The battle for the internet’s best short-video creators has stepped up a notch with YouTube’s announcement that it will launch an ad revenue sharing model for Shorts creators.
Starting early 2023, 45% of revenue from ads running between videos in the Shorts Feed will be paid to Shorts creators and distributed based on their share of total Shorts views.
Ad revenue from Shorts will also be used to cover the cost of music licensing. Creators will be paid the same share regardless of whether they use music in their videos or not.
YouTube Vice President of Creator Products Amjad Hanif said the new revenue sharing model would enable the platform to reward all creators who make up the Shorts experience, and not only those with videos running next to ads.
“We expect the majority of our Shorts Fund recipients to earn more money under this new model, which was built for long-term sustainability,” Hanif said in a statement. “Instead of a fixed fund, we’re doubling down on the revenue sharing model that has supercharged the creator economy and enabled creators to benefit from the platform’s success.”
YouTube says Shorts have exploded on its platform, generating 30bn daily views and 1.5bn logged in monthly users.
The platform’s announcement for ad revenue sharing with Shorts creators could revolutionize the short-form video landscape and send shockwaves through TikTok.
Despite its massive popularity, TikTok has struggled to develop a model that enables creators to monetize on the platform in a meaningful way. The key question arising from Tuesday’s announcement is whether it will entice TikTok’s best creators to switch their allegiance to YouTube Shorts?
YouTube says that over the past three years, it has paid 2m creators, artists and media companies $50bn in shared ad revenues through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). By comparison, TikTok expects to pay creators some $300m over three years under its Creator Fund.
To be eligible for revenue sharing, Shorts creators must meet the criteria under a new category of the YPP, which calls for 1,000 subscribers and 10m valid public Shorts views in the previous 90 days.
YouTube also announced it will introduce a new level of Fan Funding that will offer earlier access to features like Super Thanks, Super Chat and Channel memberships.
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