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.
Below are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) from creators about using Creator Music. FAQs are grouped into 3 categories:
General FAQs
What is Creator Music?Creator Music is a growing catalog of mainstream music that can be used in monetized videos without worrying about copyright claims. Creator Music offers creators multiple ways to use music, depending on the usage terms set by the music rights holders. For example:
- Some songs can be licensed, which means creators pay an upfront fee (or for some tracks, no fee) to use the music in their video and keep the video’s revenue. Learn more.
- Some songs can share revenue, which means creators don’t pay anything upfront and they split their video’s revenue with the music rights holders. Learn more.
Creator Music lives in YouTube Studio and allows you to browse, preview, and download songs to use in your YouTube videos. For each track, you may see the following usage options:
- Buy a license: Pay an upfront fee to use music and earn the same revenue share that applies to your content without music.
- Revenue share: Share video revenue with the track’s rights holders.
Usage options may differ on a track-by-track basis. Note that you may still see some tracks that aren’t available for licensing or revenue sharing. If you choose to use one of those tracks, your video could get a Content ID claim or a copyright removal request.
Currently we only allow downloading of licensable tracks from Creator Music.
For revenue share eligible tracks, you'll need to source the download of the track outside of Creator Music.
Currently, Creator Music doesn’t support licensing for live content.
We’re gradually rolling out the feature to YouTube Partner Program (YPP) creators in the US and plan to expand to YPP creators outside the US at a later time.
We’re gradually expanding Creator Music to more users over time and are working on providing new music-related features to all creators. For now, only creators in YPP can purchase licenses.
If you have access to Creator Music, we’ve added all of the YouTube Audio Library songs so you can find all of your soundtrack needs in one place. For now, the former Sounds effects tab can be found under the Genres section. Songs previously saved in the YouTube Audio Library can be accessed by clicking Go back to Audio Library at the bottom of the Creator Music homepage.
If you can’t find the track you’re looking for in Creator Music and want to use it in your video, this likely means the track is not available for licensing or revenue sharing. As a result, you risk getting a Content ID claim or a copyright removal request on your video if you choose to use a track you don't have the rights to use.
If you believe you received a Content ID claim this is incorrect, you can dispute the claim.
Why is my video blocked in Russia or Belarus?
Some music rights holders may choose to block their tracks in certain territories including Russia and Belarus.
License FAQs
What is a license?A license gives someone legal permission to use content that other people own the rights to. With Creator Music, we’ve streamlined the process of interacting with these rights holders right on YouTube. Find out more about licensing in our Help Center.
You can pay for a license directly in the Creator Music upfront or when you upload a video that uses a Creator Music track. Learn more about licensing tracks.
No, if you buy a license, it doesn’t mean you own the music. It means you’re buying permission to use the music. Specifically, you’re buying a single-use synchronization (or “sync”) license that allows you to sync a video with the music you’re licensing, subject to the license terms and conditions.
Music partners that own the rights to the tracks set the license terms and prices. Keep in mind that some tracks have a set price for all creators, while others may have customized pricing based on your channel's size.
Once you purchase a license, it will not be impacted by price changes for the duration of the license term.
Any license pricing changes won't affect your past license purchases and usage.
Some licensable songs in Creator Music are available for revenue sharing. This means the video’s revenue will be split between you and the song’s rights holders.
Other songs that aren’t available for licensing or revenue sharing may result in a Content ID claim or a copyright removal request on your video that prevents you from monetizing altogether.
You can check usage details in Creator Music to see which terms apply to a given track.
We currently only support single-use licenses. This means that if you bought a license for a track, you can only use that track in one video. If you want to use the same track in multiple videos, you will have to purchase a license for each video.
Yes! There is no limit to the number of licenses that can be added to a video. Keep in mind that you must clear the necessary rights to all content in a video to be able to monetize.
No, if you license a track from Creator Music, you can only use the track in videos uploaded to YouTube. Learn more about Creator Music usage details.
You may be able to renew your license. If you don’t renew a license, the music’s usage terms may default back to revenue sharing terms (if the track is eligible for revenue sharing).
Otherwise, the video may have monetization or visibility restrictions since it would be at risk for getting a Content ID claim or a copyright removal request once the track in the video is not licensed or sharing revenue.
You can request a refund for a Creator Music license directly from the Creator Music Library page in YouTube Studio. To request a refund:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- From the left menu, select Creator Music
.
- Select the Your Library tab.
- Find the track with the license you want a refund for.
- (Optional) To view only your licensed tracks, click Licensed at the top of the page.
- In the track’s row, click "More actions"
Request refund.
- Complete the refund request form.
After you submit your refund request form, our support team will process a refund for you if the request is eligible under the Creator Music refund policy. To review the refund policy, go to the "Cancellation and Refunds" section of the Creator Music Terms of Service.
Revenue sharing FAQs
When am I eligible to share revenue?- When you see the share revenue icon next to a track
- You can use as much of the track in a video of any duration.
- If a track is licensable, but you don’t want to buy a license
- Your use of the track must be less than 30 seconds in a video longer than 3 minutes.
With Creator Music, if a long-form video uses tracks that are eligible for revenue sharing, the standard 55% revenue share is adjusted to cover the costs of clearing music rights as shown in the examples below. This depends on:
- Number of tracks used: How many eligible revenue sharing tracks a creator uses in their video (see examples below).
- Additional music rights costs: Deduction to cover additional music rights costs, such as performing rights. This deduction can be up to 5% and will reflect the blended cost of these additional music rights across Creator Music tracks that are eligible for revenue sharing.
Examples of revenue share calculations
Example: Use of 1 revenue sharing track |
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Example: Creator uses 1 revenue sharing track in their long-form video and earns half of the standard 55% revenue share (27.5%). As an example, the deduction for additional music rights costs could be 2.5%. For this video, the creator would earn 25% of total revenue (27.5% - 2.5%). |
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Example: Use of 2 revenue sharing tracks and 1 licensed track |
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Example: Creator uses 2 revenue sharing tracks and 1 licensed track in their long-form video and earns 1/3 of the standard 55% revenue share (18.33%). As an example, the deduction for additional music rights costs could be 2%. For this video, the creator would earn 16.33% of total revenue (18.33% - 2%). |
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There are a few reasons why your video may not be sharing revenue:
- Content ID did not detect the revenue sharing eligible track in your video. If the track is identified by Content ID later on as being eligible for revenue sharing, your video will be enabled for revenue sharing at that time.
- The rights holder(s) may have disabled revenue sharing for the track after the point at which you uploaded your video.
- A license is available for purchase, but your use of the track is not less than 30 seconds in a video longer than 3 minutes.
- Your video has a Content ID claim for other third-party content that is not eligible for revenue sharing. Learn about your options for resolving a Content ID claim.
No, licensing/revenue sharing will only apply to videos published after you get access to Creator Music. It will not apply retroactively.
Is Creator Music revenue sharing different from Shorts revenue sharing?
Yes, they're different. Shorts revenue sharing allows creators to get a % of the revenue share for their Shorts uploads. Creator Music revenue sharing allows creators to share revenue with music rights holders when they use eligible music in their long-form videos.