YouTube is making its YouTube Partner Program (YPP) easier to join for new creators. In an update, the company shares a reduction in the requirements needed to be a member of YPP.
The YPP launched in 2007, to allow creators exclusive benefits and help them monetize their content. In the early days after its launch, YouTube required a creator to have just 10,000 lifetime views to be eligible for the YPP.
Later, however, the criteria were made more challenging for creators. A total of 4,000 watch hours from the past year and 1,000 subscribers were needed. When YouTube Shorts came about, creators could join the YPP if they had 10 Million views on their Shorts in the past 90 days.
Today, the Google-owned company mentioned the new criteria which are:
- 500 subscribers
- 3,000 hours of watch time in the past year
- 3 public uploads
Users can also be eligible for the YPP if they have 3 Million views on YouTube Shorts over the past 90 days. You can read more details about the updated YPP policy here.
The blog post mentioned:
"Starting today, eligible creators will begin to be able to apply to YPP earlier — once they’ve met a threshold of 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3000 watch hours in the past year or 3M Shorts views in the last 90 days. These new partners will unlock access to fan funding features like channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and the ability to promote their own products with YouTube Shopping."
The latest policy offers a drastic cut to the entry requirements to become a creator on the platform, but there"s a catch. It currently only applies to South Korea, the U.S., the U.K., Taiwan, and Canada. Hence, the benefit will not extend to creators globally, although, YouTube said it will roll out the capability to more countries where the YPP is available.
Other than this, YouTube is expanding its Shopping affiliate to US creators with more than 20,000 subscribers. The Shopping tool on YouTube allows creators to tag products in their videos and Shorts to earn a commission. This tool was initially introduced in 2019 to provide users with an e-commerce catalog through which they can select and purchase products as suggested by the creator in the video.
YouTube added that there are over 50 brands on the platform with more coming soon. The existing brands include Sephora, Ultra Beauty, and Nordstrom among others. Lastly, the video-streaming company mentioned that it will discuss these policies more at VidCon next week.