Music on YouTube

The only music YouTube says is known to be copyright-safe is in the Audio Library, under YouTube Studio's left menu or at youtube.com/audiolibrary: free tracks and sound effects you can download, use and monetize without a Content ID claim. Beyond it, YouTube Partner Program creators in some countries can use Creator Music to put popular songs in long videos and split the revenue with the rights holders. Anything else (a hit song, a "royalty-free" track from elsewhere, an artist's friendly yes) risks a claim, a copyright strike or, for a channel built on others' music, losing monetization.

Quick facts

Sources: Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library, Share revenue using Creator Music, YouTube Help.

How do I use the YouTube Audio Library?

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and choose Audio Library in the left menu, or go to youtube.com/audiolibrary.
2. Search music by title, artist, genre, mood, attribution or duration, or switch to Sound effects to search by category.
3. Star the tracks you like, then click Download to get an MP3.
4. If the License type column shows the Creative Commons icon, click it, copy the attribution text and paste it into the video's description.

Source: Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library, YouTube Help.

Partner Program members may monetize videos that use Audio Library music, and tracks downloaded from it are not claimed through Content ID. New tracks arrive twice a month. YouTube adds that it takes no responsibility for music sold as "royalty-free" elsewhere: such a track may still be in someone's Content ID, and the claim is the uploader's problem.

Creator Music and revenue sharing

Creator Music is YouTube's catalog of commercial songs for long-form videos, in beta and rolling out to Partner Program creators, starting in the US. Some tracks can be licensed outright; others are revenue-sharing tracks, where the video keeps earning but the creator's share is split with the music's rights holders. Upload checks detect an eligible revenue-sharing track and switch sharing on automatically.

The creator's usual share of a long video's ad revenue is 55%. With revenue-sharing music, that 55% is divided by the number of shares, then a music rights deduction of up to 5% comes off (Share revenue using Creator Music):

Source: Share revenue using Creator Music, YouTube Help.

The video must otherwise be free of monetization problems, live streams and Shorts are excluded, and rights holders can change a track's terms later, which can switch monetization off. In Studio, Content shows "Sharing" in the Notices column of a video using such a track; its Copyright page explains the split. George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, kept a Jul 29, 2024 example of the split in his notes. By Help's own arithmetic, one revenue-sharing song roughly halves what the creator earns from the video.

Music in Shorts

Shorts are paid from a shared Creator Pool. When a Short uses music, part of its revenue goes to music licensing, and only music from YouTube's music industry partners (or made with Dream Track) is credited as a contribution; no other third-party content earns from a Short, even under a Content ID monetize policy. Using licensed music does not lower the creator's own allocation from the pool (YouTube Shorts monetization policies, Shorts Monetization).

Why permission is not enough

0:42 An artist's or label's permission settles copyright, but not monetization. YouTube's reused content rule applies even if you have permission from the original creator, and it names compilations of songs from different artists among the kinds of channel that cannot earn (Inauthentic and Reused Content). George made this the subject of "Music with permission IS NOT ENOUGH! - KYC #14": in his experience the question a Partner Program reviewer asks is not only "do you have the rights?" but "does this add value to YouTube?" Permission also does not stop Content ID: a song already in a label's or distributor's system is claimed automatically until the owner allowlists the channel.

Music promo channels

1:22 Channels that post other artists' tracks, often with a still image or a visualizer, are where both problems meet. George's checklist, kept from 2018 to 2019, treats them as duplication when the same library track appears on many promo channels, and calls curation alone too little value; Help's policy lists image slideshows and scrolling text with little narrative as inauthentic content (YouTube channel monetization policies). What his notes show working is original value on top: covers, remixes, dance and animation set to the track, or commentary and reactions with real substance.

Common claims creators get

Collecting societies and distributors claim through Content ID too, and George's notes quote the music library Epidemic Sound explaining that false claims of that kind are released quickly, and that disputing within five days of the claim loses no revenue. YouTube's own rule bears that out: dispute within 5 days and the video's revenue is held for the winner (Disputing Copyright Claims).

What creators say

6:23 In "Music with permission IS NOT ENOUGH! - KYC #14", George Vanous of Freedom! showed YouTube's answer about a Freedom! music channel suspended from the Partner Program although it had full permission for its tracks: the channel was out of compliance for duplication, and permission alone was not enough, because YouTube also had to see the videos as adding value.

3:23 He admitted that nobody outside YouTube knew how many copies of a track trigger the duplication rule. His rule of thumb for promo channels: avoid music everyone can get, such as the big royalty-free libraries, and search YouTube for a track's title first, skipping any track already found on many channels.

3:04 In "Why music promo channels get YPP suspended - KYC #16", he argued that YouTube judges music promo channels by a blanket rule because, at its scale, it does not take the time to check each channel's permissions or licenses. That is his reading of YouTube's reasons, not YouTube's own explanation.

Frequently asked questions

What music can I use in YouTube videos for free? Music and sound effects from the Audio Library in YouTube Studio are free to use and monetize, and YouTube says they are the only tracks it knows to be copyright-safe. Creative Commons tracks need the artist credited in the description.

Can I monetize a YouTube video with Audio Library music? Yes. YouTube Partner Program members can monetize videos that use Audio Library music and sound effects, and tracks downloaded from it are not claimed through Content ID.

How does YouTube Creator Music revenue sharing work? The creator's 55% share of a long video's revenue is divided between the creator and each revenue-sharing track, then a music rights deduction of up to 5% applies, so one track leaves the creator about 25% in YouTube's example.

Is permission from the artist enough to monetize on YouTube? No. YouTube's reused content policy applies even with the original creator's permission, so a channel of others' songs without added value can still be refused monetization.

Can I use Creator Music in YouTube Shorts? No. YouTube Help says live streams and Shorts are not eligible for Creator Music; music in Shorts is paid for from the Shorts revenue pool instead.

Is royalty-free music safe on YouTube? Not always. YouTube says only Audio Library music is known to it to be copyright-safe, and a royalty-free track from elsewhere may still be registered in Content ID.

Sources

• Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Share revenue using Creator Music, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• YouTube channel monetization policies, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• YouTube Shorts monetization policies, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Monetization during copyright claim disputes, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Music with permission IS NOT ENOUGH! - KYC #14, Freedom!, Sep 16, 2018 (video)
• Why music promo channels get YPP suspended - KYC #16, Freedom!, Jan 13, 2019 (video)