Compensation from YouTube
Stim's contract with YouTube means that music creators affiliated with Stim are paid for their music when it is used and streamed on the platform. Read more here about the conditions for Stim payments to you as a rightsholder.
How to get paid for your music on YouTube
- Give YouTube information about your tracks — through a distributor that has contract with YouTube.
- Give Stim your ISRC codes — so we can more easily link your works of music to what has been played.
- Upload your music to Soundmouse — for additional tracking and more accurate payments.
For Stim to be able to account for and pay compensation for your music when it is played on YouTube, three criteria must be met:
- You are a member as a music creator with Stim and you have registered your music via "My Pages".
- Your music is digitally distributed by a distributor (also called an aggregator) or released by a record label that in turn has a contract with YouTube.
- Your video has more than 5,000 views during the same month.
If the criteria are not met there may still be a possibility for us to handle your case manually. For your video to qualify for manual handling it must have at least 100,000 views in a single country within the same month. You submit your song for manual handling by sending a claim via My Pages.
Does my song need to be released and must it have an ISRC code to be eligible for payment?
Yes, it needs to be released and digitally distributed by a record label or a distributor that has a contract with YouTube.
For your particular track to be identified among the millions of tracks played on YouTube daily, the song is checked against YouTube's Content ID system. For YouTube to be able to identify the track they therefore need access to a physical recording, a so-called reference file. If your track is released by a record label or distributor that has a contract with YouTube, there is a high likelihood that a reference file exists and the chances of identification increase significantly. If your song is also tagged with an ISRC code the conditions for identification improve further.
Can I receive Stim payments for a track that is only released on YouTube?
Yes, via the free service Soundmouse. We recommend that you upload your music to Soundmouse even if you have already provided YouTube with a reference file via a distributor. Soundmouse gives you a second chance to identify your music if Content ID for some reason fails, or if a reference file from the distributor is missing.
Read more about:
Send ISRC codes to Stim
All released songs receive their unique recording code, called ISRC. Add your recording codes to Stim so we more easily can link your musical works to what has been played.
Get started with Soundmouse
Soundmouse helps track music played on TV, radio and digital platforms such as YouTube. As a creator affiliated with Stim, you can create a free account.