YouTube's Music Channels
IN LOVE WITH A GHOST
Cutesy melancholic beats with titles that are short stories, arranged with pastel-toned background art. Good for introspection or maybe just a little crying.
CHILLEDCOW
Relaxing hip-hop and soul uploads, well-known for compilation mixes like "Get some rest" and "Lazy Sunday afternoon". Runs a low-fi hip-hop stream.
STONED MEADOW OF DOOM
YouTube's biggest uploader of doom metal and desert rock. Very good at finding new releases from all across the world, and even dabbles in occasional psych rock and bluegrass uploads.
MARCEL THE DRUNKARD
Marcel bills their channel as not being bound by genres, but the massive block of Japanese jazz albums on there is a happy resource. Tasteful, timeless, and rarely what you expect.
TRIANGLEMUSIC
An addictive collection of future funk tracks set to anime GIFs. You didn't know you wanted to listen to an edit of Culture Club's "Time" over a loop of a woman applying makeup, did you?
ARTZIE MUSIC
Similar to TriangleMusic and better known, with more a focus towards vaporwave. The GIFs are intentionally oddly cut, creating a subtly surreal atmosphere.
ELFAMOSODEMON
More beats over footage, EFD is the hip-hop guy and he uses clips from entire movies and cartoons. Dreamlike and disturbing; does live streams.
STEEZYAF
STEEZY's name has to be contracted to be youth-friendly, but if you can't figure out what the channel's actually called you probably aren't old enough to appreciate YouTube's best uploader and streamer of chill beat tapes. No anime either, if that matters to you.
TAJDAR JUNAID
What can be said of multi-instrumentalist Tajdar Junaid that he doesn't say better in his songs? This is the real deal and you should get on it right now.
PROVOCATIVEEDUCATIVE !
Name makes a big claim, but the channel has the chops to back it up. Uploads a diverse selection of hip-hop, funk and jazz primarily from (contemporary!) sources you've never heard of. Doing the Lord's work.
THE JAZZ HOP CAFÉ
Uploader of themed beat collections, the name says it all really. Hang back and relax. Well-known for uploads collecting music inspired by well-regarded anime OSTs (Cowboy Bebop, Ghibli movies, Samurai Champloo, etc.)
AGUIRRE COSMICO
"Spiritual and cosmic music from other times delivered to weary souls of the 21st century" - maybe we wouldn't put it quite like that but it's hard to argue the point. If you like your jazz, prog, funk, soul… pretty much anything so long as it's decades old, and you like it from all around the world, this is definitely your space.
NINJA TUNE
When you have a stable of hip-hop and electro giants like Bonobo, Romare and Machinedrum signed on and more rising stars like Sarathy Korwar than one can readily count, and you upload everything to YouTube, you're a record label with a channel worth mentioning.
NEWRETROWAVE
The home of the emergent retrowave genre – 80's sensibilities and sounds with modern production. NRW creates lush cyberpunk music videos to accompany their tracks. A nostalgic treat for the senses.
WORLDHASPOSTROCK
Your resource for post-rock tunes. Quite the definitive and tasteful collection of sounds from around the world, showing that even after the trend's over the genre remains vital. Ride that big, sad sound through autoplayed album after album.
666MRDOOM
If Stoned Meadow of Doom represents the mainstream curator in this underbelly of music, the 666MrDoom brings you the weirder, more creative stuff.
RAFI:KI
Good selection of low-fi, trap and hip-hop mixes. Brings you the really underground stuff.
NUFONIK
Mostly various mix sets of prominent artists with accompanying visualisations. Does mash-up tracks as well.
THE 80'S GUY
The more underground alternative to NRW. Lacks the big presentation values but has a strong series of retrowave and synthwave uploads that should keep you satisfied.
WAVY
Solid curation of soulful downtempo trap music. Great to relax to, especially when combined with the very well-chosen landscape background images and tasteful editing.
TRADITIONAL MUSIC CHANNEL
Something different. Each video is a collection of traditional songs from around the world. A beautiful "cultural library" whose variety and breadth is staggering. Check it out.
PAST PERFECT VINTAGE MUSIC
A music label that uploads (and sells) themed collections of vintage pop music from the 20's to the early 60's in crisp audio quality. Definitely worth checking out if you're chasing a particular period mood, and the artwork is beautiful.
LOPHEE
Low-fi mixtapes with quiet drawings. Tasteful, well-chosen compilations. Find the one that caters to your mood.
DLOAW
Contemporary instrumental channel. Uploads abstract hip-hop, trip-hop and downtempo. Great tastemaker.
DON'S TUNEs
Quite the moodsetter here. Black-and-white images that pan just right as smooth jazz and blues wash by. One of those channels to build your YouTube listening around.
NOHIPSTER
Rather an odd duck, but this is a number of YouTube channels operated by the same group uploading and reviewing new album releases from a variety of genres – which they claim to disbelieve in. That's why their uploads are organised around coloured moods; it works. Fine collections that a lot of your favourite bands and artists will come from when you give it a go.
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