Celebrate National Cat Day With YouTube’s Most Popular Felines

October 28, 2016

October 29 is National Cat Day, which means it’s the perfect moment to reflect on one of the most important memes in YouTube’s canon. Who are the most popular cats on YouTube? Have YouTube viewers tired of watching cute kittens? Are cats more popular than dogs?

We’ve crunched the numbers to deliver answers to these momentous questions.

Have we achieved peak cat?

Fans of felines can rest easy: according to figures dating back to 2007, cats are as popular as ever.

• Weekly views of cat videos have grown by over 10,000% since early 2007 
• Dec 2009 - “Surprised Kitty” video finds huge popularity online 
• May 2011 - A video of a cat hugging her kitten goes viral 
• May 2014 - Video of the family cat saving a boy from a dog is covered by media outlets across the world

The Most Popular Cat on YouTube is…

To no surprise of YouTube’s cat enthusiasts, the most popular channel, by cat-related video views, is dedicated to Simon’s Cat. For years, creator Simon Tofield has illustrated a web series about his cat, inspired, in large part, by the real-life version of Simon’s cat, named Hugh. At the time of writing, the channel has amassed over 4 million subscribers.

Simon’s Cat in “Cat Man Do” has received over 58 million views

Here's the full list:

(Check out their channels here: Simon's Cat, mugumogu, ignoramusky, Talking Kitty Cat, かご猫 Ｂｌｏｇ)

Cats vs. Dogs

There are few rivalries that can match that of cats vs. dogs. And, despite the popular belief that YouTube is only an archive of cat videos, dogs seem to be the more popular of the two on YouTube. Views over the past two years seem to suggest that this trend is going to continue.

As YouTube continues to grow as a destination for filmmakers, chefs, and educators, there is a simple joy that cat videos still provide in 2016.

Over the past 11 years, YouTube has given us the chance to melt over friendships like Oskar the blind cat and Klaus, develop existential crises from Henri’s life musings, and celebrate the personality of the late Colonel Meow, the 2014 Guinness World Record holder for the cat with the longest fur.

Though the future may soon be dog driven, both YouTube’s founding fathers — Grumpy Cat, Keyboard Cat, and Lil Bub — and their digital legacy will remain very much feline.

8 Years of U.S. Presidential Elections on YouTube: How They Compare

November 07, 2016

We’ve reported staggering numbers for the 2016 U.S. presidential election on YouTube. The final debate, for example, had an unprecedented 140 million election-related views.

Even more exceptional is how this U.S. presidential election cycle compares to those of 2012 and 2008. We examined the data for election years in 2016, 2012, and 2008, and determined that this year will likely break YouTube records for views and watch-time on Election Day, November 8.

Since January 1, overall views in 2016 for videos about candidates have been 5x larger than in 2012. Going back four more years to the 2008 election, this year has had 8x more views than 2008’s presidential race. This is a departure from the change in views from 2008 to 2012, which was only 1.65x larger.

In each case, Election Day was the most popular date: views historically increase 7-10x from the yearly average, as viewers tune into analyses of the results. When it comes to U.S. elections-related viewership, we expect November 8, 2016, to be one of the largest days ever in YouTube’s history.

The Significant YouTube Moments From Every Presidential Election Year 

Each election season is marked by its own cultural milestones: there are the gaffes, the inspirational speeches, and the viral campaign moments. We’ve compiled a list of some of the biggest election-related moments on YouTube during the past three presidential races:

Here are some of the elections-related videos that provided sizable contributions to the viewership spikes in each of the three campaign cycles:

2016

• March 12: Protester attempts to rush stage as Trump speaks (4.5 million views) 
• July 18: Stephen Colbert gets on stage at Republican National Convention (5.3 million views) 
• Oct. 9: Second presidential debate (124 million views across numerous live streams)

2012

• Jan 20: Obama sings Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” (4.5 million views) 
• June 5: Lip dub mashup of Obama singing “Call Me Maybe” goes viral (48.7 million views) 
• Sept 5: Gay Vietnam veteran discusses marriage equality with Romney (3.6 million views)

2008

• Feb 2: Super Obama girl video goes viral (40 million views) 
• March 18: Obama delivers “More Perfect Union” speech (7.2 million views) 
• Aug. 29: Obama attends the 2008 Democratic National Convention (826 thousand views)

 COMMENTS

Remembering Leonard Cohen's Legacy on YouTube

November 11, 2016

Following the announcement of Leonard Cohen’s death on November 10, “Hallelujah,” one of his most iconic songs, is today’s most-watched video on YouTube, with over 5.2 million views (as of 4pm EST).

