Spotify's Artist Generated Content (AGC) and Creator Generated Content (CGC) are two video content types on Spotify. They let artists and creators upload video straight to Spotify, and DistroKid claims and monetizes your music inside that video automatically, the same way YouTube Content ID works.
AGC vs. CGC: what's the difference?
| AGC (Artist Generated Content) | CGC (Creator Generated Content) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uploads | Artists (and their teams), through Spotify for Artists. | Creators, through Spotify for Creators. |
| What's allowed | Music-centric, single-track videos: live performances, covers, studio and acoustic sessions, teasers, and promos. The music can be new or unreleased. | Non-music-centric content only, during the current beta: podcasts, short music clips, ambient beds, intros and transitions, and background music. |
| Not allowed | Lyric videos, talk content, and multi-track videos. | Music-centric uploads. Spotify auto-removes these. |
How AGC monetization works
Distributing your release to Spotify with DistroKid automatically enables it for AGC. That means you can use your own official release in a direct-video upload to Spotify, as long as you distributed that release to Spotify through DistroKid.
When you upload your video through Spotify for Artists, Spotify's music identification system places a monetization claim on it, and 100% of the royalties generated flow straight to your DistroKid bank.
How CGC monetization works
CGC monetization is included with Social Media Pack only. To monetize video that other creators upload featuring your music (podcasts on Spotify, at this phase), your release needs to be opted into Social Media Pack.
This works a lot like Content ID, Meta Rights Manager, and TikTok Music ID: once your release is featured in a piece of CGC, Spotify's music identification system detects it and places a monetization claim on the video. 80% of the royalties generated flow to your DistroKid bank, and DistroKid takes a 20% commission on royalties from videos identified through Social Media Pack.
Not sure if your release is opted in? Check out What is Social Media Pack to see what it covers and how to turn it on.
A couple of things worth knowing
Covers: a cover performance can be monetized, but the song's publishing has to be cleared first. If a cover gets blocked at the publishing level, that works a lot like how Spotify availability can be blocked in the USA for DistroVid. It's not a bug.
Seeing a claim on your own song? If you upload your own AGC, you might see a copyright claim or match on your own video. That's the system working as intended, not an error, and 100% of your AGC royalties still go directly to you.
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