YouTube lets creators earn ad money through Shorts, add licensable music to videos

YouTube has long been a lucrative way to earn money off of videos, and the company has announced new ways in which creators can share in the revenue. Starting from 2023, those that focus on the TikTok rip-off Shorts will be able to apply for the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) to earn money from ads, just like other YouTube creators.

Yes, that means there will probably be more ads on Shorts, which will run between each video. To ensure each creator gets a fair cut, YouTube will distribute the revenue based on their share of total Shorts views, meaning that videos will not need to be placed next to an ad to earn money.

Creators will get to keep 45% of their revenue; the rest goes towards music licensing, whether said creator uses music in their videos or not. This simplifies the process and means you can use music in your Shorts without the fear of getting demonetised.

Revenue sharing replaces YouTube’s temporary Shorts Fund and enables new ways to tap into the money the company pays creators, which reached over USD50 billion (RM228 billion) over the past three years. The company is also adding Shorts creators to its YouTube BrandConnect service, letting them find brands to advertise with them.

YouTube continues to restrict YPP to those who reached 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours (or ten million Shorts views, a new criteria), but it will be introducing a new tier with lower requirements to give fledgling creators earlier access to Fan Funding features.

These include Super Thanks (which is now being beta tested in Shorts, by the way), Super Chat, Super Stickers and Channel Memberships, which fans can purchase to show their appreciation of the creators’ work. This new tier will be rolled out to those making long-form, Shorts and Live videos starting next year.

Last but not least, YouTube has announced a new Creator Music service that aims to streamline music licensing. You can now buy “affordable, high-quality” music licenses for use in videos – and still earn money from those videos.

Those that don’t want to purchase a licence up front will still be able to insert certain songs in their videos; they will instead split their earnings with the track’s artist and associated rights holders. Creator Music is currently being beta tested in the US ahead of a wider release in more countries next year.