Leonard Cohen - "Hallelujah"

Furthermore, today's increase in views for “Hallelujah” has far outpaced the view increases to other videos on Leonard Cohen's channel:

The resurgence of “Hallelujah” should come as no surprise. Since September 2014, it has been viewed over 35 million times, making it one of the most popular ‘80s songs on YouTube. Among Cohen’s catalogue, it’s his most popular track, with double the views of his second most-viewed song, “A Thousand Kisses Deep.”

Why is “Hallelujah” so unique? After all, when it was released in 1984, the song did not immediately become a commercial hit. Yet over the past 30 years, it has remained a core part of contemporary culture due to the high number of its covers by other artists. The most popular version on YouTube is Jeff Buckley’s rendition, which has been viewed over 75 million times since September 2014:

Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"

Yet famous covers are not the only source of timeless appeal for the song. YouTube creators have covered “Hallelujah” more than any other track release before 2010:

While Cohen may be gone, his music — particularly “Hallelujah” — has memorialized him as a once-in-a-generation talent.

 COMMENTS

Can YouTube Fans Predict the Latin GRAMMY Winners?

November 14, 2016

On November 17, the Latin GRAMMY Awards will honor the biggest names in Latin music. With YouTube viewers around the world watching more Latin music than ever — 55 Latin artists have songs in the YouTube Top 100 music charts this year alone — we decided to look at which nominees would have the highest chance of winning if the winners were selected based on views of their songs on YouTube during the GRAMMY eligibility period.

Latin GRAMMY Predictions: Record of the Year
When it comes to the Record of the Year, this year’s Latin GRAMMYs have a clear winner if song popularity is our metric of choice. Among the nominees, Enrique Iglesias and Wisin’s “Duele El Corazón” is far and away the most-played track on YouTube.

Latin GRAMMY Predictions: Song of the Year
While Record of the Year honors the performer alongside the producers, engineers, and mixers of the track, the Song of the Year award recognizes the songwriters behind some of the biggest hits of the year. Among the ten nominated tracks, Enrique Iglesias & Wisin’s “Duele El Corazón” once again stands out as the most-watched track:

Best New Artist
The Best New Artist category for this year’s Latin GRAMMYs is -- when compared to the Song of the Year and Record of the Year -- a much closer race. Nevertheless, Manuel Medrano’s YouTube views over the past year and a half suggest that the singer of “Bajo El Agua” and “Una Y Otra Vez” are more popular than newcomers Mon Laferte (“Tu Falta De Querer”), Morat (“Cuánto Me Duele”), and Joss Favela (“Cuando Fuimos Nada”).



Latin GRAMMY Predictions: Urban Song of the Year
If YouTube’s weekly Top 100 Charts are our barometer for highlighting the songs that people love, Latin Urban music is tremendously popular on YouTube. The most popular song of all the Urban Song of The Year nominees is Yandel’s “Encantadora,” beating out the likes of Cosculluela & Daddy Yankee’s “A Donde Voy” and De La Ghetto’s “Acércate.”



Urban Album of the Year
J. Balvin is one of only four Latin artists (the others being Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, and Romeo Santos) who, at the time of writing, have videos that have received over a billion views. Although Balvin’s billion-view song, “Ay Vamos,” was on a previous album, tracks like “Ginza” and “Safari” have proven immensely popular, and have led to his Energía being the most listened-to album of all nominees. Farruko’s Visionary is next in line, followed by Emicida’s Sobre Crianças, Quadris, Pesadelos E Lições De Casa…, El B’s Luz, and Arianna Puello’s Despierta.



How closely will popularity sync with the decisions of this year's Latin GRAMMY judges? We'll have to wait until November 17 to find out!

-- Posted by the YouTube Culture & Trends Team

 COMMENTS

Your In-Depth Interactive Guide to YouTube Rewind 2016

December 07, 2016

Every year, we like to look back on the biggest trends on YouTube through our Rewind video, and we’re excited to debut the 2016’s version today.

We’ve tried to jam a year’s worth of culture into only a few minutes, and it can be tough to catch every reference. That’s why this year, we’ve created an in-depth, interactive guide to the creators, songs, and trends we’ve featured that plays as you watch:

To check it out, click the image above or have a look here!

