- February 1st, 2023 is the official start date
of YouTube's new revenue share
and updates to the Partner Program.
But here's the good, here's the bad,
and here's the complicated.
First, in order to get paid from your YouTube Shorts,
you need to be monetized.
Luckily, in 2023, there will be two different ways
you can achieve that.
The first option is to get 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
There is nothing new here.
This has been the case since like 2018,
but they've added another option.
Option number two, get 1,000 subscribers
with 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- What?
Bro, what are you talking about, man?
- Yes, that's a lot of views.
And if you're wondering,
the watch time you earn from Shorts traffic
will not contribute to the 4,000 hours of watch time
needed to meet the first option,
meaning you cannot combine them,
which is kind of frustrating, in my opinion,
because when you do the math, 10 million views on Shorts
will probably be a lot more than 4,000 hours of watch time.
Let's say your Shorts get
an average view duration of five seconds.
Five seconds per view times 10 million views
is 50 million seconds of watch time.
50 million seconds of watch time is 833,333 minutes,
and that equals 13,888 hours,
over three times more than the 4,000 hours
of watch time you need for option one,
and you still need 1,000 subscribers.
You have to decide which pathway you wanna take
to get into the YouTube Partner Program.
No matter which pathway you choose,
you can monetize both your long-form videos
and short-form videos.
And since we're talking about monetizing your videos,
how much money can you earn from your YouTube Shorts?
Well, that's where things get complicated,
and some of the news you've been hearing
might not be as good as you think.
Here's what we know so far.
Monetization for long-form videos is not changing.
Monetized creators will continue to earn 55%
of the ad revenue on those uploads.
We also know that the YouTube Shorts fund is going bye-bye.
I'm not upset.
Did you get paid from it?
Probably not.
And it's being replaced by a revenue sharing model
that will pay out to all monetized Shorts creators.
We also know that YouTube will start putting ads
between videos in the Shorts feed.
And each month, the total revenue from those ads
will be combined and used to pay for music licensing
and use to reward Shorts creators
based on the number of views they get in each country.
And finally, we know that creators will earn 45% of revenue.
And that is exactly where things get complicated.
You see, with long-form videos,
creators earn 55% of the revenue from ads.
That is clearly stated.
But with Shorts, the revenue split is not as clear,
because it does not say, "45% of revenue."
It says, "From the overall amount allocated to creators,
"they will keep 45% of revenue."
- That's suspicious.
- But how much is that amount allocated to creators?
If, for example, 50% of of the total revenue from Shorts
gets allocated to creators,
and creators keep 45% of that allocated amount,
then creators will earn 22.5%
of the total revenue from Shorts.
Unfortunately, YouTube has not shared the exact percentage,
so it could be less, it could be more, could be 50%.
Who knows?
And until we know that number,
there's not an easy way to really gauge how much a creator
has the possibility to earn through Shorts.
In spite of all this,
YouTube has always been the best platform
for creators to make money,
and I'm confident that they will pay creators fairly
for the Shorts that they produce.
And it's good for you to know
that the monetization is coming
and what the reality of this monetization plan is,
despite how the headlines oversimplify it.
You creators, you are what make YouTube what it is.
YouTube needs quality creators to make quality content,
and that content attracts viewers,
and your viewers attract advertisers,
and those advertisers pay the bill.
But in order for YouTube to compete
with platforms like TikTok
and really make YouTube Shorts a success,
they're gonna have to pay you well,
and they're gonna have to keep you happy.
So, just know that.
They're not gonna take an L on this one.
So friends, let's grind, let's make some amazing Shorts,
and let's get that bread.
And if you're like,
"Eh, I don't know if I'll make YouTube Shorts,
"this isn't really worth my time,"
well, it's worth your time.
Watch this video before you make any more decisions.
And if any of this makes you frustrated or annoyed,
please take it all out on the like and subscribe buttons.