Youtube Shorts Music Copyrights

Just like reels on Instagram and Tik Tok videos, YouTube Shorts are a new way of sharing content vertically and of short duration (60 seconds specifically), aimed at improving the quality of the user experience.

If you are already familiar with the two social networks mentioned above, you will not find it difficult to understand how Shorts work, as they are very similar: you can capture images, join different video clips and add music to make your content much more dynamic and attractive.

So, in a nutshell, the main features of Shorts are:

What are the benefits of using YouTube Shorts?

For the very reason that this tool is already available in other applications and well developed, YouTube has also decided to include it and make it available on its platform for its own users.

Thus, there are numerous benefits of using it. Here are some of them:

These are some of the many advantages offered by Youtube Shorts for content creators, freelancers and agencies that are willing to adapt to the new and constant changes to which each and every one of the social networks are subjected.

Where can I see the Youtube Shorts?

Shorts are a new video format added to the Youtube platform, so you simply have to click on the button located on the bottom left of the screen, with the name Shorts, on the home screen of the application.

Once here, a random video will appear.

If you want to continue discovering new videos, just swipe up; and if you want to dig into a specific profile, just click on the user’s name.

How are YouTube Shorts created?

If you are a freelancer or content creator, this is probably the section that interests you the most.

The way to create these videos is very simple and similar to tik toks.

You have two options:

For both cases, the first thing you have to do, after entering the YouTube Shorts section, is to click on the camera icon at the top right of the screen and choose the length of your video: 15 or 60 seconds.

How to create shorts with videos from the gallery?

Once here, if you want to add clips you already have in your gallery, click on the icon to the left of the red button at the bottom.

You will then be able to browse your gallery and choose the video you want.

If you choose to add more than one, just repeat the same process.

When you have completed the required number of seconds, click on the white “check” icon at the bottom right of the screen.

The last steps to make your Short more original are to add music (we’ll talk about how to do this later), text or filters.

Once finished, you only have to click on “next”, add a title and text if you wish, choose the visibility and audience and, finally, click on the blue button with the phrase “upload short”.

How to create Shorts on the fly?

If you are looking to capture an instant video, you will have to focus your front or rear camera (you can select it from the circle arrow icon) on the target of your video and press the red button. When you want to finish it, click on it again.

Note that you can record different fragments until you have completed the required number of seconds.

There are also several editing options, such as increasing or decreasing the speed of the video, using the timer (3, 10 or 20 seconds), applying a chroma key, adding a filter or activating and deactivating the flash.

All these tools are located vertically on top of each other on the right side of the screen.

Once finished, you can follow the same steps as in the previous option to give a different touch to your Short: add music, text or filters.

Click on the “next” button and choose a title, visibility and audience; and finally, click on “upload Short”.

Now that you know the two ways to create Shorts on YouTube, we are going to explain how to add music to them, as it is a simple process, but in which certain conditions must be taken into account.

How to add music to YouTube Shorts?

While the method of adding music to this video format is really easy, there are some important considerations to avoid problems such as copyright claims.

If you click on the “add music” button, a huge list of songs by well-known artists will appear in the new “Creator Music” tool.

However, you should be aware that this music is copyrighted music , so its use is limited by licences that must be purchased.

Let us explain this in more detail:

YouTube Creator Music

YouTube Creator Music is a new tool added to YouTube’s Studio aimed at content creators who want to obtain and use copyrighted music in their videos.

In other words, creators will no longer have to worry about using royalty-free music to avoid problems with the platform and will be able to continue monetising their videos.

Thus, YouTube Creator Music offers two options for acquiring licenses for these songs:

1. You pay the song licence fee in advance. Every time you want to use a song for your videos you will have to pay the licence fee.
2. Share the monetisation revenue. This means that part of the revenue you earn from your video will be used to pay for the licensing fees of the songs used.

Both seem quite useful, however, they have certain drawbacks:

Because of these drawbacks, it is likely that many content creators are hesitant to use this music.

However, there is an alternative that many users turn to, and that is platforms that offer royalty-free music at a very affordable price and whose licences protect against any kind of copyright problems.

One of the most recognised in the sector is Epidemic Sound.

Epidemic Sound

Epidemic Sound is a portal where most youtubers and influencers go to choose the music that fits their videos, as it offers a library of over 100,000 royalty-free songs and sound effects.

