YouTube Premieres, and the trailer spec nobody reads
A Premiere gives a video a public watch page, a countdown, live chat and a chat replay. The trailer that plays beforehand has its own rules, including one that trips people up on a re-release.
A Premiere is the closest thing a music video has to a screening. YouTube describes it as letting "you and your viewers watch and experience a new video together in real time", with a public watch page created before the video goes live, a countdown theme of a length you choose, live chat during, and chat replay afterwards.
The Premiere Trailer
You can upload a separate trailer that plays on the watch page ahead of the Premiere. Its published spec:
- 15 seconds to 3 minutes long.
- Same aspect ratio and resolution as the premiering video, recommended.
- Must not infringe other content and must follow Community Guidelines.
- Cannot be a previously premiered video.
That last condition is the one that bites: recycling last year's Premiere as this year's trailer does not work.
Two limits worth knowing before you plan
"Shorts aren't supported for Premieres", so the vertical cut cannot be the event. And "360/vr180 or an output greater than 1080p isn't supported", which rules out premiering a 4K master. A live Community Guidelines strike also blocks a Premiere from publishing during the penalty period.
Source
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