More ways for creators and artists to create and earn on YouTube
YouTube has always been about giving everyone a voice. And, through 2023 we have doubled down in our efforts to help creators and artists succeed. Earlier this year, we introduced the next chapter in supporting the next wave of creative entrepreneurs. We expanded eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to include Shorts creators and rolled out ad revenue sharing for Shorts, while introducing earlier access to fan funding features like Channel Memberships, Super Chat, and more. Since then we have continued to invest in ways to make YouTube the place where Creating is Rewarding. Period.
Estimates by Oxford Economics show that over 700,000 creators and partners in India have found their financial anchor in YouTube, receiving income linked to their YouTube presence. This is a testament to the power of the platform which helps turn "what ifs" into thriving "I dids." Take for instance, KL BRO Biju Rithvik, who went from showcasing his family's life in a remote Kerala village to building a strong community of 2 crore subscribers in under 3 years.
We recognise that in order to help our creators’ and artists’ dreams take flight, we have to help them build a runway. And, we’re doing that by unlocking more ways to create, more ways to build communities and more ways to earn.
More creative freedom with more formats
YouTube offers creators one of the widest canvases to creatively express themselves, and we’re continuing to expand tools to make it easier for anyone to join in and create what they love. Shorts opened the door for anyone to become a creator, but AI can take this even further by making creation even easier (and more fun). We introduced new creative tools on Shorts and announced upcoming Gen AI features that will make it easier than ever for anyone to express any idea.
Now, we're making it even easier for creators and artists to showcase their podcasts on YouTube and YouTube Music.
We’ve begun rolling this out to all our listeners in India gradually. New features in YouTube Studio make it easier to publish podcasts, while Podcast shelves on the YouTube Music homepage will help improve discovery for listeners and increase engagement for creators. With podcasts available for on-demand, offline & background listening on YouTube Music in India, it unlocks the opportunity to earn more on the platform via ads and subscriptions.
More pathways to make money
As creators build their communities on YouTube, our fan funding features give them another way to grow their earnings while engaging with their audience. Creators can provide exclusive content and benefits to their fans through channel memberships or shoutout to viewers who use Super Chat during their live streams. In fact, in India, the number of channels that earned a majority of revenue from Fan Funding products in December 2022 saw an increase over 10 percent compared to the prior year.
Introducing YouTube BrandConnect. We want to make it easy for creators, top brands, and leading agencies to partner, create, promote, and measure sponsored creator content. We have begun rolling out BrandConnect, YouTube's branded content platform, to eligible creators and select advertisers in India. This will help brands execute their branded content campaigns more seamlessly by identifying the right mix and profile of creators to work with, while creators will have a new avenue to be discovered and earn more from their content.
Beyond giving everyone a stage, we also want to give people a workshop with the right tools to spark creativity, a creative studio to bring these ideas to life, a spotlight to help audiences discover the content they love, and their own personal box-office that helps them earn more revenue, all combined! We will continue to invest in building the future of YouTube – where technology empowers imagination, where every dream finds its voice, and every story finds its audience.
