Creators Can Now Monetize on YouTube Shorts: Here’s What You Need to Know

Creators are making millions on YouTube. As the second most visited site in the world with over 2.6 billion users and 51 million channels, the platform is a global destination for entertainment content, educational videos, and everything in between. It has launched hundreds of career creators and turned dozens of people with nothing but laptops and watchable personalities into household names. So in September 2020, when YouTube joined the likes of Instagram and TikTok by launching YouTube Shorts, their answer to the short-form content trend, creators instantly saw money signs.

However, the initial path to Shorts monetization didn’t follow YouTube’s traditional rev-share model, making it challenging for creators to find success with this new format—until now. This week, YouTube ushered in a new era of its industry-leading YouTube Partner Program, which now gives Shorts creators a portion of all ad revenue generated from the platform’s 60-second videos. And of course, Jellysmack is ready to do what we do best: help top creators maximize yet another exciting money-making opportunity and Go Bigger.

Show Me the Money

YouTube designed its new Partner Program with one goal in mind: to enable more creators to earn more revenue. The new YPP features updated modules, allowing creators to customize their monetization offerings based on the type of content they create. These can be found under the ‘Earn’ tab on the left navigation bar of YouTube Studio. 

To start, all YouTube creators, whether they’re posting long or short-form content, need to agree to the updated Base Terms to continue (or begin) monetizing. Long-form creators should make sure to visit the new Watch Page Monetization Module and accept the terms to keep earning ad revenue. The YPP qualifications for long-form creators haven’t changed—YouTube still requires creators to reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in order to monetize. 

Then there’s the new Shorts Monetization Module. This allows you to earn revenue from ads that appear in between individual Shorts videos. While the subscriber monetization threshold is the same as it is for long-form creators (1,000 subs is what you’re working towards), Shorts creators must also earn 10 million Shorts views over the course of 90 days to qualify. 

Earning with YouTube Shorts also works a little differently than with YouTube’s flagship content.

Since ads will be placed in between Shorts videos, not during the videos, YouTube will be allocating a portion of the total Shorts ad revenue to qualifying creators.

All of the collective revenue earned by Shorts gets pooled together, then divvied up to qualifying creators based on the percentage of total Shorts views they drove. For example, if a creator earns 2% of the views out of the total number of Shorts views from the creator pool, they will earn 2% of the total ad revenue that those Shorts earned.

Next, while creators earn 55% of ad revenue from their long-form content, the platform has offered 45% for Shorts. Why? Music. The extra 10% revenue will go to licensing the music rights for use on YouTube Shorts content.

New Features, Who This?

With the new monetization rollout comes many new Shorts features, too. YouTube will be providing creators access to their channel’s subscriptions by content type, making it easier to understand who exactly is viewing your content and what they’re interested in. In addition, Shorts thumbnails will (finally!) be customizable—but there’s a catch. Only creators with Android devices will be able to select a frame from their video to serve as the thumbnail to drive clicks. Location tags will also be available to all YouTube Shorts creators, giving them the ability to tag their content for enhanced discoverability.

With Shorts monetization up and running and more new features on the way, it’s safe to say YouTube will be giving other short-form platforms a run for their money.

Short-Form Successes

As you know, Jellysmack helps the world’s top creators Go Bigger by taking them from one platform to many—and YouTube Shorts is no exception. Several creator partners have enlisted our help to amplify their Shorts content to new levels on YouTube.

First up, TikTok star Nadina Ioana, who signed with us back in October. Based in the UAE, Nadina’s beauty-meets-ASMR content has captured the attention of 13.4M TikTok followers. After seeing early success with her Snapchat Discover Show, amassing nearly 50K subscribers in one month, Jellysmack is helping syndicate her short-form content onto her own Nadina Ioana Shorts channel on YouTube to engage even more fans and earn more revenue. Scrolling through Shorts, it’s hard not to stop and watch Nadina’s mesmerizing, close-up tutorials that only leave you wanting more.

Jellysmack creator partner and 2022 Streamy Award nominee MrBallen is also ready to Go Bigger on his MrBallen Shorts channel. Another Snapchat success story, true crime creator John Allen has made a name for himself doing deep dives into the strangest, darkest, and most mysterious cases. Jellysmack will optimize and distribute his content onto YouTube Shorts to help expand his cross-platform success. From missing persons to unsolved murders, MrBallen breaks down the facts and theories surrounding unthinkable tragedies while honoring the victims and their families.

Jellysmack will also be helping CreepTime expand onto YouTube Shorts, in addition to managing his Facebook page. Creator Sylas Dean explains the unexplained, sharing mysterious crime cases and creepy stories with millions of fans across platforms. With a knack for creating suspense around some of the most mind-boggling tales in existence, his Shorts content is sure to raise the hairs of millions more fans on YouTube.

Caesar David, known for his SFX makeup and out-of-this-world transformations on TikTok, has also joined the Jellysmack Creator Program to expand onto YouTube Shorts. Fans can’t get enough of his unbelievable looks and hilarious charm. Whether he’s turning into a character straight out of Avatar 2 or a terrifying horned demon, he gives viewers a peek into his process with a touch of humor and personality. YouTube Shorts is yet another way Caesar can continue to dominate the SFX content space.

With the new Shorts monetization model, YouTube has solidified its place in the short-form content space, offering creators a simple, straightforward way to monetize their bite-size content. Will other platforms follow suit with new ways for creators to earn? Only time will tell.