The short answer: there is no rate per view
YouTube does not pay a set amount for each view of a song. Music on YouTube is paid from two pots: the money advertisers spend to show ads, and the fees paid by YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium members. Each pot is shared with the people whose music was watched or listened to. What one view is worth depends on who watched it, where they were, and whether an ad ran at all.
So anyone who quotes a single figure per thousand views is averaging very different numbers. It is more useful to know which kind of view you are getting, and what makes it worth more or less.
Three ways music earns on YouTube
| Where the music plays | How it is paid | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| In other people's videos (Content ID claims) | A share of the ad revenue on each claimed video | A recording you control exclusively, registered in Content ID |
| As official audio on YouTube Music and YouTube (Art Tracks) | A share of ad and subscription revenue, like any streaming service | A release delivered to YouTube Music by a distributor or label |
| On your own channel (YouTube Partner Program) | A share of the ads on your videos, plus part of Premium members' fees | A channel accepted into the YouTube Partner Program |
Content ID: earning from other people's videos
Content ID is YouTube's automated system for finding copyright material in uploads. When someone uses your recording in a video — a dance clip, a wedding film, a lyric video, a compilation — Content ID matches the audio and places a claim on the video. The owner of the recording then decides what happens: run ads on the video and collect the revenue, track its viewing figures, or block it.
For many independent artists this is the largest hidden source of YouTube money. A song that does well on TikTok or Instagram often turns up in YouTube uploads too, and each of those videos can carry ads.
Two things to know:
- It is only for recordings you control exclusively. YouTube makes Content ID available only to owners of exclusive rights. Covers of other people's recordings, uncleared samples, beats licensed to many artists and public-domain recordings must stay out, or they claim videos that are not yours to claim.
- A claim is not a takedown. A copyright strike follows when a video is removed after a removal request. A Content ID claim works differently: the claimed video generally stays up, and the owner's settings decide whether it earns, is tracked or is blocked.
On TempoDigital, Content ID is included on every plan. We run three Content ID networks, with manual claiming as well as automatic matching. On the Release, Artist and Label plans you keep 80% of what Content ID earns; the 20% we keep pays for finding and managing the claims. See Content ID for music.
Art Tracks: your release on YouTube Music
When a distributor delivers your release to YouTube Music, YouTube creates an Art Track for every song. YouTube describes it as an automatically generated YouTube version of a track, made from the sound recording and the album art. Art Tracks are what plays in the YouTube Music app, and they also appear on YouTube itself, on your topic channel or your Official Artist Channel.
Art Tracks are paid like streams on any other service: from the ads shown to free listeners and from Premium subscriptions, shared out by how much of the listening was yours. They are reported with your other store royalties.
On TempoDigital, YouTube Music is paid at the same share as every other store: 100% on the Artist ($29.99 a year) and Label ($149 a year) plans, and 90% on the Release plan ($8.99 per release). Read how YouTube Music distribution works.
Your own channel: the YouTube Partner Program
Music videos, lyric videos, live sessions and short clips on your own channel earn through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). A channel in the programme can earn from ads on its videos and in the Shorts feed, and receives part of the subscription fee of YouTube Premium members who watch its content.
To share in ad revenue, YouTube currently asks for 1,000 subscribers together with either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. You must also live in a country or region where the programme is available. YouTube changes these rules from time to time, so check its help pages before you plan around them.
None of this is needed for the other two ways in. Content ID and YouTube Music pay you as the owner of the recording, whatever the size of your channel.
What makes a view worth more or less
YouTube's own help on ad revenue lists the reasons earnings rise and fall. They apply to all three kinds of income:
- Where the viewer is. Advertisers compete harder for some countries than others, so the same video earns more from some audiences.
- Time of year. Many advertisers bid higher just before the holidays and spend less at other times.
- Whether an ad runs at all. A view may show no ad if the video is not suitable for advertisers, ads are turned off, or no ad matches the viewer.
- Ad format. Some types of ad, such as those that cannot be skipped, earn more than others.
- Premium members. Viewers with YouTube Premium see no ads; their share comes from their subscription instead.
- The kind of view. A claim on someone else's video, a play of your Art Track and a view on your own channel are each shared differently.
This is why two artists with the same view count can be paid very different amounts.
In YouTube Analytics, CPM is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share. RPM is what you earned per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share and counting views that showed no ad. RPM is the figure that tells you what your views were really worth.
How the money reaches you
Like the stores, YouTube reports earnings after the month they happened. On TempoDigital, YouTube Music royalties, Content ID earnings and publishing income all land in one USD wallet. Statements close on the 15th of the following month, and you can withdraw anything above $70 by Payoneer, PayPal, Wise or bank transfer.
If you also wrote the song, its use on YouTube earns composition royalties too. Those are collected separately, through publishing administration. Music royalties explained covers the difference.
How to earn more from your music on YouTube
- Deliver every release to YouTube Music, not just the singles, so every track has official audio
- Turn on Content ID for every recording you own outright, from the first release
- Keep covers, sampled tracks and non-exclusive beats out of Content ID
- Tell whoever runs your Content ID which channels may use your music — your own, your label's, a promoter's — so they can be whitelisted
- Get an Official Artist Channel, so your subscribers and views are in one place
- Release regularly: each new track adds new audio for Content ID to find