How YouTube Royalties Work: A Musician’s Guide
Image credit: AARN GIRI
YouTube can seem overwhelming for musicians but once you know how it works, you can make it work for you and earn YouTube royalties.
Releasing music and making money from it on YouTube can seem daunting. How do you upload songs? Where does the money come from? What if other people use your music in their videos?
We’ll answer all these questions and more in this guide to how YouTube royalties work for musicians. Jump to the section that you’re most curious about in the table of contents below or read on for a comprehensive guide.
- Release your music on YouTube
- How to earn music royalties
- How music licenses work
- Boosting your presence on YouTube and beyond
Get your music out there: How to upload to YouTube
YouTube is the world’s second-most used platform, with 2.5 billion global users. There is massive potential in getting your music out on YouTube, but how do you do it?
First of all, you can upload your music straight to YouTube from your own channel. This is a great option if you have a music video for your track that you can upload with it – making for strong video content on your channel. However, with this method you will need to be on YouTube’s Partner Programme or use Content ID to earn YouTube royalties on your videos.
For music without a video, there is a better way.
Upload your music to YouTube Music through RouteNote and it will be added as a streamable track for the world to hear. This is a simple way to release your music and ensure that you are earning money from every play that comes straight back to you. You don’t need to be part of YouTube’s partner programme, simply upload your tracks to start earning.
Here’s how to upload to YouTube Music with RouteNote:
- Sign up to a free account at www.routenote.com and log in
- Click ‘Distribution’ and then ‘Create new release’
- Upload your music, artwork, and fill in your details
- Select the stores you want, including YouTube Music and YouTube Content ID
- Our team will review your release and send it off
- Your music is uploaded and available to stream, earning revenue with every play!
This will make your tracks available on both YouTube Music and regular YouTube as a music track.
What is YouTube Content ID?
With Content ID, you don’t even need to put your music on YouTube. A simple upload to their Content ID library through RouteNote means that every time your music is used in any videos on YouTube, you will earn revenues.
This is a fantastic way of allowing creators to use your tracks in their content, which expands your reach to new viewers. It ensures that as well as exposure, you also gain earnings from those videos!
Find out more in our video below:
How to earn YouTube royalties from your music
You will earn YouTube royalties from every play of your songs when you upload them using RouteNote. Uploading your tracks to YouTube Music ensures that they are available to listeners everywhere on the YouTube Music platform as well as the regular YouTube website and app.
You will earn YouTube royalties from every play. This will either be funded by the adverts presented to listeners or from their Premium subscriptions. Likewise, if you are earning revenue from another person’s video thanks to Content ID then you will earn money from ads and/or Premium subscriptions.
If you have uploaded your own content rather than through RouteNote then you will need to be eligible for YouTube’s Partner Programme to earn revenue directly.
New ways for creators to earn YouTube royalties
YouTube have been expanding the way that fans and creators interact. A large part of this focus has been to increase the potential for creators to earn revenue with fan-funded features.
Channel Memberships allow channel subscribers to pay a monthly fee for extra privileges and content. Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks let users promote their interactions on livestreams and videos for a fee which funds the creator.
YouTube have also made it easier for artists to display their merchandise on YouTube with a virtual shelf on their watch page. It’s also easy to add concert dates and tickets to YouTube channels, enhancing ticket sales and promoting your next event to fans who land on your channel.
These are fantastic ways to connect with fans in new ways using your channel and content. When fans click through from your tracks to your channel, make sure there’s more for them to discover including merchandise and concert tickets they can buy.
How music licenses work
When you release music, licensing ensures that everyone is legally getting what they’re entitled to. If you’re releasing a recording of your own original work then you don’t need to worry so much about licensing.
Regardless, it’s good to know what music licenses mean – so here’s a summarised guide.
Cover songs and mechanical licensing
When you release your own recording of a song, you’ve created a cover of that work. Whilst you can earn money for the recording of it, the original writer is owed money for the composition. This is referred to as mechanical licensing.
You don’t need a mechanical license for uploading your cover as a video to YouTube. If you are uploading your audio with RouteNote then you don’t need to obtain a mechanical license if you either:
- Distribute globally to Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Nuuday, Anghami, TIDAL, KKBOX, and JioSaavn
- Distribute to all stores excluding the territories of U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, India, and Pakistan
You will need to purchase a mechanical license to distribute your cover song to YouTube beyond these restrictions. We recommend Affordable Song Licensing.
