KUALA LUMPUR: The popularity of short-form video has exploded on YouTube, recording over 30 billion daily views and 1.5 billion monthly logged-in users across every topic, vertical, and region of the world.
Shorts was announced for the US in Sept 2020 and it was made available in Malaysia in July 2021, in its beta form and it went out of beta in Malaysia earlier this year. To start rewarding this new creative class, YouTube launched a temporary Shorts Fund – a reward programme for Shorts' creators.
During the Made on YouTube event recently, YouTube announced that they will be bringing their unique business model – revenue sharing to Shorts.
YPP UPGRADED
YouTube opened the door for millions of people to build business—make an earning from content with YouTube Partner Programme (YPP), first introduced in 2007. This unique business model means "we only succeed when our creators do", said its chief product officer, Neal Mohan at the event.
When it started, YouTube had one creative format - the standard horizontal video - and one main source of revenue: advertisements.
YouTube now offers 10 ways for their over two million partners to make money - expanding the opportunity across different creative formats.From 15-second vertical Shorts, to 15-minute videos, to 15-hour live streams.
Announcing the new tier of "rewarding creativity", Mohan said, the new Reward Plan offers monetising opportunities as early as early next year where Shorts-focused creators can apply to YPP by meeting a threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 millions Shorts views over 90 days.
"In Shorts, ads run between videos in the Shorts Feed. So, every month, revenue from these ads will be added together and used to reward Shorts creators and help cover costs of music licensing.
"From the overall amount allocated to creators, they will keep 45 per cent of the revenue, distributed based on their share of total Shorts views. The revenue share remains the same, no matter if they use music or not," explained Mohan as he shared the second update – Revenue Sharing for Shorts.
EVOLVING THE SOUNDTRACK
Presenting the new feature, Creator Music, YouTube and Google global head of music, Lyor Cohen shared how the complexities of music licensing affect creator's economy.
Understanding the role music plays in creative production, YouTube's Creator Music, a new destination in YouTube Studio will allow creators easy access to an ever growing catalogue of music for use in their long-form videos.
"Creators can now buy affordable, high-quality music licences with full monetising potential. This way creators can keep the same revenue share they'd usually make on videos without any music," said Cohen, adding that this feature works as a "bridge between the music industry and creators on our platform, redefining how music can be featured in creator videos".
Expected to be available in Beta in the US, and globally next year, Creator Music will have the option to use songs and share revenue with the track's artist and associated rights holders.
"We believe Creator Music will mean more amazing creator-artist collabs, more new tunes in viewers' playlists, and more ways for artists to break through — all while continuing to put money in creators' pockets."
Each licence is for single use of music, however as YouTube's head of independent music business development and partnerships explained during the Q&A session with the media after the event, Eduard Castello said, more details on the monetisation format and pricing (which will be set by copyright holder) will be shared later.
Ensuring clear understanding, director, global partnership enablement, Amy Singer reiterated that the Creator Music, the licensing is meant for long form videos whereas for Shorts, all the songs in the library is for creators with unlimited use.
DIVERSIFYING REVENUE
"We also want to support creators who are even earlier in their YouTube journey - from gamers to trendsetting DIY makeup tutorials. A new level of YPP with lower requirements will offer earlier access to Fan Funding features like Super Thanks, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Channel Memberships," added Cohen.
To reward creators across a range of formats, YouTube will have paths for long-form, Shorts and Live creators to join this new tier in 2023.
"We're also launching Super Thanks for Shorts in beta to thousands of creators, with a complete rollout expected next year. Viewers can show their appreciation for their favourite Shorts, and creators can interact with their fans through purchased, highlighted Super Thanks comments. And we're bringing together brands and Shorts creators as part of YouTube BrandConnect."