Between August 2 and 8, TopHit recorded a 12.4% decline in views of the Top 100 music videos on YouTube compared to the previous week.
TopHit CEO Pavel Balashov notes:
“We anticipate that the ongoing week (August 9-15) will see further declines in music views on YouTube in Russia. This could mean that by the end of August, music traffic on YouTube might only reach half of what it was in July.”
TopHit founder Igor Kraev adds:
"In recent years, YouTube has been one of the most effective platforms for promoting emerging artists and their work in Russia. According to TopHit, in 2023, music traffic on YouTube in Russia reached nearly 15 billion streams, a 17% increase compared to 2022. Russian-language music content made up 80% of this traffic in 2023, and in the first half of 2024, that share grew to 84%."
"I don’t think YouTube’s potential blockage in Russia will be a major issue for Google—the Russian music traffic on YouTube accounts for at most 3% of its global figures. However, for our artists and the Russian music industry as a whole, losing access to YouTube could be as severe a blow as the loss of monetization was. There are significant challenges with 'import substitution' in this area, ranging from technical difficulties to the lack of relevant music statistics and opaque monetization mechanisms. I can only say that in early September, once we receive YouTube’s August data, TopHit will be able to make a precise forecast for 2024.”
