Share revenue in Creator Music as a rights holder

Creator Music is now available to U.S. creators in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Expansion to YPP creators outside of the U.S. is pending.

Creator Music gives creators new options to use music and earn revenue, while also giving music rights holders new ways to earn on YouTube. To get started with revenue sharing on Creator Music as a rights holder:

1. Find out which of your sound recording assets are eligible to share revenue.
2. Decide whether revenue sharing usage terms should be restricted or unrestricted.

Before you get started, use the information below to understand the difference between restricted and unrestricted usage.

Understand revenue sharing usage terms

Restricted usage

When you offer a track for licensing on Creator Music, revenue sharing is also enabled if a creators’ use of the track qualifies as restricted usage. Restricted usage means the creator's use of the track is restricted to 30 seconds in a video that must be 3 minutes or longer. 

If the creator uses more than 30 seconds of the track, or if their video is shorter than 3 minutes, and they don’t license the content, their video would be unprotected against a copyright claim.

Note: Restricted usage also applies to any sound recording asset that has two or more owners.

Unrestricted usage

In Creator Music, unrestricted usage means the creator can use any amount of your track in a video of any length. Unrestricted usage applies when your asset has no licensing strategy applied or when you manually deactivate a license strategy on an asset.

Note: If a video uses a revenue sharing track, but the creator doesn’t turn monetization on for the video, the video will still be monetized. The revenue will go to the track’s rights holder. Any block policies will still apply.

Usage icons

In Creator Music, tracks are displayed with icons that represent the track’s usage terms. Creators can use these icons to quickly understand what happens to their video if they use a track:

	Eligible for revenue sharing. Use of the track means the video can share revenue with the track's rights holders.
	Ineligible for monetization. Use of the track means the video can’t be monetized, but will remain visible on YouTube.
	Video will be blocked. Use of the track means the video won’t be visible on YouTube.
Note: Licensable tracks are displayed in Creator Music with a price next to them.

Find videos that are sharing revenue

Revenue sharing is based on a claiming system, similar to standard Content ID claims. In Studio Content Manager, a claimed video that’s sharing revenue shows as an automated Content ID claim with the same origin and claim type as other claimed videos. However, videos that are sharing revenue show on the Claimed videos  page with the revenue sharing icon .

To see a list of claimed videos that are sharing revenue:

1. Sign in to Studio Content Manager.
2. From the left menu, select Claimed videos .
3. Click the filter bar   Revenue sharing with uploader.

To refine the search further:

1. Click the filter bar   Claim revenue sharing type  select either:
   • Revenue sharing: Videos with unrestricted usage.
   • Revenue sharing with restrictions: Videos with restricted usage.
2. Click APPLY.

Tip: To view your music revenue sharing earnings, export a list of revenue sharing claimed videos and match the video IDs with the video IDs in your monthly financial reports.

View policies of videos sharing revenue

Once you find a claimed video that’s sharing revenue, you can see what policies are associated with the assets that claimed the videos.

1. Follow steps above to find videos that are sharing revenue.

2. Click the claimed video.

3. On the Claimed video details page, from the left menu,  select Policy .

   • Claimed video policy: The final policy outcome. It includes other partner, uploader, and admin policies.

   • Your claims: A list of every asset’s policy owned by you that’s claiming the video. 

     • To view policy details, hover over the info icon .

     • To view asset details, hover over the asset’s title.

   • Other (uploader) – Claim: Policy chosen by the video’s uploader. Often the uploader is an individual creator.

   • YouTube admin policy: Policy applied by YouTube. Ads may not show on your video in certain territories where we would apply the track policy, such as with music content.

Keep in mind:

• Policies of other partners that use Content ID won’t be displayed unless their policies impact yours.
• Sometimes policy info won't be displayed because a policy was overridden (for example, when a more restrictive policy overrides a less restrictive policy).

Revenue sharing FAQ

How do I disable revenue sharing on assets?

If an asset is eligible for revenue sharing, you can apply a license strategy to restrict usage to less than 30 seconds in videos that are longer than 3 minutes. It's not possible to completely disable revenue sharing on eligible assets.

If a video has a copyright claim, does it stop sharing revenue with the creator?

If a creator uploads a video that uses a revenue sharing track and uses other third-party content that gets a standard copyright claim, then the standard copyright claim will block revenue sharing on that video (unless the creator successfully disputes the claim).

Can I edit a policy on claimed videos that are sharing revenue?

Yes, partners can edit policies on revenue sharing claimed videos and the assets that claim those videos, which may result in the video being blocked if the partner chooses to apply a block policy.

Does revenue sharing apply to older videos?

Videos using your content that were claimed before to the effective date of your Creator Music Amendment are not eligible for revenue sharing. However, after the effective date of your Creator Music Amendment, if you add asset ownership to a video that was uploaded before that date, that video will be eligible for revenue sharing.

What's the relationship between revenue sharing eligibility and licensing eligibility?

For partners who signed the Creator Music Amendment:

• If an asset has an assigned license strategy, it’s eligible for revenue sharing with restricted usage (except for license strategies manually deactivated by partner).
• If a license strategy has not been assigned to an asset, the asset is eligible for revenue sharing with unrestricted usage.

When does a revenue sharing video stop revenue sharing?

There are certain scenarios that may cause a video's revenue sharing to stop:

• Asset ownership change: For example, if asset ownership was transferred to a partner that didn’t sign the Creator Music Amendment. In this scenario, the claim would be converted to a standard Content ID claim.
• Policy changes: For example, if the asset's policy was changed to block.
• Third party copyright claim: For example, if a creator uploads a video that uses a revenue sharing track and uses other third-party content that gets a standard copyright claim, then the standard copyright claim will block revenue sharing on that video (unless the creator successfully disputes the claim).

More info

• Review assets for revenue sharing eligibility
• View Creator Music data
• Get started with licensing as a rights holder