How to Add an End Screen to a YouTube Music Video

Where should a listener go after the song ends?

Give someone who reaches the end a useful next listen. For a single, that might be a live performance of the same song. For a track from an album, it might be the album playlist. Choose a destination that makes sense after the recording they just heard.

YouTube's end-screen instructions let you select a specific video, your most recent upload, or a video YouTube chooses for the viewer. A specific selection gives you control over the next recording. The most-recent option can change its destination as you publish more videos, so decide whether that fits the campaign.

My recommendation for a straightforward music-video ending is one next-listen element and, if it fits, a Subscribe element. Filling every available slot can make the closing frame harder to read. Start with the action you can explain in one short line.

The wider YouTube guide for musicians covers your channel plan. This walkthrough assumes you control the uploaded video and can edit it in Studio.

Plan the ending before placing the overlay

Listen through the last chorus, the final lyric and the decay of the recording. Then look at the closing image. An interactive thumbnail covering the last line of on-screen lyrics or a musician's face is a placement problem you can catch before release.

End-screen elements sit over the video. A blank rectangle rendered into your edit is only part of the picture until you add the interactive element in Studio. Give your editor the intended layout early enough to leave room for it.

YouTube allows end screens in the final 5 to 20 seconds, on videos at least 25 seconds long. Standard 16:9 videos can have up to four elements; other aspect ratios may have a lower limit. Those are platform limits. You still need to choose timing that respects the song.

How do you set the elements in YouTube Studio?

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio, open Content, and select the intended video by title or thumbnail.
2. Open Editor, then End screen. Add an element or apply a template.
3. For Video, choose the specific next recording or the automatic selection you intend. For a Playlist element, check that the album playlist is the correct one.
4. Set each element's start and end using its timing boxes or by dragging its timeline edges.
5. Drag the elements into position in the preview. Use the grid and snap options when they help align the layout.
6. Play the preview through the ending, then Save.

Read the destination title before saving. An acoustic version, an older upload and the official video may have similar names. Open the destination separately and confirm the recording and channel are the ones you want a listener to reach.

If a collaborator is doing this work, use the channel access workflow and give them the destination URL with the approved cut. A note saying "link to the next single" leaves too much room for a wrong selection.

A worked ending for a single

The audio continues through its intended ending. The timing is chosen around that particular edit. Another song may need a later prompt, a different layout, or an extra closing section prepared before upload.

Keep a small handoff note with the export: filename, total running time, selected destination URL, element start time and who checks the saved page. If the cut changes, revisit those timings.

Why is the end screen missing on a phone?

Check where you are watching before changing the video. YouTube excludes mobile web, with an exception for iPad mobile web. For a phone check, open the video in the regular YouTube app as well as testing a desktop browser.

End screens are also unavailable for videos set as made for kids and for 360 videos. Use YouTube's audience-setting guidance to set the correct audience for the content. A missing marketing feature is not a reason to mislabel the video.

A viewer can hide an end screen, and YouTube says its appearance can vary with device, context, performance and viewer behavior. A correct Studio preview does not guarantee the same display on every viewing surface.

Also check whether you expected a watermark or card teaser to remain visible during the overlay. YouTube suppresses other interactive elements during the end screen. Inspect the final section as one complete layout.

Test the saved video and review the result

After people have watched the upload, open Content, select the video, then Analytics and Engagement. YouTube documents an End screen element click rate card there. Read that result for the specific element and video you changed.

A click on the next video is one step in the listening path. It does not establish that someone bought a ticket, streamed an album elsewhere, or became a lasting fan. Keep your conclusion tied to the action you can see, and avoid drawing a campaign verdict from a handful of viewers.

For a continuous album upload, add song chapters so listeners can also find tracks inside the video. That serves a different moment from the next listen after the ending.

Plan the video announcement and follow-up posts around the next recording you want listeners to hear →

Current YouTube instructions