Master licenses
This is the primary license for which your music will earn YouTube royalties. It applies to the actual recording of your song and is generated for the use of that recording on YouTube.
Upload your tracks to YouTube Music to earn this when people listen to your music. Add your music to Content ID to earn from this when people watch videos which use your music.
YouTube micro-sync royalties
Synchronisation royalties are earned for the artist when their music is played alongside video. This could be when it’s used in a TV show, film, or an advert. On YouTube, the money earned by artists when their music is used with video is instead called micro-synchronisation royalties. This is because online video works on a different scale to traditional media.
Micro-sync royalties are earned when users watch a video from ad revenue and subscriptions. These royalties are currently earned exclusively in the United States. Use Content ID to ensure you earn micro-sync royalties when your music is used in videos on YouTube.
How to boost views and increase your fans on YouTube (& beyond!)
Now your music is up on YouTube and ready to rack up the view counter, you can do more than wait to watch the plays roll in. Take a pro-active approach to your music releases to build up a bigger audience and get more engagement on your releases.
Here are some simple steps you can take to build your engagement on YouTube and beyond.
Consolidate your content on YouTube with an Official Artist Channel
An Official Artist Channel (OAC) brings together all of your content across YouTube. This is a fantastic way to bring together the music that is released to YouTube via RouteNote with your personal channel where you upload music videos and other musical content.
To turn your YouTube channel into an OAC it will need to feature content exclusively from the artist you’re claiming for. You will also need at least 1 official music video on your channel, social media or similar links, and mostly musical content on your channel.
Your channel must also have identical name to your topic channel name. A topic channel will be automatically generated for your artist when your music is uploaded to YouTube through RouteNote. The name of your topic channel will match your artist name.
If you’ve already done all of this, YouTube may have automatically combined your content into an Official Artist Channel already! If not, you can apply for one using this form.
Verify your YouTube channel
Verify your channel to get the tick next to your name and show everyone who visits your channel that you’re the real person. A verified tick will make your channel more trustworthy to viewers and protect you from imitation. It will also appear next to your channel name in search results, improving your content in search results.
To verify your YouTube channel you must:
- Have 100,000 subscribers or more
- Be the person you claim to be (no imitators!)
- Have an active channel that is fully customised with a banner, description, and profile image
Sometimes YouTube will verify channels that don’t have 100,000 subscribers if they are relevant or popular elsewhere.
Create content!
If this sounds obvious, that’s because it is! With each piece of content you create, you have another chance of engaging a new audience. There are a number of ways to promote your music on YouTube:
YouTube Shorts: Create YouTube Shorts talking about your music or showing behind the scenes footage to engage fans. You can add your music to YouTube Shorts’ library for use in videos by all creators, increasing your chance of going viral or being used in trends.
Music videos: Create hype around your latest releases by giving them an awesome video accompaniment! Create a special video that you feel enhances your song and the vibe you want it to have. This can draw in new listeners as they explore YouTube. If your track is in Content ID, then your music video will also be monetised.
Non-musical videos: Upload videos like behind-the-scenes content, tour diaries, and discussions about your music to connect with fans on a deeper level and offer them a glimpse behind the curtain
Livestreams: Livestreams offer an event to build hype around that brings together fans from all around the world. You can interact with your audience off the cuff and make use of features like Super Chat to earn extra revenue whilst you stream.
Release your music on all the world’s top services
Build your music career by making sure your tracks are available everywhere that people listen to them. Reaching listeners on YouTube is great, but expanding those listens to the world’s top streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more is vital to expanding your global reach.
Upload your music to all of the biggest services around the globe for free at www.routenote.com. Just follow the steps at the top of this article and select all of the stores including YouTube Music and Content ID that you want to release your music on.
Share on social media
Consolidate your artist presence by sharing your YouTube content on other platforms. This draws in audiences from other platforms and spreads the word. It also helps YouTube to recognise that this content is gaining traction by being shared elsewhere and enhances the chances of them promoting it higher.
Collect all the links for you music across the different streaming services you have uploaded your tracks to with a Smart Links page. You can get your own Smart Links page for sharing for free at PUSH.fm.