It’s finally here: Monetization for shorts
YouTube shorts have been a topic for discussion in our blogs a few times now. The ever-growing space of short-form content provides both opportunities and challenges for every content creator. Monetization for short-form content, however, has always been a difficult topic since the low watch hours don’t generate as much revenue as long-form content.
But that changes today. For a while now, rumors about sustainable monetization have surrounded the YouTube shorts space, and this week we finally got what we wished for. YouTube shorts have been monetized through a "Shorts creator fund" worth 100 million for some time, but these new permanent monetization plans are paving the way for YouTube shorts to thrive.
Time for the juicy details. How does it work? On September 22nd 2022, YouTube released an explainer video discussing changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), YouTube shorts monetization, and Licensing for shorts music. The explainer first talked about eligibility for shorts, something which has been an issue for quite some time now.
To be eligible for the shorts fund, users currently have to be part of the YPP and be selected. The requirements to become part of the YPP are:
Having 1000 subscribers
Having 4000 valid watch hours in the past 12 months
These requirements might not look too steep at first sight, but are quite the challenge for shorts creators considering watch hours for shorts do not count! That’s why, starting next year, shorts creators will be eligible for the YPP when they have 1000 subscribers and 10 million views in the last 90 days. This makes the threshold quite high, but it allows shorts-creators to earn revenue without creating long-form content!
Alright, we have covered how to get into the partner program, but how much are creators actually going to earn? While details about the ads themselves are still unknown, we do have percentages on payouts! YouTube reports creators earning a 45% split of the total ad revenue. This is a fixed percentage and it will be proportionately distributed to creators by the number of views.
This means the more views you get, the higher your cut from the ad revenue. YouTube also explains it already included licensed music in this percentage, which is an enormous win for content creators wanting to use music for their videos! In addition to this, YouTube also announced that partnered creators will now also be able to receive super-thanks on their shorts, further increasing monetization options.
Altogether, there’s plenty of stuff to be excited about as creators since shorts continue to grow as a viable option with many monetization options. This also further grows the opportunities for brands to market their brand on shorts! Keep an eye out for any new updates, because shorts are becoming an opportunity you don’t want to miss!