In Creator Music, you may see the following options to use a track:
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Get a license: Pay an upfront fee (or no fee for some tracks) to use music in your monetizing video. Earn the same revenue share that applies to your monetizing videos without music.
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Share revenue: Pay no upfront fee and split video revenue with the track’s rights holders.
Usage details, which define how a song can be used, vary depending on the track. The track's rights holders set the usage details for a track and can change them at their discretion.
- There are also specific restrictions on how licensed music can be used within videos.
- Some Creator Music tracks may not be eligible for licensing or revenue sharing. If you use one of these tracks, your video could get a Content ID claim or a copyright removal request.
- You can check usage details in advance so you know how a track can be safely used in your video.
Usage details for licenses
A license gives someone legal permission to use content that other people own the rights to. Before you license a track, it’s important to understand its usage details so you know what permissions you have to use the track you’re licensing.
Creator Music lets creators license music directly from music partners, such as music labels and publishers, who own the rights to the music. As the rights holders, music partners set the usage details, including license pricing, for the tracks they offer for licensing on Creator Music.
Some licenses have a set price for all creators and other tracks may have customized pricing based on a channel’s size. Some licenses don't cost anything, such as YouTube Audio Library licenses, Creative Commons licenses, and other no-cost licenses offered by rights holders.
Keep in mind that if you don't want to buy a license, you can choose to share revenue if your video meets the revenue sharing usage requirements.
Amount of song refers to how much of the track the rights holders are allowing to be used in a video.
For any licensable track you choose to license, you can use as much of the song as you want in a video of any duration.
For licensable tracks you don't want buy a license for, you can instead choose to share revenue if the amount of song you use is less than 30 seconds in a video that's longer than 3 minutes. Learn more about revenue sharing usage terms.
When you purchase a license, your license expiration will let you know how long your license will remain active. Each track in the Creator Music store has different terms set by the rights holder, so the duration of your license will vary depending on the track you’ve licensed.
Your license begins as soon as it’s purchased through the Creator Music marketplace. Once it expires, videos containing that track may be subject to the following:
- Updated monetization terms
- Changes to video visibility
- New copyright claims
To prevent interruption to your video’s revenue, you may be able to renew licenses for tracks that you’ve purchased.
- Only YouTube Audio Library licenses are valid to use in multiple videos uploaded to YouTube. All other Creator Music paid licenses are valid for one use in a single video uploaded to YouTube only.
- Creator Music licenses are not transferable to other platforms or other YouTube channels. Creator Music licenses can be transferred to other videos within a YouTube channel if they haven’t already been used in a published video.
- There are also restrictions on how licensed music can be used within videos. For more info, go to Creator Music eligibility and restrictions.
Usage details for revenue sharing
If you use a track that's eligible to share revenue in your video, it means you can split video revenue with the track's rights holders. Before you start revenue sharing, it’s important to understand the track's usage details so you know what permissions you have to use the track.
Videos that use revenue sharing tracks from Creator Music must meet these usage requirements to be eligible to share revenue:
- Track and video duration: Video uses an appropriate amount of the track in an appropriate length of video:
- If the track is licensable, but you don’t want to buy a license, you can share revenue by using the track for less than 30 seconds in a video that's longer than 3 minutes.
- If the track is not licensable, but is eligible for revenue sharing, you can share revenue by using as much of the track as you want in a video of any duration.
- No monetization issues: Video can't have monetization issues, such as:
- Content ID claims that have blocked visibility or disabled monetization.
- Violations of YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
- No live streams or Shorts: Video can't be a live stream or a Short. Learn about Shorts revenue sharing.
Remember that usage requirements can change at the rights holders’ discretion. For example, after you upload a video that uses a revenue sharing track, the rights holder could later disable monetization for the track, which would disable monetization for your video. Changes to usage terms can apply in certain territories or all territories.
Amount of song refers to how much of the track the rights holders are allowing to be used in a video.
For revenue sharing tracks , you can use as much of the song as you want in a video of any duration.
For licensable tracks you don't want to buy a license for, you can instead choose to share revenue if the amount of song you use is less than 30 seconds in a video that's longer than 3 minutes. Learn more about revenue sharing.
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.
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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