License tracks

Creator Music is now available to US creators in the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP). Expansion to YPP creators outside of the US is pending.

Note: Features described in this article are available through a web browser.

With Creator Music, some songs can be licensed, which means that creators pay an upfront fee (or no fee for some tracks) to use music in their video and keep the video's full revenue share.

Find music to license

To find tracks that you can license:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio in a web browser.
2. From the left-hand menu, select Creator Music .
3. On the Home or Browse pages, go to the search bar and enter search terms, such as song title or artist name.
4. Tick the Licence available box at the top of your search results.

Bear in mind:

• On the Home page, you can find licensable tracks in Featured licensable tracks.
• Licensable tracks are listed with a price next to them.
• If you don't want to buy a licence, licensable tracks may also be eligible to share revenue if your video meets the revenue sharing usage requirements.

Get a licence

Once you find a licensable track, there a few ways in which you can license it:

• In Creator Music
• During upload
• After upload

In Creator Music

To license tracks in Creator Music:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio in a web browser.
2. From the left-hand menu, select Creator Music .
3. Find a track that you want to license.
4. Click 'More actions'   Buy licence. 
5. Review the licence details.
   • Paid licences: Click BUY LICENCE  Enter payment info  PAY NOW  DOWNLOAD TRACK.
   • No-cost licences: Click DOWNLOAD.
6. To use the licence, add the licence to your video during upload.

During upload

When you upload a video that uses a Creator Music track, you need to add the licence information to the video file you're uploading. You can also buy the licence at upload if you haven't done that yet. You can do all of this from the Video elements page:

1. Start uploading a video in a web browser.
2. On the Video elements page, in the Add music licences section, click ADD.
3. Find the tracks that you used in the video that you're uploading.
   • Click Purchased for tracks that you've already purchased.
   • Click Downloaded for tracks that you've downloaded.
   • Click Saved for tracks that you've saved to your library.
4. For Downloaded or Saved tracks, click the price. For Purchased tracks, click ADD and skip to Step 6.
5. Review the licence details.
   • Paid licences: Click BUY LICENCE  Enter payment info  PAY NOW  ADD LICENCE.
   • No-cost licences: Click ADD LICENCE.
6. Review the Video copyright details page to confirm that the licence was added to your video.
   • To add more licences, repeat Steps 2–5 above.
7. Click RETURN TO UPLOAD to finish the upload process.

Bear in mind:

• You can also add licences from the Checks page if Creator Music tracks are found in the Checks process. On the Checks page, click ADD LICENCE and complete the licensing steps. If you've already added a licence on the Video elements page, the licence will appear on the Checks page.
• On the Visibility page, if your video's privacy settings are set to Private or Unlisted, or if a video is a Draft, any licences that you've added can be removed and added to other videos. This can't be done once a video is set to Public. Learn how to remove licences.

After upload

Licensing tracks after upload is possible for a short amount of time after a video is published. To get a licence after upload:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio in a web browser.
2. From the left-hand menu, select Content .
3. Find the video with the track that you want to licence.
4. Click the video thumbnail.
5. From the left-hand menu, select Copyright .
   • Paid licences: Click BUY LICENCE  Enter payment info  PAY NOW.
   • No-cost licences: Click ADD LICENCE.

 

Tip: Check the receipt that's emailed to you for important info about how the licence can be used. You can also check usage details in Creator Music. Learn more about usage details for licences.

Remove a licence

If a video's privacy settings are set to Private or Unlisted, or if a video is a Draft, any licences that have been added to that video can be removed and added to other videos. This can't be done once a video is set to Public.

To remove a licence:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio in a web browser.
2. From the left-hand menu, select Content .
3. Find the video that has the licence that you want to remove.
4. In the Restrictions column, hover over Licence added.
5. Click REVIEW.
6. Click Actions   Remove Licence.
7. Click REMOVE LICENCE.

Once a licence is removed, the licensable track used in the video is no longer protected from copyright claims. You may want to learn how to remove claimed content from videos.

More info 

• Understand usage details for licences
• Restrictions on using a licence
• Licence FAQ