How Artists Make Money on YouTube

Let your music, fans and visual storytelling fuel your business

Where Music & Monetization Meet

As an artist, it’s likely that you invest much of your time, resources and creativity into your music, visuals and fanbase. But what if that creative work could also grow your business and directly generate revenue?

You can tap into the revenue YouTube is paying out to the music industry

$100B

YouTube paid to creators, artists, and media companies in the last 4 years*

(Jan 2021 - Dec 2024)

$8B

YouTube paid to the music industry in just 12 months* 

(July 2024 - June 2025)

How Artists Monetize on YouTube

How artists earn on YouTube varies as it depends on their relationship with content owners,
or entities that manage rights for your compositions and recordings. Think of it like this:

Artists with a content owner

Revenue from YouTube goes to the content owner to decide how to distribute earnings.

Artists without a content owner

You own the rights to your music and recordings. YouTube revenue will go directly to an artist or channel owner via Google AdSense.

To take full advantage of the many ways to earn on YouTube, start with these key steps:

Join the
YouTube Partner Program
Unlocks monetization features that allow you to earn money

Enable
Ads to Run on Eligible Videos

Use Alternative Monetization
Features
Selling merch, concert tickets, and more

1. The YouTube Partner Program

Unlock monetization features on YouTube

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) offers creators and artists more access to YouTube resources, monetization features, and our support teams. It also allows revenue sharing from ads.

Minimum YPP Eligibility will give you access to Shopping and Supers features.

500

subscribers

Uploads in the past 90 days

3,000

valid public watch hours in the past 12 months

valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days

Once you’re eligible, apply for YPP in the ‘Earn’ tab of YouTube Studio.

If you’re an artist and your music and content is distributed by a Content Owner (e.g. a record label), YPP enrollment is still required to unlock monetization features like setting up your merch store and enabling Supers.

To earn revenue from ads and YouTube Premium, you will need at least 1,000 subscribers and either:

4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months

10M valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days

Once you accept YPP terms and connect a Google AdSense account, YPP review will begin, which may take up to a month to process

Ad Revenue

unlock monetization features on youtube image

Revenue Sharing or “RevShare”: Advertisers pay to have their ads play during videos. When viewers watch content they also watch ads (unless they are YouTube Premium subscribers). When ads are shown during a video, the ad revenue is split between YouTube and the content owner.

2. Set Up Ad Monetization

Enable All Ad Formats on Monetizable Videos

Make sure that all ad types are running on eligible , monetizable videos. Go to YouTube Studio → Content → Select a video → click ‘monetization’ and make sure it’s on.

Take it a step further: Turn on mid-roll ads, or ads that play in the middle of your videos, on non-music, shoulder content over 8 minutes.

Be Mindful of Yellow Icons

Yellow icons appear when YouTube’s systems determine a video violates our ad-friendly guidelines.

A Yellow Icon limits or disables monetization, appearing as “limited or no ads” in the monetization status of a video.

Before uploading a monetizable video, we recommend you:

Use Self-Certification to self-rate your video
Use the Checks page while your video uploads to screen your video for ad suitability.

Request a human-review if you think there’s a mistake.

If your your video is marked 'Ineligible' for monetization due to 'Copyright' restrictions, click 'See details' to make sure your video is being claimed by your label, publisher or distributor.

Non Ad Revenue

Non-advertising revenue can provide a powerful and sustainable source of income that is unaffected by changing ad rates.

3. Alternative Monetization

Shopping

Set up your channel store

Connect your online store to your channel and set up your digital merch booth front and center for fans.

Tag merch in videos

Use product tagging to highlight specific items to fans while they watch.

sombr - back to friends (official video)

TWICE - 10th Anniversary Live Stream

Concert Tickets

Link your Bandsintown account to notify fans about your upcoming live shows as they watch your videos.

This feature is only available for Official Artist Channels (OACs). Work with your label or music service provider to apply for an OAC.

Supers

Viewers can buy Supers from your channel to add animations in a live chat, make their comments or chats stand out, and show you extra support. Then, a share of the revenue earned from Supers goes to you and your channel.

Super Chat

Highlight or make a message stand out in a live chat

Super Stickers

Make an animation appear in the live chat

Super Thanks

Make a video comment stand out with the amount given

Your Action Checklist

Now that you’ve seen the many ways artists can make money on YouTube, it's time to get started. Follow these steps to start earning and grow your business.

Beginner

Check eligibility and apply to YPP
Select an existing Google AdSense account or apply for a new one
Enable monetization and all ad formats on all videos
Connect your Channel Store to sell merch
Connect your Bandsintown account so your tour and concert ticket information is up-to-date and appears on a shelf on
your videos

Advanced

Enable mid-rolls on 8+ minute content

Optimize thumbnails, descriptions, keywords that relate to virality, channel branding, featured video, etc.
Create "advertiser-friendly" versions of explicit videos
Avoid advertiser and ad category blocks in AdSense.
Regularly check Revenue tab in YouTube in Analytics for Artists

Monetization Best Practices

Once your monetization is all set up, here are some things to keep top-of-mind
to continue growing your earnings.

Ensure Videos Follow Ad-Friendly Guidelines

When planning your content, avoid violations which may impact monetization eligibility.

Key violations include:

Violence or firearms
Adult content
Drug-related content

Make Products and Tickets Visible on Videos

Enable your channel store and concert ticketing to make products and upcoming shows appear on your content.

Note: You need an OAC to enable concert ticketing.

Use Analytics to Keep Up with Revenue Trends

Check in regularly
on channel revenue and engagement in
Analytics for Artists.

If you are an artist without a Content Owner, visit the Revenue tab.