- 10 million views in the last 90 days
basically means we should be trying to create viral Shorts.
For long-format content creators,
it's impossible to think this way.
That was part of just one comment from one creator reacting
to YouTube's monetization updates.
You've had a lot of thoughts,
let's share some of them.
In case you don't know what the updates are,
you still need 1,000 subscribers,
as well as a choice between 4,000 hours of watch time
on long-form content over 12 months
or 10 million YouTube Shorts views
over 90 days to monetize your channel.
Now, as I understand it, any watch time gained
from YouTube Shorts still do not count towards 4,000 hours,
which has led to some interesting calculations
from our viewers.
After doing the math,
you are going to get 4,000 hours of watch time
before 10 million views, even on Shorts.
10 million views is absurd.
That's actually a really interesting point.
How much watch time would you get
on 10 million Shorts views?
Somebody figured it out for us.
10 million views
of 20 seconds Shorts would be 55,555 watch hours.
That's way above the 4,000 hours of watch time requirements
by a factor of 10, actually.
This number somewhat blew me away,
so I decided to ask myself a question.
What if you applied 4,000 hours of watch time
to 10 million Shorts views?
The average watch time you would require is 1.44 seconds.
All right, now let's put this another way.
Let's say each of your Shorts averages 15 seconds
in view duration.
How many views would you need to get
to 4,000 hours of watch time,
960,000 views, not 10 million.
You lot are not stupid, are you?
In fact, more than 75% of you agree
that 4,000 hours of watch time is easier to get
than 10 million YouTube Shorts views.
But hey, watch time's not a thing when it comes to Shorts.
Let's put that aside and focus on that requirement,
10 million views.
10 million views in 90 days comes out
at an average of 111,000 views every single day.
That's absurd, that's the second person to use that word.
I think that's going in my title.
Whatever way you shake and bake it,
the numbers do seem quite daunting,
more than 50,000 views if you make two Shorts a day,
more than 35,000 views if you make three Shorts a day.
What strategy do you employ,
quantity or quality,
10 videos that each earn a million views
or 10,000 videos that earn a thousand views each?
Well, let's add a little bit of balance.
This creator has hit the requirements
of 10 million Shorts views,
at least for now anyway.
These monetization changes don't come into effect
for another three months,
and the channel is basically relying
on one single viral Short.
That's an incredible amount of pressure
to try and repeat, isn't it?
But there is genuine optimism out there.
This person says that if you take Shorts seriously
as you should do with any creative passion,
10 million views isn't as crazy as you might think.
This creator has made over 540 YouTube Shorts
and has just hit the major milestone of 10 million views.
But it's taken them almost two years to do that,
not YouTube's stated 90 days.
Here's the facts.
There is a new path to YouTube monetization through Shorts.
Here's the opinion.
You all seem to think it's absurdly difficult.
Honestly, I feel no update has been made.
It still does not favor small creators.
Firstly, reaching 1,000 subscribers
for some of us is very hard.
Secondly, achieving even 200 hours
of watch time is a miracle to some.
For everyone not interested in YouTube Shorts,
the hope was that the monetization requirements
will be lowered from 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watch time.
And given that they've been at this state
for more than four years,
I'm surprised that there wasn't any sort of refresh.
Many creators were disappointed at no change.
But there are some that are glad.
I'm actually glad to hear
that it will remain at 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 watch hours.
I started back in May 2022.
So it's more than doable if you put the work in.
I'm glad, you should be rewarded
for your hard work and dedication.
1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours
is an obtainable goal and should not be lowered.
I kinda like that they didn't lower
the barrier for monetization.
I like putting in the work and effort to get the money.
And this is a channel with 268 subscribers.
That's the sort of motivation that should inspire
every single one of you watching this video.
And now it's time for my opinion.
Thank you for the question, Liam Walker.
All right, in its simplest terms,
every single creator is better off
from a monetization opportunity than they were last week.
There is a new path to monetization through Shorts.
I'll get back to that.
And YouTube are introducing
a monetization lite Partner Program.
Fan Funding will allow creators to accept Super Chats,
Super Thanks, and set up channel memberships
at a lower requirement rate than 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watch time.
But we won't know what that is until 2023.
As for 10 million Shorts views in 90 days,
I really don't know how YouTube have arrived at that number.
I know that some people in the Shorts Fund
over the last year have been earning 10, 20 bucks
from a million Shorts views per month.
I don't know, maybe the new ad revenue structure coming
to Shorts means that creators could potentially earn
a lot more money.
But there's also a debate around what 45% means
for the creator's cut in Shorts.
That's a video for another day.
And I agree that setting such a high bar
for views sets the creator down a route
of chasing viral content.
We've talked about that in a recent video.
Traditionally, it is not a smart strategy
and can seriously play tricks with your mental health.
But I confess, I don't make Shorts every day.
I need to research what 10 million views
over 90 days really means.
As for 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time,
I'm afraid it's time for a little bit of tough love.
Monetization is not impossible.
It is hard, and it should be.
Over 2 million creators have already been accepted
into the YouTube Partner Program.
That's more people than who work for Amazon.
I think the system works.
But I admit, I'm biased because I haven't tried to monetize
the channel in over a decade.
But I do know somebody here at vidIQ
who's managed to monetize two channels in the last year.
I'll say it again, it's not impossible.
Getting paid to make content
on YouTube is not an entitlement.
It's a privilege, earn it.
If you're wasting time channeling negative energy
into why you think YouTube is against you,
I'm afraid I can't help you.
Channel your energy into positively, motivating, inspiring,
changing the lives of your audience.
And if you still think YouTube's against you,
do out of spite, prove 'em wrong.
Now, as I mentioned, we've still got tons to talk about
when it comes to YouTube monetization,
including all of this really interesting stuff
about being able to use copyrighted music
and still get paid.
So make sure you subscribe
and turn on the notification bell.
Oh, and if you do wanna know more
about why we think it is a terrible idea to go viral,
especially as a small channel, your video's over here.
See you there.