OK Go, BBQ and Musicians Wanted at SXSW

Right up there with our love of award-winning Texas BBQ is our love of independent music and the people who create it. That’s why the indie-centric SXSW Music Conference in Austin is the perfect place to launch the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) for musicians, aka Musicians Wanted. It's just the latest step in the YPP's continual expansion.

This time, we’re inviting thousands of artists who made the trek to Texas -- and the rest of you accomplished musicians at home -- to apply today. If accepted, you'll join stars like ukulele songstress Julia Nunes, singer-songwriter David Choi and many others who, as partners, are able to make some money from their YouTube videos. Here's multi-instrumentalist and YouTube musician extraordinaire Jack Conte and songstress Nataly Dawn (aka Pomplamoose) to tell you more:

We've also got a few words from our most recent YPP Music partner. You may have heard of them – they're a little band with a viral hit or two and recently made headlines by starting their own indie label. As OK Go's Damian Kulash puts it "YouTube has always been a great match for OK Go - creativity flourishes and we can connect directly with our fans. So when we heard about Musicians Wanted, it was a no-brainer: it sounds great for us. We're honored and excited to be the first applicants. We can't wait to get new videos up on our channel."

So whether you make hip-hop, folk, noise-rock, jazz or a genre of your own invention, we are looking for all types of original music video content. One thing to keep in mind is that right now this program only supports video content by U.S.-based artists, though there are plans to roll out the program more widely in the future.

We'll leave you with a final call to apply now to join our Musicians Wanted campaign and perhaps you, too, will find yourself autographing CDs, reporting from the road and collaborating with other amazing musicians on the site.

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, recently watched "Bulldozer."