YouTube is widely known for having a robust monetisation programme for its most dedicated content creators who can help attract and maintain a large wave of viewers to the platform. However, the video-sharing platform has recently announced some rule changes on who gets to earn money. Starting from 1 February 2027, new content creators need to double their efforts before they can start earning money. Aside from that, the company also shared a few details about its Premium Lite subscription.
YouTube Revenue Changes
As per the official blog, they need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days before they are even considered for the partner programme. For reference, the current ruling only requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 Shorts views.
Additionally, YouTube is also changing eligibility requirements for Shorts Ads. Starting this coming February as well, creators need to maintain 10 million Shorts views every 90 days before they receive revenue.
The company explains that those who don’t achieve the required figures can still earn money from their long-form videos but not from their Shorts videos. To earn ad and subscription revenue from Shorts each month, creators will need to maintain 10 million qualified views during a rolling 90-day period.
YouTube says that those who already earn “significant revenue from Shorts are unlikely to be impacted by these changes”. However, needless to say, this makes it significantly harder for budding content creators to join in on YouTube’s dedicated programme, let alone earn from it.
In an interview video, Amjad Hanif, YouTube’s Vice President of Creator Products, says that these changes are to make the earnings creators receive “more meaningful”. He also adds that he wants to design a programme that rewards creators “who are driving views and engagement”.
Premium Lite
Beyond that, the company touched on its Premium Lite subscription. In its official blog. YouTube confirmed that it will be rolling out this tier offering to countries where the full YouTube Premium is available.
For those unfamiliar with it, Premium Lite offers ad-free viewing for most videos, as well as the ability to download content and play video in the background. However, it won’t let you enjoy ad-free listening on YouTube Music.
The company brought this up in the blog because it ties in with the company’s partnership programme. It also notes that the creators earn money from the subscriptions through a dedicated pool of revenue for each subscription type. YouTube says that “30% of the net subscription revenue is for Premium and 60% for Premium Lite.” This breakdown also factors in the cost of operating and promoting the service.
Afterwards, this pool is distributed to creators based on “member watch time and views”. The company said that the creator’s revenue share is broken down to 55% for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts. “With these additional subscribers, creators can expect higher earnings: when a user signs up for Premium, partners, on average, earn more than when the user was watching ads,” says YouTube.
