What kind of content can I monetize?

The best way to ensure you’ll be able to monetize your YouTube videos is to create your own content. Use your imagination to create something completely original. Examples of videos that have been successful on YouTube include daily vlogs and home videos, do-it-yourself videos and tutorials, original music videos and short films.

You’re also expected to follow YouTube Community Guidelines, which may increase the visibility of your content on YouTube, leading to more views and higher watch time, more user engagement, and ultimately more revenue.

Obtain commercial use rights for specific types of content 

For your videos to be eligible for monetization, you must own all the necessary rights to commercially use all visuals and audio, whether they belong to you or to a third party. If you decide to incorporate third-party content in a video you must clear the rights to use and monetize this content on YouTube. Often, this clearance takes the form of explicit written permission from the rights holders.

To ensure that you’re not infringing on anyone else’s copyright, take a moment to learn from Russell and Lumpy at ourCopyright School.

Here are some details about how you may obtain commercial use rights for the following examples of commonly-used content. You may also want to review how to read licenses to understand your rights and what YouTube looks for in your documentation.

Can I monetize my video …

… if I created all the audio and visual content?

You can monetize content that you created as long as you still hold the rights to the video.However, if you have assigned rights to a third party (e.g., a music label), you should consider whether you retain the appropriate rights to monetize the content yourself. You may need to consult an attorney.

You may be able to use audio and visual editing software to create monetizable content, but this depends on the scope, limitations and commercial permissions of the license. If you have used samples or loops, make sure that the license specifically allows for their commercial use.

You can monetize royalty-free or Creative Commons content if the license agreement grants you rights to use it commercially. Sometimes rights owners require you to credit the creator of the content or provide proof of purchase in order to use it in your video for commercial purposes. For more information, please review how to read licenses to understand your rights.

You can, but you need to be able to provide explicit written permission granting you commercial use rights by the rights holder at any time. For more information, please review what YouTube looks for in your documentation.