 COMMENTS

The Super Bowl Halftime Show’s Biggest Acts & Their Fans On YouTube

February 03, 2017

From iconic solo performers such as James Brown and Michael Jackson, to supergroups like The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Super Bowl Halftime show has become one of the game’s most anticipated events. Considering the number of legendary musicians who have performed, we began to wonder: how does an artist’s Super Bowl performance help grow their fanbase on YouTube?

The Impact a Super Bowl Halftime Performance has on Artists' Subscribers

Last year, we examined the views bumps that artists’ videos receive following their Super Bowl performances. This year, we decided to focus on YouTube subscribers

Looking back at the artists who have performed in the past 4 years, it was Destiny’s Child who had the greatest increase in official channel subscribers following the 2013 Super Bowl, with an increase of 427%. For this same performance, Beyoncé herself saw an increase of 196%. The huge increase in subscribers on the official Destiny’s Child YouTube channel was most likely due to the long-awaited reunion of the group, who had not performed together since 2007.

When Beyoncé returned to perform at the Super Bowl in 2016, she saw a subscriber bump of 145%, but the moment belonged to headliners Coldplay, who saw a subscriber bump of 234% for their Super Bowl debut.

Love For the Halftime Show’s Songs

It’s clear that even established artists with vast worldwide fanbases can grow their audience online as a result of playing the Super Bowl Halftime stage. The songs they play on game day reach millions of listeners around the world. They grow even more popular as old fans reconnect with past favorites and new listeners discover tracks for the first time. Among all Super Bowl Halftime artists over the last four years, who has had the largest increase in views for the songs that they performed?

Among the past four years’ headliners — Coldplay, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé — it was Beyoncé who had the greatest increase in YouTube video views for songs performed at the Super Bowl (a 54.8% increase). This was more than double the increase in views for Coldplay (27%), Katy Perry (23.9%), and Bruno Mars (21%).

This year, Lady Gaga is set to entertain the millions watching Super Bowl LI. Check back here for more Super Bowl analyses!

 COMMENTS

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The Musicians Who Get Love On Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2017

Last year, we examined the songs that YouTube viewers are most likely to share on Valentine’s Day. This year, we analyzed musicians who see their biggest viewership increases on Valentine’s Day.

Among all musicians on YouTube, Martina McBride’s music has had the largest increase in views on Valentine’s Day. When compared to an average day on YouTube, her content receives 2.8x more views on Feb 14th.

For example, here are views for McBride’s music over the past two years.

It’s no surprise that fans revisit her music on Valentine’s Day: McBride’s most popular song on YouTube is “Valentine,” with nearly 21M views since the beginning of 2016.

• Other top 10 artists on Valentine’s Day include Kina Grannis (2.1x higher), Barry White (1.53x higher), Outkast (1.3x higher), and Lionel Richie (1.21x higher).
• In the U.S., Whitney Houston has the #1 spot for musicians who see the largest increase in views of their music (2.7x). Other artists unique to the U.S. include Chaka Khan (1.7x) and Savage Garden (1.5x).
• In the U.K., R&B royalty Keith Sweat (1.6x), K-Ci & JoJo (1.5x), and Brian McKnight (1.5x) break into the top 10.

We also looked at musical trends for Valentine’s Day in 2017. While this year will be tough to predict, we’ve noticed a couple surprising insights:

• David Bowie’s “Valentine’s Day” should continue to rise in popularity. Last year on Valentine’s Day, David Bowie’s untimely passing led his song “Valentine’s Day” to break into the top 10 songs with “valentine” in the title. It surged 400 percent on February 14, 2016, vs. the year prior.
• When it comes to love songs (songs with “love” in the title), Justin Bieber had the top spot on Valentine’s Day in 2016 with “Love Yourself,” and he’s primed to repeat this feat in 2017. Among all of this year’s songs with “love” in title, DJ Snake’s “Let Me Love You” ft. Justin Bieber is the most popular, amassing nearly 200M views since its release.

Moms Empowering Moms

May 12, 2017

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the moms of YouTube. For the past several years, tens of thousands of creators have contributed to a thriving community of mothers on YouTube, helping new mothers with swaddling tutorials, mom hacks, edible play-dough recipes, and morning routines.

