Go global with

Multi languag
audio
e
As more and more people across the world come online, we've seen a rise in demand for
content that spans a diverse range of spoken languages. Aiming to enable creators with the
features they need to meet this opportunity, we've launched multi-language audio on YouTube.

Any language, any time!

You can choose to dub your content in any language and add dubbed
tracks at any time.

Dub Your Videos

Multi-language audio enables you to upload additional
languages as audio tracks for new or existing videos.

To generate a dubbed audio track, you can outsource

your dubbing needs to a vendor or record yourself
speaking in another language. Currently, YouTube
does not automatically dub audio tracks.

Upload the Dubs

Via YouTube Studio
Once you have sourced the dubbed audio files,
you can add them as audio tracks.

All you need to do is add the audio track files

through the Subtitles Editor tool.

To do so, go to YouTube Studio > Subtitles >

Select the video > Add Language.

Translated audio tracks should match the original audio as closely as possible. You can read about audio file guidelines here.

It’s important to recognize the substantial time, effort, and resources

PLAN YOUR DUBBING necessary to dub your content. Before you start experimenting with MLA,

Strateg it is key to plan and budget accordingly. Throughout this resource, we will
cover considerations you should bear in mind regarding the target

y
audience, the dubbing method, and the channel strategy.
 Go global with multi-language audio
Plan your strategy

Target Audience
Going international is not only about dubbing your videos, it is also about how your content
may resonate with the target audience.

Language & Geography Content & Culture

When choosing which language(s) to start with, keep Although there are no strict rules around what
the following in mind: type of content can or cannot be dubbed,
consider these factors to make an informed
● Language: The population size in one language
decision about which audiences to target:
may differ from that of another, resulting in a
different potential reach for each language. ● Culture: Assess whether your videos rely too
Additionally, dubbing prices/availability for some heavily on culture-specific humour or local
languages might be more expensive than others. references, as this type of content might not
easily translate into other languages.
● Geography: Different languages may provide a
different return on investment when considering ● Content: Broad vs. niche appeal is another
the ad market or Revenue Per Mille (RPM) of factor to consider. Content that satisfies
each country. viewers need for storytelling, inspires awe,
drives connection, or provides educational
If your resources are limited, we recommend that
value is likely to have a better chance
you focus your efforts on a specific language or
transcending borders / culture.
region when first starting out.

��
Do you have any suggestions on
which languages I should
translate my content into?
In our early tests, we have observed that some
languages yield better engagement, these include:
English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German,
Indonesian, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.

Do your market research!

Consider checking your channel's audience by subtitled language (on YouTube Analytics).
You can also use Google Trends or YouTube Search to evaluate popularity of your topics/vertical
across different geographies.
 Go global with multi-language audio
Plan your strategy

Dubbing Method
Before using MLA, you'll need to first source dubbed tracks. Two of the most common
methods are human and synthetic dubbing—each of which has its pros and cons. Ultimately,
your choice here will depend on budget, time constraints, project requirements and personal
preference.

Human Dubbing Synthetic Dubbing

Involves the creation of a new audio track with a Uses Artificial Intelligence and text-to-speech
new recording performed by a voice actor who is technology to create a synthetic voice that
fluent in the target language. generates a new audio track.

Advantages Advantages

● High quality output ● Cost-effective

● Natural sounding voice (conveys emotions, ● Faster turnaround time
preserves nuances of original audio)
Watch out’s
Watch out’s
● Naturalness of the voice can be lost
● Time consuming (delivery) (limited emotional range, which may
● Costly impact the viewer experience)
● You may need to invest additional time to
adjust/align audio to video timeline

Sourcing the dubs There are many third party tools and services that offer
Where to translation services. We recommend that you do your research
begin? to assess which provider suits your needs best. To get you
started, here you can find a (non-exhaustive) list of dubbing
providers.

�� Has YouTube considered doing the dubbing for creators?

