YouTube Revenues Explained…

YouTube Revenues Explained…

March 23, 2016 Off By Eric Jensen

YT3YouTube monetization is complex but well worth understanding in a music economy where every revenue stream counts.

Attorney Chris Castle recently participated in a SXSW panel and posted an excellent guide to YouTube monetization on his MusicTechSolutions blog.

A Billboard chart explains revenue splits for compositions, recordings, and videos, and Castle touches on the opacity of CPMs and the impact Multichannel networks (MCN) can have on creator’s revenues.

The article explains the difference between “Official” or “Premium” videos and user generated content (USG).

Castle delves into the mysteries of YouTube’s ContentID and Content Management Systems (CMS) and shed light on the reality of what it takes to become a YouTube celebrity.

“We often hear about “YouTube stars” with elite channels (1 million plus subscribers) who are very well compensated. The source of this high level of compensation is rarely limited to advertising revenue. Most of the time, their ad revenue is salted with a high number of payments for what are essentially sponsorships, endorsements or product placements, often called “brand integrations“.

This is a good read for all musicians that can help them decide how best to distribute their marketing assets.