• by Colin Kirkland , May 10, 2023

YouTube has announced updates to its Creator Music marketplace, including new cost management tools that could make licensing music and revenue sharing more accessible to a wider range of creators. 

The Creator Music marketplace became officially available in February to all YouTube Partner Program participants in the U.S., offering creators the option to purchase songs from a large catalog of tracks, some of which offer revenue-sharing options where both creators and the rights holders earn money from the use of the music.

“The idea is to simplify the process of licensing popular music,” TechCrunch wrote in February. “Through an online dashboard, creators can search for songs they have in mind or browse by collections, genres, or moods, then view the associated licensing costs. In addition, creators can search for tracks based on a budget they have set for their project.”

However, after launch, many creators criticized the program for high licensing prices, with some songs costing as much as $18,000.

In response, YouTube is now adding a new licensing system to the program that will allow creators to filter license duration alongside the price of songs they want to use in posts. Creators will now be able to reduce the cost of licensing a track they choose to use sparingly.

YouTube has also added new icons to the marketplace listings to help creators navigate which songs are available for revenue sharing.

These new additions may allow for greater cost management ability for creators, inviting a wider variety of creators to make use of the video sharing app’s commercial music feature.