By
Bhushan Akolkar
December 21st, 2023
The feature was first introduced in September 2022. First, it will be available in the US, with the release in the coming weeks, and only for YPP participants. In 2023, the geography will expand.
YouTube has announced the launch of its Creator Music platform which allows creators to monetize their video content. With Creator Music, all YouTube Partner Program (YPP) participants are able to access a huge music catalog and use the songs in the content they create.
like music to our ears 🎶👂
Creator Music is now available to all YPP creators in the US! use popular music & monetize
use tracks w/ multiple options:
pay $ up front to use music & keep full rev share
OR
share a % of ad rev w/ music rights holdersmore: https://t.co/DbleRkeseV pic.twitter.com/B2DEyexGbM
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 13, 2023
The feature was first introduced in September 2022. First, it will be available in the US, with the release in the coming weeks, and only for YPP participants. In 2023, the geography will expand.
What Is Creator Music by YouTube?
So how does Creator Music work? Basically, there are two options for creators to use a particular song they like: licensing and sharing revenue. In the first case, to use a song, a creator needs to buy a license, and then the song can be downloaded and added to a video while editing. In the second case, creators do not need to buy a license, but they can still use songs and share revenue with the track’s artists and associated rights holders.
The idea behind Creator Music is to make licensing music simpler. The feature will benefit larger creators who more precisely want to control the costs associated with their productions, while smaller creators will be able to afford commercial music in their videos. According to YouTube, Creator Music will bring more amazing creator-artist collaborations, more new tunes in viewers’ playlists, and more ways for artists to break through, “all while continuing to put money in creators’ pockets.”
Notably, the launch of Cretor Music does not mean the end of the YouTube Audio Library. This royalty-free collection of audio tracks can be used on top of even more new free tracks that are being added by Creator Music partners.
YouTube vs TikTok
YouTube has been long competing with TikTok, a video-sharing app that allows users to create and share short-form videos on any topic. The competition has been escalating, with YouTube having lost positions in 2022 with its revenue coming in lower than expected. To attract more content creators, YouTube has been constantly offering new financial incentives and heavily promoting its Shorts, a feature launched in 2020 that makes it easy to create short-form videos that are up to 60 seconds long with our multi-segment camera.
In the last quarter, YouTube saw a decline in revenue generated by ads.
Lauren Markaverich, director of media planning and buying at the global strategy firm Material, commented:
“No doubt the global economic uncertainty is contributing to the decline in YouTube ad revenue, but it also seems YouTube may have gotten caught a bit flat-footed. While they were putting enormous effort over the last several years toward stealing share from streaming services and linear TV alike, brands were busy testing and learning on TikTok and taking advantage of the enormous consumer interest in the platform.”
Meanwhile, TikTok has been rocketing, with a 700% increase in marketer satisfaction. The auditory is now split, and the choice between YouTube and TikTok is becoming tougher.
Earlier, YouTube mentioned its plans to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the platform, and if it happens, the streaming platform will get a significant advantage over TikTok which has also started exploring emerging technologies.