YouTube Shorts tackles TikTok with new revenue sharing program, joins partner program

YouTube has announced new initiatives for YouTube Shorts to compete with TikTok in the short-form video arena. Hitherto TikTok has been dominant in this area as it has appealed to the young creator generation with its simplicity and money making opportunities.

TikTok has been so successful that other platforms have been copying its features i.e. YouTube adding a watermark to Shorts videos.

YouTube announced that as from early 2023, YouTube Shorts creators will be able to apply to its YouTube Partner Program (YPP) provided they meet a threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over the previous 90 days. (Launched in 2007, the YouTube Partner Program gives creators access to YouTube resources and monetization features. It also allows revenue sharing from ads being served on your content.)

The creators will also be able to take 45% of the revenue generated from ads that run between Shorts video.

According to Amjad Hanif, Vice President of Creator Products, YouTube in a blog post,

“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% 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.”

Those creators who do not meet the required threshold to join the YouTube Partner Program, will still make money through early access to Fan Funding features like Super Thanks, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Channel Memberships which allow fans to pay creators for certain features

YouTube also said that it is 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 favorite 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.”

YouTube also announced the introduction of Creator Music, a new destination in YouTube Studio that gives YouTube creators easy access to an ever-growing catalog of music for use in their long-form videos.

Creators will now be able to buy affordable, high-quality music licenses that offer them full monetizing potential—they will keep the same revenue share they’d usually make on videos without any music. And for creators who don’t want to buy a license up front, they’ll be able to use songs and share revenue with the track’s artist and associated rights holders.

Creator Music, currently in beta in the US and expanding to more countries in 2023, will offer a streamlined process for creators—they’ll be able to instantly see the terms for their song selection.

YouTube started the rollout of YouTube Shorts in September 2020 and the popularity of short-form video has exploded on YouTube, with over 30B daily views and 1.5B monthly logged-in users.

In 2021, YouTube launched a $100 million fund to reward YouTube Shorts creators for their most viewed and most engaging content over the course of 2021 and 2022.. TikTok launched a $200 million creator fund in 2020 while Snap Inc. launched a new fund late last year for top performers of its video product.