Top 10 YouTube channels to Enjoy New and Old Ethiopian Music

Even though only a few are really successful with it, being a YouTuber has become a common go-to business amongst Ethiopians. Most successful YouTubers focus on the entertainment sector, especially focusing on music for their niche, while news and gossip channels are also dominant. 

There are Ethiopian music channels on YouTube that have accumulated a good number of subscribers and are well known by the Ethiopian music-loving community. Most of these channels release multiple music clips on a weekly basis and get millions of views every month. Thanks to social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, the music industry in Ethiopia has flourished more than ever. 

The number of new music released weekly is so much that it sometimes is hard to follow which musician will release a new hit. Some argue saying that because of how easy it is to make music these days the music industry is becoming filled with music of lesser quality in terms of talent. These people further try to strengthen their argument by stating that individuals really want to become viral at any cost that they would pay a good amount of money which the producers can’t ignore. Others claim that the money paid to producers is not a lot as the producers rely on quantity over good quality for their earnings. 

Although these arguments make little sense when looking at some poorly produced cringe-worthy songs, for the majority of newly released Ethiopian music their argument becomes nonsensical. Let’s also not forget that amateurs also release their work to the internet. Besides, it wouldn’t be a daring statement to say most famous Ethiopian musicians that are still making music, both the old and new ones, possess great talent. 

They have been proving themselves over and over again, and as a result have successfully managed to keep themselves in the spotlight. The new musicians that suddenly pop up and introduce themselves to the music-loving community with some incredible work are also indication of how better the music industry has become.

Going back to the discussion on YouTube channels, I have brought you a list of Ethiopian music channels on YouTube that are well known and have the most subscribers, and are continuously releasing some good work. In actuality, the number of subscribers the channels have is not a true representation of the popularity they have, as their view count exceeds their subscribers count very significantly.

1. Hope entertainment (2.31M subscribers)

Created on Apr 19, 2010, this is the most famous Ethiopian music channel with more than 1,723,445,805 views. People are so used to Hope entertainment’s 9 seconds long intro that it has created a subliminal effect on everyone, making them expect good music the moment they hear it. They are so good that almost all of their single clips are watched millions of times. This is a level of consistency that is really admirable. Hope entertainment’s most viewed music clip is Getish Mamo’s – Tekebel, which currently has accumulated more than 30 Million views. Everyone expects excellent music from this channel; it’s a good thing they never disappoint!

2. Minew Shewa Tube (1.55M subscribers)

Minew Shewa, which was opened on May 25, 2016, is another music channel famous for its incredible hits. So far this channel has more than 788,600,580 views on YouTube. Although the view counts for individual clips are not close to that of Hope entertainment, different cultures and modern music clips released on this channel have gone viral. A best example for this is Jambo Jote’s music titled – Belba - which has more than 10 million views. One great feature I really admired on this channel is how they put new musicians on the spotlight. For such a well-established music channel, this is a pretty awesome thing to do, and they do it while facing strong competition from other channels.

3. Nahom Records (843K subscribers)

Even though it joined YouTube 9 years ago on Feb 18, 2013, Nahom Records YouTube channel became more active three or four years ago. The channel has managed to accumulate more than 313,130,836 views in its lifetime. Just like hope entertainment’s intro, Nahom records’ intro is also well known amongst the Ethiopian music-loving community. Veronica Adane’s music titled – Tew – which was released a year ago is their most watched video clip with 9.6 million views. There are many more well-received music clips posted on this channel that are watched millions of times, and all of them are posted 3 years ago maximum.

4. Teddy Afro (779K subscribers)

There is no more prominent name in the Ethiopian music industry than Teddy Afro; his acceptance is so massive that his concerts are spectacularly filled with a staggering number of people. It has also become a usual sight to see his fans cry in emotion during his concerts, and some even faint. Although he didn’t post most of his works, his YouTube channel is still popular amongst the music-loving community. Launched in July 17th 2012, his channel has 187,595,817 views so far. A music clip he released 10 months ago, titled Armash, is his top viewed music clip with 9.6 million views.

5. Admas Music (749K subscribers)

The Ethiopian music-loving community has received some excellent works from this channel, the best example of this is Ephrem Amare’s music titled – Sey – which has accumulated more than 38 million views since its release 4 years ago. Published on Jan 7, 2014 Admas Music has 410,919,399 views until this article was posted, and it’s pretty foreseeable that the channel will increase this number by a lot in the near future. The music community will always be expecting something great and let’s hope Admas Music will keep it coming.

6. Ella records (618K subscribers)

By managing to consistently post good music clips that received millions of views, in recent times Ella Records have shown that it’s here to stay. After joining YouTube on June 2, 2014, this channel has managed to collect 367,367,412 views so far. Jacky Gosy’s music clip titled - Ende Amoraw -, which was released 2 years ago, is one of their most watched videos with more than 15 million views.

7. Awtar TV (270K subscribers)

This is the youngest channel on this list yet it has managed to build such a brand that everybody knows its name already. It was only created two years ago, on Aug 22, 2020. In this short period, Awtar Tv has posted some incredible music clips that are watched Millions of times, and as a result, the channel has 74,466,761 views already. Since all the clips on this channel are posted very recently we can expect a huge increase in this number as the channel gets older. Posted just a year ago, Rahel Getu’s music clip titled – Ethiopiaye – is one of the most watched and really loved works this channel. It has more than 8.3 Million views so far.

8.Golden Ethio Music (270K subscribers)

Joined YouTube on Jan 1, 2018, Golden Entertainment is the other young YouTube channel with only 4 years of age. But it has accumulated more than 64,428,500 views. The channel’s most watched video clip is Caalaa Bultume’s -WAGGADHAN NU GA'I – which was released 2 years ago. So far it is watched more than 5.2 million times.

9. Rophnan (203K subscribers)

Rophnan is just a sensation to the Ethiopian music-loving community. I have actually discussed him in my article titled - Best Ethiopian Musicians That Got 0 Haters. I strongly suggest you see that list. Rophnan’s YouTube channel was created on December 18, 2013, but I don’t think it got any traction in a number of views and subscribers until his first album “Reflection”, which was really I mean really accepted by the Ethiopian music-loving community, was released four years ago. After that he added some singles like –Sost– and just 2 months ago he released a second album titled ––Sidist – which again was accepted incredibly well. His channel at the time of publishing this article had accumulated 24,545,516 views, and his most viewed clip is his live performance on EBS TV, with more than 4.5 million views. The video is embedded in the article mentioned above if you’d like to see it.

10. Bahgna TV (149K subscribers)

Created on Jan 5, 2016, this channel has managed to accumulate more than 40,071,435 views until this article is posted. And their most popular video clip is Beraki Gebremedhin’s Eritrean Tigrigna Music titled - Gual Bahri – with more than 5.7 million views. Thank you for reading and please comment and remember to share this article if you like it.

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