This platform is also the only one that has a so-called “direct licence“, which is the licence that, simply explained, includes each and every one of the rights necessary to use the songs. Having songs with a direct licence means having absolute freedom to use them in your videos and distribute them on any online platform and in any country in the world.

If you are a content creator, Epidemic Sound offers you its Personal Plan, with which you will be able to:

What is the price?

This plan, if you want to pay monthly, is priced at $13 per month.

However, Epidemic Sound offers the option to pay $108 per year in advance – that’s $9 per month – which is a saving of $4 per month compared to the month-to-month option.

However, if you are a freelancer or a digital marketing agency and you need to create content for clients, Epidemic Sound also has a so-called Commercial Plan, which offers:

The cost varies depending on whether you choose to pay monthly or annually in advance.

If you choose the first option, the cost is $49 per month.

However, if you opt for the annual payment, the price is reduced to $25 per month, for a total of $299 per year, giving a saving of almost 50% on the final price.

If you purchase either of these two Epidemic Sound plans, you can download all the songs you need for your YouTube Shorts without worrying about high licensing fees or losing a large part of your monetisation revenue.

How to safelist/ add your channels to the player?

If you purchase either of these two Epidemic Sound subscriptions, you can enjoy the possibility of ensuring that your published content is recognised by the platform itself as licensed on YouTube.

This means that, once the YouTube channel has been added to the Epidemic Sound account, the videos published with your music will be protected from copyright claims for the duration of the subscription.

To do so, the following steps must be followed:

1. Log in and go to the Account page.
2. Click on Subscriptions.
3. Select the platform you want to add, in this case YouTube.
4. Enter the channel ID.
5. Add the account to the subscription.
6. Once you have selected a channel, click the Save Changes button to successfully add the new channel.

Epidemic Sound is a company that cares about its customers, trying to offer the best experience for its users, attending to their needs.

Thus, this is yet another tool to safely ensure that YouTube content is protected and free from any kind of claims.

Apart from Epidemic Sound, we would also like to introduce you to the licenses we offer at Legis Music.

Legis Music

At Legis Music we have decided to launch three exclusive plans this 2023 so that our customers can access royalty free music easily and cheaply.

What these plans have in common is that you only have to pay once to get them, allowing you to enjoy the songs unlimited for life and have the peace of mind of not having to worry about copyright claims in the future.

This way, you can choose the plan that best suits your needs:

As you can see, if there is one thing that makes our licences stand out, it is the opportunity to enjoy them forever for a one-time fee.

Now, we have talked about what these Shorts are, how they work, how to create them and how to add music to them in the most economical way, but one of the things that generates the most interest is the monetisation of these videos.

How to monetise YouTube Shorts?

As we have been saying throughout this article, this new vertical video format has become a potential source of views and followers for content creators.

In fact, according to YouTube, the platform accumulates more than 30 billion daily views.

Thus, the platform has decided to reward all content creators in some way for their efforts and reward them for their creativity.

Since 20 September this year, YouTube has offered the possibility for creators to join the Partner Programme in order to monetise their videos.

The only condition for joining is to have more than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of playback in the last year or at least 10 million views in the last 90 days.

In contrast to the 55% of advertising revenue earned by traditional video creators, Shorts creators will get a lower percentage of 45%.

Where do I place adds?

So, to add ads to the Shorts and monetise, you must place the ads between the videos in the feed.

The steps are the same as for traditional videos: you place the ads you want to show in the Short timeline, and then YouTube will take care of placing them between Short and Short so as not to waste users’ time and patience.

Conclusion

YouTube Shorts are a new way of sharing short, vertical content, whose main purpose is to improve the quality of the user experience on the platform.

In addition, they offer content creators an easier and faster way to create videos, as well as the opportunity to increase their visibility and gain more subscribers.

To create and publish Shorts, there are two options: use clips from the gallery or record new sequences on the fly.

If you want to add music to them and give them a touch of originality, you can choose to use the songs available in the YouTube “Creator Music” library, in the face of high licensing costs and reduced monetisation revenue; or choose one of Epidemic Sound’s two subscription plans to save money and avoid any copyright issues.

Finally, YouTube offers content creators, subject to certain requirements, the possibility to join the Partner Programme to monetise their videos, earning 45% of the advertising revenue.

If you still have questions about this new YouTube update, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to help you.