YouTube Creators No Longer Need a Big Following to Start Earning

YouTube has announced that it is relaxing the rules for its partner program, allowing new creators to start earning money from their video-making careers at an earlier stage.

Despite this positive change, the situation is not entirely favorable for new content creators.
YouTube is a popular platform for video content and has played a significant role in the digital creation era.

However, new content creators with a small number of subscribers have been unable to access YouTube’s Partner Program (YPP), which enables creators to earn money from advertisers.

This week, YouTube made changes to its eligibility rules, providing an opportunity for these creators to start earning on the platform more quickly.

Through the partner program, creators also gain access to fan funding features such as channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks, and more.

The revised requirements for the partner program now allow creators to apply once they reach 500 subscribers, have uploaded 3 public videos in the last 90 days, and have either accumulated 3000 watch hours in the past year or received 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Previously, channel owners needed either 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past year or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views within the last 90 days to qualify for YPP.

YouTube stated in a blog post that the number of channels in the United States earning a majority of revenue from Fan Funding products had increased by over 20% compared to the previous year.

As these creators continue to grow their channels, they will automatically become eligible for revenue sharing from ads and additional benefits once they meet the existing YPP eligibility criteria, without needing to go through the full YPP application process again.

The existing requirements for revenue sharing eligibility remain unchanged.

This change is significant for creators as they can now monetize their content earlier in their YouTube careers without needing to amass a large following.

However, they still need to accumulate thousands of hours in viewership, with YouTube setting a minimum requirement of 3000 watch hours. According to Dickson Otieno, a video creator who runs tech-ish.com, the watch hours requirement is quite high.

Nixon Kanali, an online tech publisher who reviews hardware products on his YouTube channel, expressed his approval of YouTube’s changes to YPP.

He believes that YouTube should have implemented these changes earlier, as many young creators have struggled to monetize their content due to the previously unattainable requirements, especially for those who are just starting.

Kanali emphasizes the importance of the new requirement, enabling young creators to earn from their craft early on while building their channels. He also suggests that more creators may now shift their content from platforms like Facebook to YouTube.

However, it is worth noting that YouTube’s payouts in Kenya are relatively low, with creators earning as little as KES 1000 (under $10) per 10,000 views. Creators sometimes rely on sponsored content paid for by clients.

The amount of money earned from YouTube is not solely determined by the number of views. Only a portion of viewers may have watched the ads for more than 30 seconds, while others may have skipped or used ad blockers.

Factors such as niche metrics and geographic location also play a role, with science and tech videos generally generating higher earnings. Creators have raised concerns about the discrepancy in earnings between creators in Western countries and those in Kenya.