YouTube has launched a new concert series called Music Nights.
The series turns artists’ album releases into filmed live shows at intimate venues, which stream on YouTube for fans worldwide.
The films feature Kacey Musgraves, Isaiah Rashad and Bleachers, performing at venues including Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and the Intuit Plaza in Inglewood, California.
The news arrives amid an apparent push into concert video across the DSP landscape, following a Bloomberg report on June 8 that Spotify has held talks with festival promoters over rights to carry live concert video.
It would be Spotify‘s first move into live video, having so far tried only live audio, according to the report.
Amazon has run a filmed concert series of its own, Amazon Music Live, since 2022, with artists performing their latest releases.
For YouTube’s Music Nights, the full sets stream on each act’s Official Artist Channel alongside behind-the-scenes Shorts, YouTube said in a blog post on Friday (June 12).
YouTube said it is staging Music Nights this year in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London and Tokyo, with more performances planned.
The launch extends YouTube‘s use of live music to bring fans to the platform, as rivals invest in video and concerts of their own.
Eight-time Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves played three sold-out shows at Gruene Hall to mark the release of her sixth studio album, Middle of Nowhere.
The sets featured new songs Dry Spell and Mexico Honey, plus a cover of Tú Solo Tú with opening act The Mariachi Bros.
“I couldn’t think of a more iconic place to ring in the new album than historic Gruene Hall,” said Musgraves.
“Built in the 1800s, this stage has a lot of good ghosts. Texas has some amazing middle of nowheres, and this is one of my favorites.”
Musgraves has nearly 470 million lifetime views across her YouTube content and reaches over 6 million monthly listeners on YouTube Music, the company said.
Isaiah Rashad performed at the Intuit Plaza to mark the release of his third studio album, It’s Been Awful.
The Chattanooga rapper’s outdoor set featured new tracks including THE NEW SUBLIME, M.O.M. and the single SAME SH!T, according to YouTube.
“When the music drops it always represents a moment in time for everyone,” said Matthew Miller, President of Big Moo Records.
“Music Nights was a special way to celebrate that moment with family, friends and most of all fellow music lovers.”
Rashad has more than 234 million lifetime views on YouTube and a monthly audience of over 1.7 million on YouTube Music, the company said.
Bleachers, led by Grammy winner Jack Antonoff, played a homecoming show at the Stone Pony to mark the release of their album everyone for ten minutes.
The set ran through new cuts you and forever and sideways, alongside Rollercoaster and the Lana Del Rey collaboration Margaret.
“From the second we stepped onto that stage, it was one of my favorite shows ever. Thank god we filmed it.”
Jack Antonoff, bleachers
“The day after we released our album, the band and I played a free show at the Stone Pony for 900 fans,” said Antonoff. “Some flew across the country to be there, and others locals who have been coming to see us for over a decade.”
“From the second we stepped onto that stage, it was one of my favorite shows ever. Thank god we filmed it,” the Bleachers frontman added.
Bleachers has a monthly audience of more than 1 million on YouTube Music and over 170 million views across its YouTube content, the company said.
YouTube has leaned on live music before.
The Alphabet-owned service has streamed the Coachella festival since 2011.
In 2023, it livestreamed all of the festival’s stages for the first time and gave Premium subscribers backstage footage.
YouTube last reported 125 million paid subscribers to YouTube Music and Premium worldwide, including trials, in March 2025. That was up from 100 million a year earlier.
Rival Spotify also launched music videos in beta for Premium users across 11 markets in March 2024, challenging YouTube‘s position in the format.Music Business Worldwide