We’re bringing an AI-powered dubbing tool called Aloud into YouTube Studio. Aloud lets
creators dub videos in minutes, at no cost. It currently supports dubbing from English into
Spanish and Portuguese, with more languages to come. We plan to open up Aloud to creators
more broadly in 2024, stay tuned!
 Go global with multi-language audio
Plan your strategy

One vs. Many Channels

While using MLA to post all languages on a single channel can simplify maintenance and analytics
tracking, we recognize that some creators might prefer to create a second channel targeted at a
specific language and audience.

You might want to ask yourself:

● Do I have the time, resources and passion to invest in more than one channel?
● Do I envision a future where I’ll dub my content across many languages or only a few?
● Does my content require additional localisation efforts for it to resonate with audiences in
other languages? (for example, translating text on screen, modifying the script, etc)

Global/Single Channel Language

(Multi-language audio) Specific Channels

The day to day management of multiple channels can

CHANNEL All the channel management activities are centralised be more resource intensive (e.g comment
MANAGEMENT in one palace. management, making more thumbnails, organizing
playlists, etc)

All the data and analytics from viewership across

DATA &
ANALYTICS languages gets centralised and accumulated in a Data gets split across channels.
single channel.

At the moment it is not possible to customise the

The channel name and layout can be organized around
CHANNEL channel for every language the content is translated
CUSTOMIZATION a single language. Additionally, the video tab will only
into. Also, all the videos are hosted in a single channel,
contain content available in the specific language.
whether they contain translations or not.

You can manage all of your comments in one single Comment management in multiple accounts can take
COMMUNITY place. However, currently it is not possible to split more time. However, keeping a single language per
MANAGEMENT comments by languages so viewers will see multiple channel can allow you to focus on growing your
languages in the comments section. community around a shared language.

The thumbnail and video file will remain the same Creator has the option to translate the text within the
CONTENT across languages, which means that any text burnt video, in order to provide a better localisation
LOCALISATION into the video or the thumbnail will appear in their experience to the audience. The creator can also chose
original language. to localise any text that appears in the thumbnail.

Consider the implications that having a mixed

BUSINESS Splitting audiences may enable creators to further
OPPORTUNITY audience may have for your business. Whether that is
target any business opportunities based on geography.
brand collaborations, RPMs, products you sell, etc.

��
Do you have multiple channels in different languages?
We recommend that they keep their existing channels and experiment with
multi-language audio to determine how best to reach a global audience.
 Best Practices
Go global with multi-language audio

Translation of Proactive
Metadata & Catalog Promotion
By making it easier to the audience to discover, engage Proactive promotion can help drive additional reach
and navigate through your catalog of content, you when testing MLA:
increase the chances of turning a casual viewer into a
loyal fan.To grow your fanbase in a new language using ● Share with your audience: let your viewers
MLA, consider: know by explaining that you have dubbed your
content. You can use visually distinct graphics
to help non-native viewers find and enable your
● Translating titles and descriptions: Make it
additional audio tracks.
easy for viewers in a new target language find
you by translating your video’s metadata. ● Collaborations with other creators: whether
Remember that viewers can search for content fully fledged or simply a quick shout from a
using the video's translated title and description. local creator, can be a great way to reach
audience in your target language. When finding
● Back catalog dubbing: If you have the a collaborator, go beyond purely looking at
resources, consider dubbing half (or more) of
subscriber count and instead look for someone
your catalogue. While cost-intensive, this can with a compatible audience or content.
provide additional opportunities for new viewers
to discover your content. ● Paid promotions: paid ads, while cost-intensive,
provide another avenue for reaching viewers in
different languages.

��
Can I analyze the performance
of dubbed videos and break up
my viewership by language?

Yes, within YouTube Analytics creators can use the

viewership reports by audio track.

Hear it from MrBeast!

MrBeast is an American creator who has over 130
million subscribers worldwide. He has already dubbed
his most popular videos in 11 languages and is hoping
to bring more international viewers to his main
channel through MLA.

Check out this video to hear his unfiltered thoughts

regarding his experience with MLA!

Need more help? Learn more about multi-language audio through the YouTube Help Center.