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YouTube‘s staying in the Coachella desert for a few more years.
The streamer will remain the exclusive free streaming home of Coachella through 2030, continuing its nearly 15-year partnership with the festival’s parent company Goldenvoice. The extension comes nearly six months after YouTube’s broadcast the Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G-led edition of the festival, which became the platform’s most-watched Coachella livestream ever.
“We’re excited to bring the energy of the desert to millions of music fans around the world,” YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said Wednesday at the company’s “Made on YouTube” event in New York City.
During the event, the company introduced a suite of new features and tools for viewers and creators. Some of its other new products include new custom feeds, AI-powered conversational functions across YouTube and YouTube Music, and new comment features, among many others.
The presentation reflects the all-in approach Google (and its parent company, Alphabet) has taken in incorporating AI into its platforms to aid those who make the most use of them, including through Gemini for businesses and its Flow and DeepMind teams for creatives.
One significant launch: expanding shows to YouTube Shorts, allowing creators to format short-form videos into a structured experience with episodes laid out for viewers — or, in other words, format Shorts videos as microdramas.
YouTube said microdrama viewership topped 6.5 billion views in the first half of 2026, growing by more than 60% year-over-year, while microdrama viewership on TV screens increased by 90% year-over-year in the first half of 2026. Expanding Shorts into episode-like structures taps into the platform’s burgeoning living room audience, more than 35% of which watched YouTube Shorts on TV in July.
“Shorts are more than a discovery engine to drive views to your longer videos, and viewers are not only watching them on mobile; they’re also watching them together on the biggest screen in their house,” Emily Moxley, YouTube’s vice president for product management for viewer AI, said on stage. “They’ve become a content genre all on their own.”
The company won’t disclose the dominant medium for microdrama viewers, but Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s senior director for product management for YouTube on TV, said the new tools reflect how YouTube sees the continued growth of the format.
“Microdramas in particular, they’re fast paced, they’re action packed, they’re quick, and so, in the industry as a whole, I think viewers are resonating with this type of content,” Wilms told reporters at the Made on YouTube event. “I assume it’s going to continue to grow.”
The company is also infusing more of its products with AI. The company’s new “Ask” feature, available across YouTube and YouTube Music, allows users to pose queries to an AI agent for things like shoppable items featured in videos, new music recommendations and carrying conversations across different YouTube pages. The “Ask” features will begin rolling out later this year.
For podcasts, the company is rolling out a “podcast lineup” feature within YouTube Music. The AI-driven tool allows users to get a spoken preview of shows and features an AI agent pressing users on why they like specific podcasts before pushing episodes to them. The tool begins testing later this year.
The YouTube Music features were demoed by music creator Derrick Gee, who used the “Ask“ feature to dive deeper into Troye Sivan‘s single “She’s the Best” and the influences behind the track. Sivan himself, who got his start on YouTube, came out for an interview with Gee to discuss the platform’s impact on his career.
“I uploaded my first YouTube video in 2007,” he said. “I was a child, and it really still informs everything that I do. I would say to this day, because I learnt really, really early on that it was all about creating community and having such [a] direct line to people, and realizing that people are smart and people know and can feel when something is genuine.”
For users, new features will appear right on their YouTube homepage. For its “custom feed” feature, which appears to be powered by AI, YouTube watchers can create new channels dedicated to recommended videos on topics they request to see, with the feeds remaining on their homepage. The feature was demoed during the event by fashion creator Mina Le, who showcased the in-the-works feature by feeds on stationary videos and “late night coziness” clips focused on ambient noises.
“No clutter, no searching every time I want to dive in. Just this personal space curated for me that I can come back to whenever I want,” she said. “This new feature is a huge shift in the viewer experience of YouTube, a shift towards greater customization.”
For creators who use its Studio suite, the company is rolling out another “Ask” feature to help creators edit and test out videos more easily, including by providing feedback. Other features include A/B testing for videos, letting the platform generate titles and thumbnails based on a creator’s style, dynamic thumbnails for different audiences and specific insights into video performance.
The company is also rolling out new ways for creators to monetize their work, including a new “Hype with Jewels” feature that allows viewers to celebrate their favorite creators’ work. YouTube is also boosting its affiliate program globally so creators can earn more from affiliate links and brand partnerships form their fans.
“Let’s face it, creators are the new global storefront, and your viewers are already lined up at the register,” Mary Ellen Coe, YouTube’s chief business officer, said on stage.
