The Future of Yellow Brick Cinema

We’re stepping out from behind the curtain, and we want to hear from you in return. Okay. Six-million subscribers and climbing. So: what’s next? When Yellow Brick Cinema started, it had the advantage of being one of the very first relaxing music long-form channels on YouTube. Some of those early videos, which you can still see on our channel today, racked up tens of millions of views. Given how primitive the visuals often were, that’s a testament to YBC’s secret sauce: the music. “The world’s best relaxing music”. That’s YBC’s tagline. And it hasn’t changed. Most of you put this amazing music on in the background while you’re working, reading, meditating, performing yoga, sleeping, or just generally relaxing. There just isn’t anything else out there that has that unique YBC sound, and there’s an unbelievable level of human effort that goes into engineering that sound. Phrases like “binaural beats” and “Solfeggio frequencies” aren’t just SEO keywords; they’re part of our brand’s DNA. (We’re awfully tempted to point out that we were doing this stuff literally for years before it was on most people’s radars, but that’s just a bit too hipsterish, isn’t it.) But all things evolve, and especially since the pandemic, we’ve seen two interesting developments happen concurrently: 1.) Thanks to two years of lockdowns where people sat at home staring at screens, more people are actively watching the videos, not just listening to them. At the same time, as tools and technology (particularly AI) lower the creative barrier to entry, there’s been an explosion of competitor channels in this genre – everything from barely-literate copycat copypasta designed to make a quick buck all the way up to some actually really interesting and creative channels with unique identities of their own. This has dramatically changed the landscape. 2.) Tastes change. What constitutes “relaxing music”? One of the common maxims for any successful venture – and this is especially amplified on YouTube – is to find a niche and exploit it. Any brand, artist, etc. that’s been around this long faces the challenge of remaining relevant as the ground shifts underneath them. Are you wearing the same style of clothing you wore a decade ago? Watching the same kind of TV shows? Listening to the same kind of music? Heck, are you even the same person you were a decade ago? On YouTube, there’s now an almost countless array of channels using the same basic formula Yellow Brick Cinema and a few others pioneered, but exploiting niches which not only might not have been considered on-brand for YBC in the past, but literally didn’t exist. Simply put: the wheel has turned. Yellow Brick Cinema became super-successful, so everyone else studied its formula and implemented their own iterations on it. Small brands can experiment and pivot quickly, leading to rapid innovations. In turn, big brands like YBC then study what’s actually moving the needle en masse throughout the landscape, and then compare that against their own audience to see where there’s room for growth. This is normal. This is how the cycle works. And after an extensive period of study, it’s now time for action. It’s time for Yellow Brick Cinema to evolve. So we come full circle: what’s next? Let’s start first with what’s not changing. There are certain key parts of YBC’s DNA that are core to our identity: a certain “magic realism” style of imagery, a sense of hopeful optimism in the music, a feeling of bright and cheery positivity overall. None of that’s changing. Yellow Brick Cinema isn’t going to turn into Grimdark Dystopia Cinema. That ain’t us. But are we going to introduce new music? Yes. Are we going to introduce new visuals and animations? Yes. Will you see new faces on the team? Yes. All of this, critically, in addition to what you’re already getting and will continue to get. Here’s the best analogy we can think of: Porsche’s been building the legendary 911, one of the most famous cars in history, for sixty years. Set an original 911 Carrera next to a modern 911 Carrera and they’re both unmistakably from the same family – but the modern version has evolved and refined the experience to heights that simply didn’t exist in the past. This video, then, is a quick taste of things to come. We’re real people hard at work seven days a week, year in and year out, to deliver an experience that is still very unique on YouTube, in pursuit of something we believe actually benefits the species: the world’s most relaxing music. Along the way, we want to hear from you. Leave comments. Let us know what you like and dislike. Tell us what you want to see more of. We’ve got a pretty clear picture of what works for you already, but that foundation starts with listening. You listen to our music, we listen to your voice. Click your heels three times, and let Yellow Brick Cinema bring you