MAKE MONEY ONLINE
Why Did My YouTube Channel Get Rejected By the Partner Program?
A warning to anyone who wants to make money from YouTube
I was recently encouraged by what Burk said about faceless YouTube channels. It seems like an easier way to make money than being in front of the camera. But he also recently warned about how it can go wrong.
In the past, I had started various YouTube channels. The most significant ones were on these topics:
- Funny animal compilations
- Health tips
- Music videos
Funny animal compilations
This channel is the one that I applied for the Partner Program. One of the videos had gone viral and kept getting lots of views, which eventually caused the channel to hit the threshold for application — even though I hadn’t made any new videos for it for nearly a year.
But it turns out that the YouTube Partner Program doesn’t like compilations. So, even though I had been careful only to use Creative Commons clips, it still broke the Partner Program rules. They want original content or videos that add something new to the clips you’re using.
Here is the channel’s most popular video:
Health tips
Health and nutrition have long been interests of mine. So, a while back, I decided to start creating videos about these topics.
I found it interesting, but it was a fair bit of work. I had to do research and then write a script for what I would say. So it felt like I spent a lot of time and energy on something that wasn’t giving any return on investment.
The channel has enough subscribers to meet the threshold for the Partner Program but nowhere near enough viewing hours.
I’m not going to link to the channel because I used my own voice in the videos. On Medium, I prefer to keep my real identity hidden.
Music videos
I enjoyed this one a lot, and it was reasonably easy to find free content for it. There is a whole bunch of royalty-free music out there. YouTube even has its own collection of music you’re free to use.
There are plenty of other places to find free tunes, too. Even YouTube videos can be good sources, as many musical artists upload their music with a Creative Commons license.
Visual content is easy to come by as well. For example, Pexels.com has royalty-free videos, including plenty of scenic clips of beaches and mountains. When you pair such pleasant scenery with nice music, you end up with an inspiring music video that people will enjoy watching.
This channel has nowhere near enough subscribers or viewing hours to meet the Partner Program requirements. So, if I were to try to make something out of this one, it would take a lot of work.
Here’s a nice video I was pleased with — lovely scenery of sea and mountains, with atmospheric chillout music.
Here’s one with quite a different vibe — upbeat electronic music set to computer-generated videos of driving through a city.
And if you want to go on a deep journey through space, ending in a flight above clouds, check out this dark atmospheric downtempo one I did:
Is this the end of YouTube for me?
I’m not sure. I’m glad I have received an answer about the animals’ channel. At least now I can move on and focus on other things.
I suppose the music videos could eventually meet the threshold for the Partner Program. But would they satisfy the rules? If everything used in the videos is existing music and video clips, they may reject it.
With the health channel, I don’t think I could keep that up continuously. Even though I am interested in health and nutrition, I don’t want to make videos about it all the time.
There are other options, though, for sure. Never say never.