Every year, this community continues to expand. Views of mother-related content grew 81 percent between 2015 and 2016. More importantly, videos related to education and tips for moms grew a staggering 98 percent over the same period.

Rising Moms

To understand who’s behind this growth, we sought out the “emerging” mom creators. These are moms and families who began their channels in 2016 and quickly amassed hundreds of thousands (and, in one case, millions) of subscribers.

With Mother’s Day around the corner, let’s recognize seven new (i.e., they began within the past 18 months) mom and family creators who, as of May 2017, have gained the most subscribers. Collectively, they’ve amassed over 7 million subscribers and have had an outsized impact on the expanding community of mothers on YouTube.

Bramty Juliette - 387,000 subscribers. Channel started in February 2016



Some of Bramty’s most successful videos have been her open advice to other moms, including Q&A about her experience as teen parents. “Day-in-the-life” and “routine” videos are often shared in the mom community, and Bramty’s “Mommy Morning Routine” is a hit with over 1.4M views.

The Ingham Family - 396,000 subscribers. Channel started in December 2015.



For the past 14 months, Sarah and Chris Ingham have been actively vlogging their family of six, uploading over 420 videos to YouTube. Their Christmas Morning Special has proved incredibly popular, receiving over 23 million views to date.

Mila Diverte - 487K Subscribers. Channel started in January 2017.



Mila Diverte has only uploaded five videos in four months, but has already gained over 400,000 subscribers. The rapid viewership is a result of the breakout success in Brazil of the channel Planeta das Gêmeas (2.2M subscribers in 14 months!), which she stars in with her two twin girls. Her most popular video is a Smoothie Challenge, which stars the twins as well.

Mama Rug - 512K subscribers. Channel started in early 2017.



Over the course of a few months, Mama Rug has gained over 500K subscribers. She’s had some help – her son is FaZe Rug, who has an enormous following, with over 5 million subscribers and close to 900 million lifetime views. While her son often participates in videos, many of Mama Rug’s uploads are wisdom-filled monologues about bullying, dealing with a breakup, and cooking.

We Are the Davises - 587K subscribers. Channel started in late 2015.



This family of four is known for their challenge videos, such as The Gummy Food Challenge, Pancake Art Challenge, and Full Face Rhinestones Challenge. The Davises even launched their own gaming channel.

Slyfox Family - 700K subscribers. Channel started in December 2015.



The Slyfox Family are prolific creators, uploading over 450 videos since their first vlog 15 months ago. The family of four has documented their adventures, including a 28-million-view-pool party, an at-home roller coaster, and nose piercings.

Domo and Krissy - 1.4 million subscribers. Channel started in early 2016.



Domo and Krissy is one of the most unique channels to launch last year. It started as a couple vlogging their relationship, but over the past 12 months, has been a day-by-day documentation of Domo’s fertility treatment, learning she’s pregnant, the pregnancy process, and the birth of her son, Domonic (last month). And they haven’t stopped, uploading the baby’s first bath, first photo shoot, and family outing.

The Songs and Artists that Spike in Popularity on America’s Birthday

July 02, 2017

What's the perfect soundtrack to a Fourth of July BBQ? According to YouTube data, it is likely to include the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, and Neil Diamond, amongst other holiday musical standouts.

In celebration of America’s birthday, we crunched the numbers on past Fourth of July listening patterns and uncovered the artists and songs that receive the biggest year-to-year holiday spikes. For example, Bruce Springsteen’s "Born in the U.S.A." saw a 2300% views increase on July 4th when compared to its typical daily averages, while country staple Lee Greenwood received a 2100% bump across his entire catalog on past Independence Days. The two artists also prove to be massive regional favorites, having the largest percent increase in views in every state but Delaware, where John Mellencamp landed the honor.

Other notable acts experiencing annual lifts include Fall Out Boy, Trace Adkins, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, whose 1991 hit "Summertime" also saw recent peaks in viewership on Memorial Day and the summer solstice. See below for the full list of musicians and tracks that earned the most holiday growth:

• This list is led by Lee Greenwood, who’s track “God Bless the USA” brings his music to the forefront on YouTube.
• At #2, Toby Keith’s many patriotic anthems (e.g., “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue”, “American Soldier”, and “Made In America”) elevate his popularity on July 4th.
• At #10, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince benefit from the aforementioned resurgence of their hit “Summertime.”

With the exception of “Pink Houses” in Delaware, “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood and “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen have the largest percent increase in views on July 4th across the rest of the 49 states.

