[Content Commerce] "The Easiest Guitar in the World"... YouTube Lessons Surpass 40 Million Views

Interview with Joo Duyeon, CEO of AwesomeGuitar
A 25-Year Guitar Veteran... Teaching Beginners on YouTube
Over 100,000 Copies of the "Awesome Tutorial" Textbook Series Sold

"Guitar is an instrument that's easy to pick up, but many people give up quickly. I want to help everyone play without pressure and experience the joy of music."

Launched in 2014, the YouTube channel "AwesomeGuitar" has steadily gained popularity with its customized lesson content for beginner and intermediate guitarists. Joo Duyeon, CEO of AwesomeGuitar and the channel's operator, is a veteran with over 15 years of experience in guitar education. For 14 years, he has run the "Awesome Guitar Academy," helping countless beginners take their first steps. The channel has surpassed 40 million total views, and as it enters its 11th year, it boasts nearly 150,000 subscribers.

Joo Duyeon, CEO of AwesomeGuitar. (Photo by Cafe24)

Joo, who became fascinated with rock and metal music in middle school, first picked up the guitar out of a desire to play his favorite songs himself. Since then, he has continued to play without pause. When he started his channel, there were few YouTube creators focusing on guitar. As an early adopter, Joo had a habit of actively utilizing new platforms as they emerged. This led him to decide to spread the joy of music through YouTube and launch his channel. He explained, "Even recently, whenever acoustic-based songs like 'Officially Missing You' or 'Friday Meeting' become popular, there's an increase in beginner viewers joining."

AwesomeGuitar has drawn attention with its slogan, "The easiest guitar in the world." The channel guides viewers so anyone can easily play popular songs. For example, it teaches beginners to play the difficult high chord "F" in a simplified form, or to substitute the Bm chord with a D chord, providing sheet music that feels much easier for novices. Since the Bm chord requires pressing more than five strings with one finger, it's challenging for beginners, so the channel teaches them to replace it with the D chord, which can be played with three fingers.

AwesomeGuitar focuses every aspect of its videos on guitar performance. The performer's face and voice are omitted, showing only the guitar and essential chord information in a clean, uncluttered display. The visuals are simple, but the immersion is high. Joo explained, "In the past, there was a tendency to focus solely on delivering information without caring about video quality, but making an effort to use good equipment and create emotionally engaging videos has produced great results."

Recently, the business has expanded into commerce by utilizing the "YouTube Shopping" feature through Cafe24. Through the store tab and content on the YouTube channel, viewers can purchase the "Awesome Tutorial" series of textbooks authored by Joo himself. The Awesome Tutorial series is a set of textbooks compiled for beginners of band instruments, including guitar, electric guitar, bass, vocals, and drums.

Each section of the Awesome Guitar Academy is written by experts who also use the books as teaching materials. With numerous illustrations and photos, the books are designed to help beginners learn everything from how to hold the instrument to the basics of playing correctly. Since its release, the series has sold over 100,000 copies across all sales channels.

Joo emphasized, "The way you hold an instrument may not seem important at first, but over time it makes a significant difference in your playing ability, so it's especially crucial." He added, "Deciding to sell on YouTube and going through the approval process allowed us to start selling in just one week, which was very convenient."

AwesomeGuitar aims to help people expand their hobbies beyond just learning to play. In addition to running the YouTube channel, Joo also provides guitar, drum, bass, and vocal lessons at 14 academy locations nationwide. The academy supports students in expanding their hobbies through band practice and performance activities. Joo said, "Our philosophy is to help people add music to their daily lives and create happiness through music. We plan to continue increasing the number of locations and content, while strengthening our brand identity."