YouTube Content ID is part of our annually charged DistroKid Album Extra, Social Media Pack, that gets you paid when other people use your music in their YouTube videos.
Here's how it works:
- First, opt-into Social Media Pack in the DistroKid upload form. You'll see pricing information there. Price is per release (album or single). You can also opt-in a release after it's been uploaded to DistroKid, if you prefer.
- Once you've opted in, DistroKid will add your music to YouTube's Content ID database. This is YouTube's system that's able to identify when your music appears in any YouTube video. Here's a video that explains Content ID.
- When YouTube detects your music in a video, monetization (ads) will be turned-on for that video. If there is a text or banner ad on the YouTube video with your music in it and the watcher clicks on the text or banner, or if there is a commercial before or after the video and the watcher watches up to 30 seconds or the entire commercial, ad revenue is collected.
- The ad revenue (minus 20%) will go to you, instead of the person who uploaded the video. These earnings will be shown in your DistroKid "Bank" tab.
If you opt into YouTube Content ID but want to allow specific videos to use your music without Content ID claims, you can do so here.
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