Nationally, the remaining top 10 include songs by Neil Diamond, Fall Out Boy, and Trace Adkins:

1. God Bless the USA - Lee Greenwood - 24.7x
2. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen - 23.8x
3. Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue - Toby Keith - 12.9x
4. Made in America - Toby Keith - 10.7x
5. America - Neil Diamond - 9.3x
6. Fourth of July - Fall Out Boy - 8.4x
7. American Soldier - Toby Keith - 7.8x
8. Arlington - Trace Adkins - 7.3x
9. Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) - Alan Jackson - 5.8x
10. Pink Houses - John Mellencamp - 5.3x

These tracks speak to the diversity of the US community, from country music to pop punk  – something to keep in mind while you get started on your playlist for this weekend.

 COMMENTS

Canadian Pop Culture Capitals, according to YouTube

June 30, 2017

In honor of Canada Day, we decided to look at which Canadian cities are most interested in the country’s cultural icons. Specifically, we picked a number of Canada-related topics, determining which city had the largest percentage of its June views devoted to the topic. Does Toronto watch the most hockey-related content? Does Ottawa dominate when it comes to watching videos about snowshoeing? Which Canadian city is most interested in poutine? We’ve crunched the numbers for Canada’s largest cities and have the findings below:

• Classic Canadian musicians are most popular in Laval, QC, with The Tragically Hip and Montreal’s own Leonard Cohen coming up on top.

• Canada’s animals are most-loved in Ontario, with views of Beavers highest in Brampton and views of moose-related videos highest in Toronto.

• Timmies, aka Tim Hortons, is one of Canada’s best-loved fast-food chains, and views of videos related to it are highest in Burnaby, BC.

• Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is most-watched in Edmonton (same with The Weeknd, who grew up in Toronto).

Historic Movie Trailers on YouTube, Ranked by Popularity

September 20, 2017

As summer blockbuster season concludes, we wondered: what older hit films are still being watched in 2017? Did the reboots of the summer renew interest in the originals? What timeless films are younger generations discovering, given the endless viewing opportunities available with streaming?

To find out, we combined 12 months of trailer views for every film released between 1980 and 1999.

What was the most popular trailer among films released before 2000? The honor goes to “Titanic” (1997), now over 20 years old.

“Titanic,” fittingly, was also the highest grossing film from the 1990s. So its present-day popularity is not unexpected. How do the remaining films from the 1990s fare? Here’s the top 10:

1990s Films, Ranked by Trailer Popularity in 2017

1. Titanic (1997)
2. Toy Story (1995)
3. The Lion King (1994)
4. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
6. American Pie (1999)
7. Basic Instinct (1992)
8. Home Alone (1990)
9. Matilda (1996)
10. Trainspotting (1996)

Not all trailers on the list were box office smashes, with sleeper hits like “Trainspotting” landing in the top 10. Its present-day trailer ranking suggests that its audience, in 2017, is far greater than when it was released over 20 years ago.

The top film from the 1980s: “Ghostbusters” (1984), which likely benefited from its reboot in 2016. The original was averaging 70,000 views/month in 2015, but after the new release, its views more than quadrupled to over 300,000 views/month.

The remaining top 10 trailers from the 1980s include “The Little Mermaid,” “The Shining,” and two installments from the “Star Wars” series.

1980s Films, Ranked by Trailer Popularity in 2017

1. Ghostbusters (1984)
2. The Little Mermaid (1989)
3. The Shining (1980)
4. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
5. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
6. Return of the Jedi (1983)
7. The Evil Dead (1981)
8. Blade Runner (1982)
9. Scarface (1983)
10. The Outsiders (1983)

Cult classic “My Neighbor Totoro,” a Japanese animated fantasy film, has emerged as a huge present-day hit at #5 among films from the 1980s. “The Evil Dead,” similarly, was the 121st highest-grossing film of 1983, but is now has the #7 most-viewed trailer for the entire 1980s.

As both films were never box office successes, few could have predicted that they would now appear in the top 10 for an entire decade of movies. Their present-day popularity, 30 years after their initial release, is a testament to their longevity with future generations and their timeless appeal.

In 20 years, what film trailers will be popular from the 2000s? Will it be “Avatar,” with the highest box office for the decade? Or will it be a underground film? We’ll check-in with YouTube trailer views in 2030.