You don’t have to.
If you have your own YouTube channel, we can certainly claim any of its uploads on your behalf. However, you also have the option to “allowlist” (formerly referred to as “whitelisting”) your channel (or any other channel) if you (or the channel owner) would like to monetize those videos yourself directly, rather than through Songtrust’s collections. The decision is ultimately up to you.
Please note that we can not monetize videos that do not meet YouTube's new eligibility requirements (as of February 20, 2018). In order for us to place ads on and monetize a video, the video must be on a channel that has 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.
YouTube Tool Update - 11/21/2023: Songtrust has recently removed the functionality to manually claim YouTube videos within our app. This is because when you opt into YouTube monetization, we deliver all your songs, along with ISRC information, to YouTube’s Content ID System automatically. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the dashboard experience, we found that manually claiming videos only created duplicate records in our system. You can be confident that videos that qualify to be monetized are already being claimed on your behalf.
To learn more about YouTube’s monetization thresholds and eligibility, click here.
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