Image credit: YouTube

The program that launched 14 years ago, with the intention to pay creators has amassed 2 million members.

YouTube’s Partner Program, which allows creators to generate revenue off their videos, has passed the 2 million creator mark, according to YouTube. The platform that launched 14 years ago has been the main driver behind allowing for the platform to be a viable place for business. YouTubers such as PewDiePie, Cody Ko, and H3H3 have seen major success along with many other partners. However, it has often lead to criticism of YouTube when a creator does something that reflects poorly on the platform which in turn drives away advertisers. Although advertisers tend to bounce back once the drama has de-escalated. 

The Partner Program, much like Twitch’s Partner Program has some requirements that creators have to meet first. YouTube requires that a creator has at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of overall watch time on your channel in the past 12 months. Once this target has been reached a channel can start earning money through ads, subscription fees, donations, live-streaming, and YouTube Premium revenue. 

Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer at YouTube, said in a blog post that the number of new channels joining the program in 2020 more than doubled in comparison to 2019. In addition to this, the number of YouTube channel’s making six figures or more in revenue increased by 35% year over year.