.”

Gianni Sibilla in Keazor & Wübbena, 2010, p. 225

HollyWhat? aims to empower music channels on YouTube through insights, training and acknowledgement

Music videos are an ever-changing, culturally diverse phenomenon. They have equally set new trends and responded to trends ever-since they became a thing in 1981 with the launch of MTV. But MTV was yesterday. Now, the landscape for music videos is shaped by many different producers and channels. And we appreciate that diversity.

We aim to educate on relevant developments in society, the future of the sector, generate new ideas, and build a network.

Why is it important to us support online music channels?

A broad variety of channels benefits a large diversity of music and musicians being accessible and promoted. This is how you change the music business and society one video at a time. However, many of these channels struggle with various circumstances that are caused by mechanisms typical for platforms and creative industries. They especially have a hard time establishing viable business models if they don’t commercialise heavily on their program, which would include focusing on mainstream music only.

What does HollyWhat? do?

  • We gather original YouTube data from relevant channels in the music economy
  • We pass along important industry news from media outlets and conferences via our articles and Tweets
  • We conduct our own research by asking new questions, detecting trends or analysing case studies
  • We are also happy to assist with specific questions surrounding your business case
  • For the moment, we are project-based but we are working on becoming a real organisation, so we can expand our services

We are building the first knowledge base for online music channels

Have something to say, too?

Read our first articles:

The Concept of the Platform Economy

Let’s be realistic, platforms are here to stay and discussions about pros and cons are tiring unless you get practical.

What is the Future of Music Livestreaming According to the Industry Experts From Most Wanted Music Berlin?

This week, the Most Wanted Music 2020 Conference took place in Berlin and next to COVID19 and minorities in the business, livestreams were one of the hottest topics. We distilled four perspectives.

The Business Behind the Dua Lipa Studio 2054 Livestream

Not long ago you probably noticed Dua Lipa’s video show that originally aired on November 27th on LIVENow. In this article we talk about some business aspects of it to see whether this concept will be the future of livestreaming.

What YouTube Channels Can Learn From the Failure of Quibi

Quibi wanted to bring together the best of Silicon Valley and Hollywood and lost the battle. Here’s what we can learn from it.

Studies About Digital Concert Experiences Incoming

I recently learned about a new research project that is dedicated to understanding which effects digital concert experiences can have on spectators. It aims to create a new data set on the issue by conducting various studies.

Fact-Checking Prospections About Concert Livestreaming from the Extraordinary 2020 (Part I)

We reviewed some prospections about digital concerts and livestreams made by major music magazines in 2020. Is data supporting them? Are the developments really THAT historic? In the first part of our myth-checking we focus on the break-through of livestreaming and the proliferation of HD streams.

Are We Partners?

Feel like partnering with us? Please contact us!