Making money from YouTube

Making money from YouTube Content ID (monetization)

• YouTube Content ID earnings: The details

Making money from YouTube Music (streaming)

CD Baby can help you earn money from YouTube in 2 ways:

• YouTube Content ID (video monetization)
• YouTube Music (YouTube's version of a streaming platform)

YouTube Content ID (monetization)

We monetize any video that contains your music!

When you sign up for YouTube Content ID through CD Baby, we’ll make sure YouTube identifies any video that uses your music, and you'll get paid a share of the ad revenue. Here's how it works:

1. CD Baby delivers your music to YouTube Content ID.
2. The Content ID system scans all the videos on YouTube and places a CD Baby claim on any videos containing your music. 
3. An ad is placed on the video.
4. Any ad revenue generated from that video will be reported to CD Baby on a quarterly basis, which then gets paid to you!

You will earn money from a monetized video if someone:

- clicks the text or banner ad

- watches the entire commercial or at least 30 seconds of the commercial (if it’s longer than 30 seconds).

*Requirements/Eligibility

- Your release must be opted into YouTube Music and have no territory restrictions in order to sign up for Content ID.

- The content must also be 100% original and owned by you in order to be eligible, but there are a couple caveats. Check out this article about eligibility to learn more.

YouTube Content ID earnings: The details

YouTube ads are similar to Google ads. It’s essentially an ad-placement auction. The amount you earn for each clicked ad, while small, will vary according to a number of factors, so it’s difficult to make predictions. The bottom line is this: the more people who watch videos that contain your music, the higher the probability of clicked ads. The more ads clicked, the more you earn.

When do I get paid, and how much?

- YouTube reports ad revenue to CD Baby on a quarterly basis
- You earn 70% of the total revenue generated from the usage of your music on YouTube and Facebook/Instagram. CD Baby keeps only 30%.

Where can I see my earnings?

If you’ve earned money via YouTube Content ID, you can view that inside your CD Baby account under "Sales and Reports" then click on "Sales and Accounting" and then "Licensing and Royalties (by partner)."

Types of earnings

A view may not have an ad if:

(This is not a complete list. Please go to YouTube's help center for a comprehensive list.)
- The video is not advertiser-friendly.
- Ads or individual ad formats are turned off for that video.
- There isn’t an ad available to show to that particular viewer. Advertisers can choose to target specific devices, demographics, and interests. Your viewer may not match this targeting. Learn more about available targeting methods for video ads.
- A range of other factors, including the viewer’s geography, how recently they’ve seen an ad, whether they have a Premium subscription, and so on.

(Additional details on earnings can be found here at YouTube's help center.)

Types of earnings by category:

• YouTube Ad Supported - Revenue earned from views on advertising within, or around, YouTube UGC (videos uploaded by YouTube Users).
• YouTube Ad Supported Adjusted - Revenue that was earned via ad-supported views but not made available for payout due to administration issues (ownership conflicts, reference overlaps, disputed claims).
• YouTube Audio Tier - Revenue from non-subscription plays on voice-enabled screenless devices using a radio-like experience without on-demand playback.
• YouTube Backpay Resolution - Backpay revenue for assets that were monetized but did not originally have a clear owner.
• YouTube Mobile Audio Tier - Revenue from non-subscription plays on voice-enabled mobile devices using a radio-like experience without on-demand playback.
• YouTube Subscriber Supported - Revenue earned from YouTube Premium subscriber views on YouTube UGC (videos uploaded by YouTube users) and streams on YouTube Music.
• YouTube Subscriber Supported Adjusted - Revenue that was earned via subscription-supported views but not made available initially available for payout due to administration issues (ownership conflicts, reference overlaps, disputed claims).

YouTube Music (streaming)

In addition to the Content ID program, you can also earn money via YouTube Music.  

YouTube Music functions like any other streaming platform (i.e. Spotify or Apple Music). This means if someone listens to your music on YouTube Music, you will earn streaming revenue which will be reported as such. Learn more about YouTube Music here.