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YouTube
Monetisation
YouTube changed its policy regarding monetization of small channels.
Since February 20th, 2018, all channels with fewer than 1,000 subs or 4,000 watch hours will no longer be able to earn money on YouTube.
When they reach 1,000 subs and 4,000 watch hours they will be automatically re-evaluated under strict criteria to ensure they comply with YouTube's policies.
You can get more info on the official YouTube Blog.
YouTube OAC request
To request an Official Artist Channel we need the channel ID from the artist's YouTube channel (user channel), as well as the channel ID to the topic (theme) channel (channel where the art tracks are uploaded automatically).
The requirements are:
- Owned and operated YouTube channel representing an artist or band.
- Have at least 1 official music release on YouTube provided and distributed by a music distributor or label
- Your channel follows YouTube policies including YouTube’s Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and Copyright policies
Once you have made sure that you meet all the requirements, you can fill in the data in this form: YouTube OAC Request
The claiming of your official artist account can take up to 4 weeks. Please check the status of your account after this period of time.
Please contact labelrelations@digdis.de for further questions!
Once the Official Artist Channel is set up, artists can access YouTube for Artists tools and analytics.
Why should artists use YouTube for Artists?
YouTube for Artists is a free tool that helps artists understand how their music performs on YouTube and how fans interact with their content across the platform.
Key benefits include:
- Track performance: View important metrics such as views, watch time and audience growth.
- Understand audience behavior: See where listeners are located and how they discover your music.
- Analyze traffic sources: Learn whether viewers find your music through search, recommendations, playlists or Shorts.
- Discover additional reach: Track how your music performs not only on your own channel but also on other channels using your music.
- Measure content success: Identify which songs, videos or formats perform best.
- Improve release strategies: Use analytics to plan promotion and future releases.
- Monitor long term growth: Track subscriber growth and audience development over time.
Explore the official guides here: