How to Make Money From Your Music on YouTube

How much will I get for each view on a YouTube video? What do I do if another person incorporates my music into a video? These are some of our community's most frequent inquiries about YouTube from independent artists. As a result, we decided to compile a tutorial for independent musicians looking to learn more about making money off their songs on YouTube.

Learn How YouTube Works

You must master content production to gain from owning a YouTube channel. You must also decide on your approach and comprehend the kinds of musical material people seek. These are the initial actions to develop a successful music channel that stands out.

Ads that play throughout music videos are one of the significant ways that musicians monetize their content on YouTube. Nevertheless, there are a few other methods to make money from your YouTube material, such as through sponsored videos with brands and user-generated content.

Once you receive 4,000 view hours on your videos and 1,000 subscribers in a year, you can apply for the YouTube Partner Program.

The most significant benefit of joining the YouTube Partner Program is the fact that you don’t need to do anything to get ads on your videos; Google will automatically handle everything for you.  That included where to place the ads on your videos and handling the collection of payment.

Earn Money From Your Music on YouTube

Did you realize there is a distinction between monetizing YouTube videos and songs? As previously discussed, a channel must have at least 1,000 members and 4,000 hours of Watch Time to monetize a video.

What about music, though? How are artists who write songs for tutorials, vlogs, and other media paid? In a nutshell, you can let YouTube include advertisements in videos that use your music.

Several musicians accomplish this through CD Baby, an online independent music distributor. The business uses content identification technology as an intermediary, locating an artist's music on websites like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Take Advantage of YouTube Content ID

User-generated content, or post videos that feature your music throughout is another key method that music creators use to monetize their work on YouTube. Every time one of your songs is used, you get paid, and the Content ID system on YouTube automatically detects this content.

You can use YouTube Content ID, a tool provided by request to Amuse Pro/Boost users, to find out when one of your songs is used in a YouTube video. Also, the program can be used to monetize videos that have unlawfully exploited your music.

YouTube Content ID is only available for original music, so samples and other components violating the copyright under YouTube's policies are prohibited.

Remember that YouTube Music is added automatically along with YouTube Content ID. This is a demand on YouTube's part.

How does YouTube advertising operate?

If a brand's target audience fits your fan base or YouTube audience, they will likely have already set up groups of advertising campaigns through YouTube, and chances are you will see some adverts throughout your videos.

Pre-Roll, In-Stream, and Bumper Ads are the three forms of YouTube advertisements that can be displayed alongside your videos.

Pre-Roll Ads: These YouTube video advertisements are played at the beginning of a video and typically last for 30 seconds. Companies are paid per click not view, so companies only pay you for the total number of clicks produced rather than paying you for the overall number of views of your video.

In-Stream: These advertisements are displayed to your viewers before they start watching your video, but they can skip it after the first five seconds. You will get compensated per view for these adverts.

Bumper Ads: The six-second, non-skippable bumper ads that appear before your videos are of this type. Every time a user views the advertisement, you are paid. You can disable adverts or ban specific categories.

How do YouTube brand sponsorships function?

An excellent approach to monetize your YouTube videos further is securing brand sponsorships from firms that manufacture food products, clothes, and music equipment (such as headphone brands or studio equipment). Companies are willing to pay advertising fees for direct endorsements from you, product placement in your videos, or even endorsements on your channel.

Sending an email to the marketing department of any businesses that might support your artist project and outlining your video idea, audience demographics, and any other information that would help you sell yourself is the best method to secure brand sponsorship.

Share Your Expertise

The most significant music channels give inquisitive viewers information that is helpful when you're ready to start creating videos.

Most of the time, they don't upload random covers, performances, and jam sessions. Instead, the top channels respond to queries like "how to play any song by ear" or "Fender vs. Squier guitar," which people are already searching for. You can make money on YouTube if you're passionate about lessons, product evaluations, comparisons, or general education.

Merch Sales

Selling products on and off the platform has helped many YouTubers effectively diversify their sources of revenue. A clever musician can make a good living by selling branded sweatshirts, t-shirts, water bottles, mugs, tote bags, key chains, etc.

Before purchasing any item, especially before hiring a firm to produce and market goods on your behalf, it helps to have a strategy for your items.

YouTube Can Be Used to Make Money Off Platform Too

Above Apple and Spotify, YouTube offers a benefit: musicians may use it to sell and promote their music in unconventional ways.

As a singer, you can earn money on YouTube if you:

1. On your channel, provide tour information and advertise forthcoming performances.
2. Create connections to your website or online store in your videos using YouTube's "annotations" tool.
3. Build your own brand of merchandise and promote it in your YouTube videos.
4. Advertise where people can find your music and which playlists, like those created with the help of GetPlaylisted, your music can currently be found on.
5. Post-free music lessons (if these take off, they can lead to paid tutoring opportunities).
6. Advertising to raise money for your upcoming record or tour

Final Thoughts

Don't allow the fact that YouTube doesn't provide the biggest royalties of any streaming service to deter you from making money off of it. YouTube offers several other options to monetize your music aside from ad income.

Whether you sign up for the YouTube Partner Program, conduct sponsored campaigns, or provide merchandise on your channel, there are many ways to be creative on YouTube and earn money simultaneously.

‍