How Does Songtrust Pay YouTube Royalties?

It depends on where they’re generated.

Songtrust has a direct agreement with YouTube to collect mechanical royalties in the U.S. and Brazil. All mechanical royalties generated outside of the U.S. and Brazil — in addition to any performance royalties generated worldwide — are collected by the corresponding society in each territory, then paid to Songtrust.

We deliver metadata to YouTube (the ISRC) that helps international societies match their data with ours and monetize your music in all applicable territories. Any song that does not have an ISRC will not opt in to YouTube.

Videos that do not meet YouTube’s eligibility requirements and follow its monetization policies cannot have ads placed on them. This includes having at least 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 hours of watch time over the past 12 months, live in a country/region where the YouTube Partner Program is available, and have a linked Adsense account.

For more on how mechanical royalties differ from performance royalties, check out our mini-crash course, our blog post breakdown or complete list of mechanical royalty sources.

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