Violation of YouTube Content ID's Monetization Policy

YouTube has very specific guidelines on how you may monetize your music through Content ID, and any violation of these guidelines may lead to the removal of your sound recording from Content ID and/or restrictions placed on your distribution to Content ID, up to a complete block.

This article highlights key aspects of YouTube's guidelines and is not an exhaustive list. In addition to the guidelines below, YouTube also requires that you abide by its Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, Copyright policies, Rights Clearance Adjustment policies, and AdSense program policies.

Key violations

1. Circumventing the YouTube Partner Program (YPP)— attempting to monetize content through channels that YouTube has not approved for monetization. Examples include:
   • Embedding music in Shorts from channels not accepted into YPP, such as channels that mainly remix or reuse third-party content without substantive added value, or channels presenting repetitive or low-effort content.
   • Content produced at scale with low effort, using templates with little to no variation across videos. Examples.
   • Content reused from other sources or creators without adding significant original commentary, substantive modifications, or educational or entertainment value. Examples.
   • Content that uses hacks or exploits, such as embedding music in a video in an inaudible or barely audible manner.
2. Parasitic usage of other people's content.
   
   Examples include:
   • Embedding your music in unrelated popular third-party content:
     • Inserting your sound recording into a Simpsons episode or a motivational speaker's video.
     • Creating a compilation video with famous musicians' songs and inserting your sound recording as an uncredited intro or outro.
     • Overlaying your music on a scene from a popular movie.
       
       
   • Deceiving YouTube's audience using popular videos as clickbait:
     • Using misleading thumbnails, titles, or logos (such as the VEVO logo) to get users to click on your video.
     • Videos where the title, thumbnail, or both reference popular third-party content not owned by you.

How to promote your music without violating Content ID's monetization guidelines

The use of your music in videos should mainly come from organic sources rather than a deliberate campaign orchestrated by you. You may create some videos to promote your music, however the majority of videos should remain true user-generated content (UGC).

If you create compilation videos to help YouTube's audience discover your music by associating it with other content, make sure that:

• The content you use fits your music.
• You clearly identify your music in the video's title and/or credits so that you are not deceiving YouTube's audience about the content of the video — this is critical.
• You do not create multiple very similar videos. Do not pollute YouTube with a dozen copies or close variants of the same content.

Related articles

• Unauthorized Content for UGC DSPs (Facebook, TikTok & YouTube CID)