Lyor's Letter: Starting the year off right

Feb 7, 2019 - Lyor's Letter

Hey everyone.

First, I wanted to wish you all a belated Happy New Year.

Last year, we rallied our entire organization around 2018 being the Year of Music, and it really was. I truly believe 2019 is going to be the best year yet for us at YouTube Music - and for all of us in music - as we keep building towards becoming one of the top sources of revenue for the industry.
The more we work together, the faster this will happen and I figured sharing what is top of mind for us is a great way to start.

  1. Keep our promise to help the industry see a clear return when they invest time and resources in our products.
  2. Continue to invest in our YouTube Music family of artists and help them reach greater heights.
  3. Grow our YouTube Music family of artists; new names and faces we’ll plaster throughout our offices and put our whole muscle into breaking.
  4. Become the easiest music platform to engage and work with.
  5. Grow our paid subscriptions worldwide.
  6. Champion transparency in the industry.
  7. Liberate artists, songwriters, labels and publishers by innovating with direct-to-consumer and alternative monetization products.
  8. Remind the world that inclusivity and diversity is our competitive advantage.
  9. Keep listening to artists who take risks and push boundaries, like Maggie Rogers, Davido, and Billie Eilish. And play them louder.
  10. Love the ones that love you back. Send handwritten notes to Camila, Christian Nodal, Jesse & Joy, and Banda MS, artists who I had the privilege of seeing perform live when I recently visited Mexico city.
  11. See the big picture. Stop stressing my daughter out about her college applications.
  12. Work smarter, not harder and continue to get out and meet people face-to-face. Meet with Neha Kakkar, Kumar Sanu, and Alka Yagnik when I visit our offices in India this year. These three incredible artists recently topped our YouTube Top Artist charts and amassed close to 3 billion views in January.

With Love and Respect,
Lyor and the YouTube Music family.
Tracy Chapman - Talkin’ Bout A Revolution