YouTube Music app FAQ for YouTube partners & creators
YouTube Music makes it easy for your fans to connect with your music. It also helps artists like you find audiences and earn revenue for the content you're already creating.
YouTube Music app users who have a YouTube Music Premium membership also have premium benefits. These include background play, ad-free videos, and download music for offline play for up to 30 days on mobile — helping you increase views. Learn more about how premium YouTube memberships benefit you as a creator.
Questions about YouTube Music
Is YouTube Music free?Your fans can enjoy their favorite tracks, albums, and artists with YouTube Music for free. They can use it with a YouTube Music Premium membership to download ad-free videos and listen to:
- Music offline
- In the background when using other apps
- Without video
Learn more about getting started with YouTube Music.
No, you do not have to pay to keep your videos on:
- YouTube
- YouTube Music Premium
- YouTube Music
Your videos are automatically visible to viewers both on ad-supported YouTube and through a paid YouTube Music Premium membership.
The revenue from the paid membership gives a new source of revenue for artists like you. YouTube Music Premium members can also download your music videos to watch offline on mobile and play them in the background — helping you increase views.
Music is one of the most popular video categories on YouTube and — much like families and gamers use YouTube differently — so do music lovers.
We’ve developed a dedicated YouTube Music app to help fans discover the diversity of music content on YouTube and connect them to their favorite artists.
YouTube Music lets fans watch and listen to a nearly endless catalog in an app designed for music discovery. It helps fans more easily discover the breadth and diversity of music content on YouTube and connect to artists like you.
YouTube has unique music content that your fans won't find anywhere else:
- New artists, classic favorites, and everything in between
- Official music videos, full albums, remixes, and covers
- Classic recordings and videos that span decades
YouTube Music is an experience beyond listening. Music fans also get:
- The sights, sounds, and power of video
- Concert footage and live recordings
- Global music moments
YouTube Music is free to download and use. Viewers can also use a YouTube Music Premium membership to get ad-free videos and download music to listen offline, in the background, or without video.
Thanks to your music videos, remixes, covers, and other video topics, YouTube is the best place to discover music from artists around the world. We believe that fans will be interested in using YouTube Music Premium's membership benefits to view your videos in more ways.
Your content & YouTube Music
Will my content be available on YouTube Music?YouTube Music shows content that our system and our partners have identified as appropriate for a music experience — and we're always adding more content. Usually, there's nothing you need to do to get your music content in the app.
Learn more about how we figure out what goes in YouTube Music.
We're collaborating with our music partners to identify content appropriate for a music-only experience. The content is from music labels, artists, music aggregators, music publishers, and other music providers and includes:
- Official/premium music videos
- User-generated song content
- Art tracks
Identifying content appropriate for a music-only experience is an ongoing process. We're working hard to get this content into YouTube Music so that your music fans can watch the music videos they love.
Your fans can search for your songs, videos, and albums in YouTube Music. If you have a large enough presence on the web, you may even have an autogenerated topic channel where fans can learn more.
YouTube Music app users who have a YouTube Music Premium membership also get:
- Ad-free videos
- The option to download music on mobile
- Listening without video
- Background play
Yes. Nothing is changing on ad-supported YouTube and creators will continue to earn revenue through ads. YouTube Music Premium will also give you a secondary revenue stream.
You'll continue to earn revenue through ads on YouTube and the free, ad-supported YouTube Music app.
In addition, YouTube Music Premium membership fees will give a secondary revenue stream based on often members watch your content. As with our advertising business, most of the revenue will go to creators.
Yes. Views on downloaded videos in YouTube Music will be recorded and incorporated just like online views the next time a user signs back in online.
Your deal with Vevo is not impacted and Vevo will continue to provide your content for the ad-supported service.
We've worked directly with your label so you can now earn both ad-supported revenue and YouTube Music Premium membership-based revenue. Get in touch with your label if you have other questions.
We want to make sure that fans who choose to pay for an ad-free experience with YouTube Music Premium can watch your videos. If some of your videos are no longer available, fans who want to watch without the interruption of ads may have a bad experience.
We’re asking partners to make sure that their content is available for both free and paying users. Doing so will unlock new YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Music features, deliver a great experience for your fans, and offer you an extra revenue stream.