The New York Times was the first to reveal that YouTube Shorts will be a part of the Partner Program “early next year,” offering artists a chance to share in the revenue earned by advertising these films. The news comes a year after YouTube’s chief product officer Neal Mohan announced a “long-term monetisation effort” approximately 18 months after Shorts’ first introduction. The popularity of shorts seems to be rising quickly; according to Amjad Hanif, vice president of creative products at YouTube, the feature receives 1.5 billion monthly and 30 billion daily views. For years, the YouTube Partner Program has paid out to producers, and it has pretty simple admission criteria. At least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over a year are necessary for qualifying. Shorts must have 10 million views in 90 days to qualify. Additionally, YouTube is introducing alternatives enabling artists to make money from their Shorts without participating in the Partner Program. The conditions for accessing these choices, which include paid channel subscriptions and “Super Thanks” tipping, have not yet been made public by YouTube. However, payouts for shorts will vary somewhat. In contrast to typical YouTube videos, where creators get 45% of the revenue, YouTube as the platform will keep 55% of the revenue. According to The Verge, this is done partly so that producers may utilise music in Shorts without worrying about their rights, as they would on other platforms. This June, the site claimed to have more than 1.5 billion users. Shorts were previously solely monetised via “Creator Funds” and individually acquired sponsorships and partnerships, making it difficult for smaller producers to generate money from their videos even if they could get millions of views. Introducing a “Partner Program” for YouTube Shorts will prove to be a successful strategy for growing both its viewership and the number of artists participating in it.
