YouTube: Shorts and Creator Music can be monetized in the future

YouTube is changing the terms of use of its partner program, which means that in the future it will also be possible to monetize shorts and content from Creator Music. The circle of people who can earn money via YouTube is thus expanding significantly.

Monetization starting in February

YouTube is creating the possibility to monetize the two aforementioned categories starting in February. Especially in the area of short videos, YouTube could thus pull away from the competition: In many cases, it is not or only with difficulty possible to earn money with videos that are only a few seconds long. At the same time, this video format has become particularly popular in recent years. YouTube’s change in terms of use, which enables the monetization of short videos, could therefore give the platform a boost.

In order to be accepted into the partner program, more than 1,000 subscriptions as well as at least ten million valid shorts views must be proven in the last 90 days before signing up. In addition, the content criteria that YouTube prescribes must be met. This includes, for example, that there is no swearing in the videos – there had been trouble here in the past, as individual videos were subsequently demonetized.

No changes to advertising formats

Meanwhile, the available advertising formats will not change. This also means that YouTube does not plan to insert advertising in the short videos. Rather, revenue sharing will be possible for ads shown in the shorts feed. The only new feature is the possibility of receiving money directly from viewers: Via so-called Super Thanks, they can voluntarily pay smaller or larger monetary contributions. What is also interesting is the fact that all those who meet the requirements for inclusion in the partner program thanks to their short videos will also be given the opportunity to monetize their long videos. Again, there are no changes in the available advertising formats.

The YouTube Shorts Fund, which paid all those who produced short videos and were successful with them, will be abolished in February. YouTube says it expects that “the majority of creators who received payments from the Shorts Fund will earn more with the new model.” Whether that will actually be the case remains to be seen. YouTube is also likely to calculate that the number of short videos uploaded should increase significantly: With the new monetization option, the revenue potential increases significantly with the number of videos uploaded.

Monetization via Creator Music

Another new feature is the ability to earn money via Creator Music. This is a database of audio files that can be used to add music to your own videos. Previously, using this audio database usually meant that monetizing the video was out of the question. That is now changing. At the same time, all those from whom the audio files originate will also be able to earn money: They will receive either a revenue share or a fixed one-time payment for the use of their tracks in YouTube videos.