For musicians, YouTube monetisation means two different things that are easy to mix up. One is money from your own channel: ads on the videos you upload, paid through the YouTube Partner Program. The other is money from your music wherever it plays on YouTube, which reaches you through your distributor. This article is about the first: what the programme asks of a music channel, and how it fits together with the second.
Two separate money pipes
- Channel revenue. Once your channel is accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, ads on your uploads earn money that YouTube pays to the AdSense account linked to the channel.
- Music revenue. Plays of your Art Tracks on YouTube Music and the Topic channel, and Content ID claims on other people's videos that use your recordings, are reported to your distributor and appear in your distribution reports.
You can have the second without the first, and many artists do for years. An Official Artist Channel brings your own channel and your Topic channel together for listeners, but the money still flows through two pipes: Art Track plays keep being reported through the distributor.
What the Partner Program asks for
The exact numbers change, so check the current requirements in the earning section of YouTube Studio instead of trusting a figure from an old video. In general terms, the programme looks for:
- a minimum number of subscribers;
- enough public watch time on long videos over the past twelve months, or enough Shorts views over a recent period;
- a channel that follows YouTube's monetisation policies and community guidelines, without active strikes;
- two-step verification on your Google account and a linked AdSense account;
- residence in a country where the programme is available.
In some countries there is also an earlier tier with lower thresholds that opens fan-funding features, such as channel memberships or Super Thanks, before ad revenue. What is available differs by country.
Meeting the numbers only makes you eligible to apply. People at YouTube then review the channel, and that can take weeks.
Why music channels get turned down
The review looks at the channel as a whole: its main theme, its most viewed videos, its newest uploads and how much of the content is original. Music channels most often run into the reused content policy. Typical risks:
- lyric videos or visualisers of other artists' songs;
- re-uploads, compilations and sped-up versions of songs you do not own;
- many near-identical videos with a static image and audio and nothing added;
- a large share of videos carrying claims from other rights holders.
Your own songs with a static cover are not forbidden, but a channel made only of them gives reviewers little to judge. Live sessions, studio videos, performances and anything that shows you as a creator make the case stronger.
Iris Vale, a made-up singer-songwriter, reached the thresholds with a channel of live sessions and short studio clips, and her application went through. A friend whose channel was mostly lyric videos of other people's hits had the same numbers and was turned down.
Claims on your own uploads
If your recordings are in Content ID and your channel is not whitelisted, the system can claim your own videos. Before you are in the Partner Program this is not always bad, because the revenue from those videos can still reach you through your distributor. Once you are in, whitelisting your channel lets your own uploads earn through AdSense without being claimed. CULT sends whitelist requests for your own channel and the channels you work with after checking rights, and approval is not automatic.
Be careful with anything that is not fully yours. A beat leased non-exclusively, a sample or a cover can each bring a claim from someone else, and a claimed video earns for the claimant, not for you.
What actually earns on a music channel
Long videos such as music videos, live performances and behind-the-scenes clips earn from ads shown before and during them. Shorts work differently: revenue is pooled and shared according to rules YouTube sets, and part of it goes to cover the music used. Rates vary by country and season, and the amounts for a growing channel are usually modest.
Once you are in, other tools may open up: channel memberships, Super Thanks and merch shelves through supported partners. Which ones you get depends on your country and tier.
Before you apply
- Remove uploads of songs that are not yours, or set them to private.
- Make sure your own songs are whitelisted for your channel, or know how claims on them are handled.
- Write proper titles and descriptions, with credits.
- Set up AdSense in your own name and country, and fill in the tax information YouTube asks for.
- Keep uploading original videos while you wait for the review.