How Many Views Is Considered Viral for a Video: Get the Stats, Tips and 5 Songs to Help Your Next Project Soar

Are you looking to launch a career in video content creation by crafting the next viral video hit? Well, despite how easy it appears for a random video on the internet to be catapulted by the algorithms into a multi-million-view viral hit, trying to send yourself on a rags-to-riches ride is anything but simple and easy.

In many ways, it’s impossible to “make” something go viral. Yet, still, many people try to go viral with their own personal videos or content created for various companies or brands. But what does it actually mean for a video to go viral these days?

Let’s explore how many views is considered viral for a video and try our best to give you the resources (and the high-quality royalty free music) you need to create content that has a shot at launching itself to be a viral sensation.

What does “viral” mean for video?

To start, let’s look at what the term “viral” means in the context of online content. The “viral phenomenon,” as Wikipedia puts it, is “objects or patterns that can replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them.”

For video in particular, the concept of going viral has become a common way to describe how thoughts, information, and trends move through a human population. Since the birth of the Internet and its widespread adoption, videos have been able to go viral in a way that can seem quite drastic and fast-spreading.

Yet, despite their connotations with sickness and disease, most viral videos are harmless and can be quite fun for both creators and viewers.

What makes a video go viral?

Now that we’ve defined a viral video, let’s explore what really makes something go viral. Of course, views are the statistic most often associated with a video's virality. However, we can also look to other engagement metrics like shares, likes, and comments to judge how popular a video has become.

The causes of a video going viral are diverse and sometimes untraceable. Yet a common theme might simply be that a video is interesting, engaging, and feels very shareable. The more shareable a video is, the more likely one viewer will share it with multiple friends, and if that trend continues, virality can happen very quickly.

How many views is viral for a video?

To answer the question at the heart of the matter, let’s explore just how many views are viral for a video. According to YouTube personality Kevin Nalty, “A few years ago, a video could be considered 'viral' if it hit a million views,” but as of 2011, that number had already objectively jumped up to at least 5 million views within a short period.

For modern virality, it might be safe to say that a video needs at least a few thousand views within a few hours to a day to be considered “viral,” yet it would truly need millions of views a day for several days to be called a “viral” video fully.

However, with that being said, no higher power or institute declares the exact number of views needed for a video to be viral. If you’re a small-time creator launching your career, a few hundred views can feel like a viral sensation. Conversely, if you’re a seasoned creator with a large following already, the same numbers can feel like a flop.

Royalty free music to help your videos go viral

Regardless of the size of your channel or expectations for your video content, the tricks to help make your videos go viral will remain the same. It will all come down to watchability and shareability, which we can explore a bit more below.

But before we do, let’s look at the one area that is probably the most important factor for a video’s success. The soundtrack is not only a huge element of a video’s viewability but also where most creators use songs they haven’t properly licensed themselves.

Using unlicensed music can result in your videos violating copyright rules and ultimately being muted, blocked, taken down, or even having your channels banned. To protect yourself and your potentially viral videos from these restrictions, your best defense will be to use royalty free music properly licensed by music catalogs like Soundstripe.

To help you start on this royalty free music journey, here are some hand-picked tracks that can provide the soundtracks to your viral-ready videos.

1. Bottleneck by Neon Beach

• Description: A medium-energy, electronic song that is best described as fun and happy. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 111
• Key: F Major
• Listen and license here.

• Description: A low-energy, electronic song best described as chill and reflective. Synth and piano are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 108
• Key: B Major
• Listen and license here.

• Description: A medium-energy, electronic song that is best described as chill and happy. Ambient tones and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 102
• Key: E Major
• Listen and license here.

• Description: A medium-energy, hip-hop song that is best described as happy and hopeful. Bass and bass guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
• BPM: 96
• Key: A Major
• Listen and license here.

• Description: A medium-energy, electronic song that is best described as chill and fun. Synth is the primary instrument in this track.
• BPM: 140
• Key: Eb/D# Major
• Listen and license here.

Since YouTube is one of the best platforms to launch a viral video, these tracks come from our roundup of the best royalty free music for YouTube, which we highly recommend you check out in its entirety.

Tips for getting your videos to go viral

Once you've found the perfect royalty free music for your videos and feel ready to create your own viral sensations, here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind to help you put your content in the best possible situation to launch.

• Research what are the most profitable YouTube niches and which might be most interesting to you.
• Watch lots of video content and try to recognize trends in the videos that go viral.
• Consider downloading preview tracks to use as placeholders in your edits before deciding if a track is right for your project.
• Be sure to check out our library of royalty free sound effects to give your viral videos that extra production level.
• Try out Soundstripe’s AI Song Editor to instantly edit your audio track to match the length of your video

One thing to remember is that very few videos go viral, and even when they do, it’s often for reasons completely outside of your control. So, if you’re creating content that isn’t blowing up immediately, don’t worry—that’s normal.

Try to make videos that feel genuine and fun. If you can harness that power, you’ll give yourself the best shot at launching a viral hit.