Understand YouTube revenue sharing and how it enables creators to monetize videos using copyrighted music without losing all ad revenue. Learn the rules for licensable and non-licensable tracks, how revenue is calculated to help you maximize monetization, and eligibility requirements to help you avoid claims in the first place.
YouTube has seen a decrease in music usage in videos over time, as creators have become more aware and concerned about copyright claims. Therefore, they have enabled revenue sharing, which allows creators to share revenue with music rights holders when they use their music in long-form videos.
On YouTube, revenue sharing allows creators to use copyrighted music in their videos while still earning money. Normally, if you use copyrighted music without a license, the rights holder can claim 100% of the ad revenue from your video. With revenue sharing, the income generated by your video is split between the creator and the music rights holders.
Note: Revenue sharing is currently available only to creators in the US who are part of the YouTube Partner Program. However, YouTube plans to enable it in other countries in the future.
There are two ways revenue sharing typically applies:
For Licensable Tracks: If a track is listed as "licensable" in YouTube’s Creator Music, but you prefer not to buy a license, you can still share revenue with the rights holder. To qualify, you must:
Use the track for less than 30 seconds.
Ensure your video is longer than 3 minutes.
For Non-Licensable Tracks: Many tracks cannot be licensed trough Creator Music but are still eligible for revenue sharing. For these tracks, you can use as much of the music as you want in a video of any length. You can check a track’s eligibility by searching for it within the Creator Music tab in YouTube Studio.
If you use a licensable track for more than 30 seconds or in a video shorter than 3 minutes without a license, you will likely receive a Content ID claim. However, you can still purchase a license through Creator Music after the video is live to have the claim released.
The amount you receive depends on how many revenue-sharing tracks you use. Think of the video as being divided into "shares": you (the creator) receive one share, and each revenue-sharing track also receives one share.
Here are some examples:
If you use 1 revenue sharing track in your video, you will receive 1/2 of the revenue share paid out by YouTube.
If you use 3 revenue sharing tracks in your video, you will receive 1/4 of the revenue share paid out by YouTube.
If you use 2 revenue sharing tracks and 1 licensed track in your video, you will receive 1/3 of the revenue share paid out by YouTube.
You can find YouTube’s own examples of how the revenue share is calculated here.