YouTube will now let creators make money off of long-form videos with new licensed-music program

Alphabet Inc-owned YouTube has announced that it will allow creators to monetise their long-form videos with licensed music starting 2023. The video platform will be introducing a new program called ‘Creator Music’, which aims to give creators on the platform easy access to an ever-growing catalogue of music for use in their long-form videos.

“Creators can now buy affordable, high-quality music licenses that offer them full monetising potential — they will keep the same revenue share they’d usually make on videos without any music,” Amjad Hanif, Vice President of Creator Products, YouTube, said in a statement. Those creators who don’t want to buy a license up front, they’ll be able to use songs and share revenue with the track’s artist and associated rights holders, added Hanif. “Creator Music, currently in beta in the US and expanding to more countries in 2023, will offer a streamlined process for creators — they’ll be able to instantly see the terms for their song selection,” Hanif said during the ‘Made on YouTube’ event late on Tuesday.     The company said that revenue sharing is also coming to YouTube Shorts. Beginning in early 2023, current and future YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) creators will be eligible for revenue sharing on Shorts. “In Shorts, ads run between videos in the Shorts Feed. So, every month, revenue from these ads will be added together and used to reward Shorts creators and help cover costs of music licensing,” said the company. From the overall amount allocated to creators, they will keep 45 per cent of the revenue, distributed based on their share of total Shorts views. “The revenue share remains the same, no matter if they use music or not,” said YouTube. The company is also launching ‘Super Thanks for Shorts’ in beta to thousands of creators, with a complete rollout expected next year. Viewers can show their appreciation for their favourite Shorts, and creators can interact with their fans through purchased, highlighted Super Thanks comments.