Long-form videos with licensed music will soon be monetizable on YouTube. The 'Creator Music' program was announced yesterday's Made on YouTube event.
This allows creators to use a vast library of popular music in their videos without fear of being demonetized. When utilizing licensed music, creators have a few alternatives.
YouTube states that if producers choose to split earnings with artists, their 55% part will be proportional to the amount of licensed tracks in the video.
Susan Cadrecha, a representative for YouTube, reports that the split for one track is 27.5% and for two it drops to 18.3%. Videos are also subject to additional deductions, such as royalties for performance rights.
YouTube hopes that this arrangement will provide creators with greater flexibility when using licensed music on the platform. To avoid having their channels demonetized, the majority of genuine creators opt for royalty-free music.
The new YouTube Music Creator program is currently in testing in the United States and may be rolled out internationally in the coming year.
"Creators have often informed us that picking the proper tune is not the difficult part. It's figuring out how to license it," says YouTube Vice President of Creator Products Amjad Hanif.
YouTube has reached agreements with at least fifty labels, publishers, and distributors.
However, none of these deals appears to involve the three big record labels (UMG, WMG, Sony). In addition to this new program that enables creators to use licensed music on YouTube, the platform intends to make it easier for producers to monetize YouTube Shorts.
"Music can fuel the emotional connection between artists, creators, and all of their fans," says Hanif. "We aim to reinforce this by giving creators more options to work with and by allowing artists to meet their audience where they currently are on YouTube."
